Look to the sky: A Face Off Recap

We made it to the finale!  Last night was the season finale of Face Off and in the spirit of the competition, it promised to be daunting and grandiose.  In reality, however I was quite underwhelmed, not unhappy, just disappointed.  The spotlight challenge was written in the stars, quite literally as the final three were asked to create two rival alien species that inhabit a constellation.  In addition to displaying a full newly discovered race, the artists are asked to incorporate lights into the design and make sure they are prepped to do a full athletic dance routine.  The finished products will be preforming an ensemble piece to “Lift me up” by DJ Ruskco.

 

With such “simple” demands, it seems only fair that they get some help for our three remaining hopeful as they bring back some of the more popular members of this season’s Face Off family.  In teams of three, each dives head first into sculpting their two dancing celestials.  It seems that the biggest lynch pin is going to be in the lights themselves and how to integrate them into the design.  My opinion, I would think it would be easiest to figure out the light plan and then building the creature around it, still the question is how much to use and where.

 

Tyler and his team of Graham and Chloe set to work in his tradition of trying to get the faces run in the first day of Lab work.  Unfortunately, due to the light placements, they run out of time and Tyler seems crushed.  He has never, not run a mold in day one, and I can say that his ability to do so up to this point was a huge advantage.  Still, the creations themselves show promise.   Tyler decided to go with differing color palettes from male to female, making his male a deep red color with sharp angular features.  The biggest success however, is his treatment of the male’s body which looks organically hollow and shows great with the strings of red dreads.  His female had a beautiful color treatment of blues and lavenders but, as for the overall shape I found her to be lacking a real sense of complete thought.  They made her more feline, and with the constellation Leo it made sense but she seemed so much smaller than the male and therefore drowned out by him. 

 

George decided to go with a coruscation theme with his aliens from the whale constellation, and with his team of Corrine and Niko set to work on building the two races based on a lighted center.  Now the idea shows promise, however the problem George ran into is twofold.   First, the two aliens looked the same; there was nothing to distinguish differing races such as shape or color of skin.  The lights were different colors; however the second problem lay with heavy chest paint so you could barely see the lights let alone the color.  The face sculpts were beautiful, in fact on the close up I really enjoyed their face features but there wasn’t enough variation to really set one a part from the other.

 

Rashaad, however had the short straw of the lab experience this week.  With his team of Daren and Cat he set to work on his two Ursa Major dwellers only to have a major production melt down when his females face mold didn’t have time to set, therefore making it impossible to run foam and forcing him to use poly foam.  With the dance requirement, poly foam is a huge set back because it doesn’t move as freely but, he has come too far to give up now and decides to give it his all.  What comes of the gamble is a happy accident as a melted mold yields a scar looking face, I love unplanned details!  As for the duo in final looks, these two are amazing!  The male has a blue and purple paint that accented a beautiful sharp and aggressive sculpt.  He read every bit the imposing figure and the body was a beautiful muscular sculpt that the pervious werewolf had lacked.  The female, however outshined all of that, quite literally as she was the only one that had a light effect with a bioluminescent cranial structure.  Yes, she had a glowy head.  She was practically angelic with a sharp yellow paint that made her really pop into life.

 

After the display it was time for the dace, in which they turned the light off.  Sa all the TV viewer got to see was poorly lit shadowy figures that really didn’t display anything.  Talk about a disappointment.  I really dislike dubstep, so being forced to listen to it and knowing that I’m missing out on an amazing performance really ticked me off. 

 

In the end it was Rashaad’s beautiful female that really took the prize home.  His reaction, I don’t think there could have possibly been a more genuine display of happiness and I couldn’t help but feel it for him too.  Here’s proof that if you want it and push hard enough, anything is possible!  The real beauty of the moment was the excitement that Tyler and George had for him.  I have never seen such gracious runner ups and slowly my faith in humanity was a bit restored.  Great job Rashaad and we hope to see more and more of you in the future!      

Crying Wolf: A Face Off Recap

After last week’s Face Off first we rejoin the remaining four as they plunge into the dark world of werewolves.  This week’s spotlight challenge was to create the werewolf that would pair to the vampire they had previously created.  In addition they must also give their werewolf a new mutation or ability.  The focus was to be on cohesion with your previous idea and also the creativity to push the werewolf one step further.

One of the nicer points of this part of the competition is that you see less of the major fiascos in the lab, but it can make waiting for the reveals very daunting.  Thankfully my favorite little energizer is there to help break up the stagnant working shots with a tiny freak out.  On their walk through Mr. Westmoore made it a point to tell poor Tyler that he thought his planning was weak.  To be fair, Tyler was trying to make a more human looking werewolf but, it read as vampire to the veteran artists.  The nose of any wolf figure you encounter lends more to the canine muzzle; a feature that Tyler had tried to stay away from, but in his attempt to be different his sculpt lacked any canine form.  The good thing about Mr Westmoore?  Upon seeing that he had freaked Tyler out, he went back to give him some words of encouragement and sends him back to the lab in better spirits.

Rashaad, however found himself in a bind that didn’t want to work itself out.  With his vampire having powers that were of earth and flora, he decides that he wants his wolf to be a fire caster and so attempts hand extensions for his model.  The problem is in the treatments of the mold as he forgets a binding agent in the search for time.  This misstep causes the hands to bind incorrectly and they crackle in his hands, not to worry though, as he attempts once more with a correctly shaped hand.

The rest of the lab time seems to run smoothly, until the models show up and there is yet another issue.  George’s model has become ill and has been replaced by an actor with much thinner lips.  Why does this suck?  Well the whole application has been riding on specific features and the actor quickly recognizes that he cannot achieve all of the range of motion in the face, but it’s too late to turn back now so on to paint they go!

At the reveal everything seems to be opposite of last week, to a point.  In sharp contrast to his brilliant vampire, Rashaad’s fu dog esque wolf seems small and hokey.  The biggest problem is the wardrobe.  Draping the body so completely does not allow for the bulkiness and strength attributed to most werewolves.  I did like the details in the face, as he is known for packing those in, but it didn’t read wolf as much as cute dog.

In huge contrast to last week however, was Tyler.  Tyler’s wolf, while still looking manly was bulging at the seams with a strong and striking look that gave it the true horror that we look for in a wolf.  What I liked particularly was that he succeeded in bringing the man while still carrying out the look of an animal.  The added attribute however, a pair of spikes, was not as powerful or even shown as I would have liked.

Niko’s wolf was just a hot mess.  I don’t know what it is about his faces but they are always crooked.  Go ahead and look at each one the main thing you will notice is that they tilt to the left more than a little bit.  It actually really bugs me, about as much as his nose less creature.  I don’t know something was just really off.

In the end it is George’s mutation that was the most successful.  He went the route that the werewolf is a mutation of his vampire creature and it reads clear as day in both the sculpt and paint.  The face is so striking until you get to the elongated nails and elbow spikes, similar to Tyler’s but far more successful, and the wolf just excels.

In the end, George’s fierce creation takes the top look and Niko is sent home.  Now we hold our breath until next week’s exciting finale, so close and yet so far!

Bloodsuckers: A Face Off Recap

Once again we travel into the world of foam application and blended paint as we return to another episode of SyFy’s Face Off.  This week we catch up with final four artists as the battle it out for a chance at the top three and season finale that will decide this seasons winner.  With the loss of Daren last week, Niko, Rashaad, George and Tyler seem to be practically chomping at the bit as their dreams dangle in front of them like a carrot.
This week, the spotlight challenge brings them to a creepy crypt housing very different and elegant styled coffins.  Each contestant must choose a coffin and take out the stake in side.  That’s right, this weeks challenge is to create a specialized vampire.  Now these are not your typical blood suckers, instead the stakes focus on the vampire traditions of other contestants like Africa and Asia.  The Face Off twist of this challenge is to give your vampire never before seen abilities in vampire lore.
As the creators are quick to find out, these vampires are really unique.  Take Tyler’s Sasabonsam from Ghana, which is reported to have a 20 foot wing span.  Yes, that’s right our favorite wing maker has a tall order in front of him.  So how do you make an animal with a 20 foot wing span?  Tyler resolves to create fake arms while disguising his actor’s arms in the wings.  Now, this sounds like a great idea as his plan is to add extra fangs at the tips as his new feature however in the building phase he decides to make the wings appear more folded.  The major problem with this look in the reveal is that it throws off the silhouette of the creature making him look far too simple in the front.  The molded back of the application had a lot of good features however, it places all the hard work behind the actor, and not in a good way.
Rashaad also gets a few major design curve balls in his Chinese Jiang Shi, a moss covered vampire who feeds on the life force around it.  The addition of a Venus flytrap appendage as his new ability, it seems like he’s heading right for the winner’s circle until his molds are delivered with two large rips in the face.  With the serious damage Rashaad is forced to run it again which is a huge crunch in his time, but necessary if he is going to make this vampire a true blood crawling character.  Although it made it quite a painful experience, it certainly pays off as the judges swoon over his zombie esque creature of the night.
Niko finds himself hung up on his Aswang from the Philippines, a creature known for their extremely long tongue.  With the tongue taking up so much of the creatures persona it’s really hard to add anything, but he finally decides to add some razor sharp prongs in but the damage to the design is done by a static tongue that engulfs any attempt at detail.  The color of the creature is a simple pale wash that burst into what can only be described as a hunk of meat hanging off the lower half of the face hiding a bloody goiter.  Yuck.
Finally, poor George who picked out the Australian Yara Ma Yha Who who drinks from it’s fingers.  I’m really starting to believe George’s favorite color is red, or at least that’s the color he specializes in because he delivers yet another bright red dog looking character.  The hardest part to watch wasn't the extra fangs growing off the creatures back, but the hands.  Literally, the most important and distinguishable characteristic is the part George flubs up on, accidentally building them upside down making them over sized and cartoony.  Think of a demonic version of Mickey Mouse.
In the end, my mother and I held our breath hoping that we wouldn't have to say good bye to our little energizer, Tyler who along with Niko’s static tongue found himself in bottom looks.  Thankfully, there was one more trick to this episode, all four artists get put through to the second half which airs next week.  They must go back to the lab and create a real howler of a project which will be combined with their vampire score to determine top three.  Hold on kiddies!

The future is now...: A Face Off Recap

Break out your gears and mechanisms; this week on Face Off, we are going robotic!  The final five are put under the stress of the future, as they are given the task of creating a character that will be taking on a job that was once held exclusively by a human.  The idea of becoming obsolete and replaced by a robot has been a long time core of science fiction, so in a way this challenge weird-ed me out a tad.  I’m not a huge fan of robotics and androids as it is, too much I Robot I guess, so being confronted by the idea that we can be so easily replaced is never a good feeling.  The bonus of this challenge is that the artists will be given one extra day in the lab, seeing as Niko has a difficulty with time management and sculpt pieces I honestly thought this would cut his usual retort of “if I don’t get this done, I may be going home.”  The down side to the extra day is that with that much time, each creation had better be complete.

The boys each select an industry and set to work on their creations.  For the most part this challenge seems to be about size, as 4 out of the 5 creators are going larger than life with their designs, everyone except Daren.  You can almost taste the displeasure that Daren has for this challenge; it’s so thick you could drizzle it over pancakes.  I think you could some up his reaction by the most repeated quote of the evening “I don’t do robots.”

In the lab, the creativity seems to have sparked these 5 as the first day didn’t lend too much to talk about.  Major fabricator, Rashaad was completely in his element and with L200 begins to create a huge suit.  I have to hand it to him; he is so in tuned with fabrication that it is a surprise that he hasn’t been awarded a win thus far.  Although, one glance at Tyler’s station and you start to understand why, Tyler is an energizer and a fountain of ideas.  If ever there was a challenge well suited for these two to test their skills against each other, this is it.

George, whose last attempt at fabrication with L200 led to disaster in the anime challenge, has decided he is going to sculpt the entire creation and do a paint job that will appear like metal.  To me this almost seems like it’s adding more difficulty than benefit because painted foam, still looks a lot like foam.  Take a look in the gallery, if you look at the close up, you can see what I mean.  Foam has a texture that even with an awesome paint it can be very hard to cover.

On Mr. Westmore’s walk through he points out the major flaw that you see in a lot of movie robots and that is that there seems to always be a major human element that gets in the way, usually around the face.  I think this goes back to man wanting to impose himself as the idea of perfection.  Still I am not sure Niko got the hint as it seems like his is looking even more human in the face.  George’s critique was more about the chest than the face.  Trying to apply a set of blow dryer boobs to his robot left a fun idea but unreadable concept, instead under the direction of Mr. Westmore he changes it to a single dryer while still maintain a shape that is decidedly female.

It’s clear whose element this isn’t by the last day of the build.  To say that robots are not in Daren’s wheel house would be a gross understatement.  His creation is as minimal as the others are massive and in the end looks like a human wearing a helmet and a huge light on his chest that is paired with an awkward silver cod piece.  Niko also struggles with the mistake of gluing joints together and very rough seaming.  The whole of the creation seems bulky and uninspired with a complete disregard for any kind of finesse.  At reveal it’s pretty evident whose in the bottom two, even with a fabricated hydraulic pump that feels like a Hail Mary on Niko’s construction robot.

In fact, it’s harder to pick a top look this week out of the remaining three inspirations.  By now in the completion, at least in my opinion, this is really how it should be.  It is episodes like tonight where we get a clear view of who the finale will be featuring.  Between the three top looks, all I can say is that while all three were inspired, it looks more and more like a Tyler and Rashaad show down.

George’s hairstylist was quirky and fun, and there is never any real rule against making some one smile when it comes to fabricating a service robot.  It was easy to fall in love with his Jetson esque creation.  Each movement of the make-up brought a little more whimsy to her and I can admit I’d let it style my hair.  What didn’t work out for Venus however, was the texture.  She was missing that metallic sheen, at least to me.

Tyler’s surgical robot brought a lot to the table giving the judges a creation that looks like a continuation of current medical machinery.  I loved the idea of the suspended vacu-form face that gave it a human esque quality which would give a human a sense of familiarity.  In fact if it hadn’t been for the next creation Tyler would have clearly clenched top look of the day.

In the end it was Rashaad’s fire fighter robot that extinguished the competition.  This thing was amazing; there really are few other words to describe the sheer beauty of all the fabricated pieces.  With a large but well-shaped profile, Rashaad created a robot that demonstrated function with various bends and an exterior hose.  The paint job alone was a rough and battle weary red that screamed hero, but to me what sold it was the implementing of the gold eagle design into the chest.  This brought it from a level of function to a “real” character; you could almost feel pride exuding from the robot itself.  With this master piece Rashaad finally received his long await, but totally deserved win and I couldn’t agree more.

As for who went home, in the end Daren’s “I don’t do robots,” attitude seemed to step on his own foot and the judges decided it was time for him to pack up.  I honestly believe that he should have gone home last week for his purple disaster, but then again I’m no expert.  Still he put out great work and as we get closer to the finally it is only going to get tougher.  Good bye Daren, your creep factor will be missed but I definitely look forward to what you will come up with next!

Grab your gears, here are this episodes creations...

Face Off gets mutated: A face off recap

This week on face off we trip into the exciting world of mutants!  Each artist was given a super power to convey through a mutant creature that could walk right out films like the X-Men.  To aide them in the creation of their super powered mutations are fellow artists who are studying CGI at the Gnomon School of Visual effects, of which judge Neville is an alumni and a board member.  Using the program, Z brush, the sculptors are given the chance to see their creations in as a 3D sketch.  This, in my opinion, is a huge advantage because not only can you see what your creation will look like from every angle but the Z brush program also includes the ability to design textures.  Now you can not only plan a look but also get an idea how an application may turn out.  How incredible is that?  I was blown away by the accuracy these CGI artists were able to produce to the finished product.

In the lab itself, there are mixed emotions coming from every station about these mutants.  Graham who was given tunneling actually seems to almost resent his choice and is taking it out on a somewhat uninspired mole/mole rat creature.  He does take it in stride though as he includes a “droopy dog” voice during the preliminary application phase.  While funny to watch, there isn’t the same amount of love oozing from this bitterly inspired creation, nothing at all akin to last week’s Dahl inspired creature.

Speaking of last week, Niko is still reeling from being in the bottom looks category last week and is determined to rocket himself up from this with his “coiled” mutant.  His creation must demonstrate magnetic powers, in response Niko has designed a character built out of copper coiled skin.  Thankfully, unlike last week, Niko has decided to tone down his massive ideas and focus on what he can pull of this time.  The best part of the design was clearly the paint job of black and brushed copper that gave it an antique look that sold the creation.

Daren however, may have over shot himself this week.  With panoramic vision as a super power, Daren decides to implement strings of lights into his design.  The problem really occurs when sadly, the model accidently pulls them out as they become entangled on a chair.  This leaves Daren with opaque gelatin molds to apply to her face and a wing and a prayer that the judges see the intended look.  The muddled appearance and rudimentary paint job seemed forced and unclear.  There is nothing that really screams panoramic vision; my suggestion would have been some kind of visor or attention on the eyes instead of a dark resounding skin color.

George needed way more than a wing and a prayer this week, he need a muscle relaxer and a nap, maybe a heating pad… either way he needed medical attention.  It would appear that the strain of this completion had put a toll on his back and shoulder.  Still I must say I admire him for his push forward to create his “impenetrable skin” mutant.  The creation had a nice stone color and shape but sadly lacked texture to become top looks.

Rashaad went to the bottom of the ocean this week, calling upon the idea of an octopus to demonstrate elasticity.  I can see why you would pick an octopus but like Graham’s mole, it might seem a little uninspired.  What sets it apart is some well-done shaping and an intricate paint job that gives it just enough punch to rest in the middle of the road.  I have high hopes for him in the coming challenges simply because of the amount of work he can produce in a short amount of time is outstanding.

Finally we come to my favorite this season, everyone’s little energizer, Tyler!  Tyler received “wall crawling” as a mutant power.  What he created was a kind of fly man in transition.  The paint job was a great use of pallid pinks, purples and grey that was brought to life by hundreds of fabricated hairs.  He took the time not only to do a beautiful sculpt in the face but also to mold tiny “noodles” using a torch to give the illusion of tiny hairs speckled throughout the face and hands.  It was a brilliantly devised look that clearly conveyed a mutation in transition.      

In the end it is Graham’s lack of originality that sends him home.  I’m going to have to say that I strongly disagree and argue that they only kept Daren because of his past works and that to me seems to violate the idea the if you have to bring your best every week, either way, I’m not in charge, so instead I must say good bye to Graham this week and take comfort in knowing that he has a brilliant future ahead of him.  Meanwhile, Tyler takes another deserved top look, beating out Niko’s copper paint job by means of well executed fabrication.  Go team Tyler!


Creature Gallery

 

All Dahl'ed Up: A Face Off Reccap

We welcome in a world of pure imagination as SyFy’s Face Off presents “What a Dahl” an episode devoted to the unseen characters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  We are all familiar and have probably had our lives touched by this man at one point or another; it is through his works we learn about greed and selfishness and also about innocence and dreams.  Roald Dahl opened us to a world of whimsy and magic however, there was also mention of great fears and horrors of other worlds.  By now, almost everyone has seen or heard of the Oompa Loompa, those bright orange men that help Wonka with his magical factory and it is mentioned that these helpful, self-tanner afflicted beings, were a main food source for many ferocious creatures such as the Hornswogglers, Snozzwangers, Vermicious Knids, and Whangdoodles.  This week’s spotlight challenge is to create one of these never before seen characters to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  In a loving and thoughtful approach to the creator’s memory the guest judge is his daughter Lucy Dahl.  This challenge poses something wonderful and at the same time nerve racking, you have all the whimsy of pure imagination with the complication of no source materials.  Essentially you are the product and victim of your own imagination. 

Speaking of victims, no one had a harder time this week in the lab than Chloe.  Poor Chloe sets out to make a kind of flytrap design to her Vermicious Knid but has trouble at first settling on a shape of the head, either on the vertical or the horizontal.  I wish I could say that making a simple arrangement choice was the end of her woes, sadly it was not.  Due to the lack of time management, the cowl mold was unable to be cleaned properly causing her to need an express polymold, if that were to have come together perhaps she would have stood a chance.  Sadly, luck was not with Chloe in the lab as the polymers’ didn’t gel at all causing a stringy goopy mess and no cowl.  With no other option Chloe is forced to try to hide her actor in a pile of moss and fabric.  Now normally I would be sympathetic, however this is not the first mold problem she’s encountered, nor is it the first time she’s tried to hide unfinished product with fabric.  In my opinion, the sea horse dragon was proof that this completion was slightly out of her league.

Chloe is not the only one struggling through the challenge as Niko as well has a hard time working with his full body suit mold.  Seeing as it weighs 300 pounds he is desperate for Rashad’s help in trying to crack open the lynch pin of his design.  Thankfully, he had more luck than Chloe and is able to have his suit molded but he runs into a maze of seam work that inhibits him from really punching up the creature with the intended paint job.

Daren and George seem to stumble ever so slightly on the idea of really what figures into the universe of Dahl.  George fears that his killer bunny may be going to small and decides to include an open mouth chest piece of sharp teeth.  Daren struggles with whimsy itself, he is a horror man and in that tradition the silly and outlandish seems to be lost in translation.  Finding some inspiration in a horned lizard, by day tow, Daren’s whimsy reservations are no more.

On the other side of the room however, Dahl’s world seems to be bringing out the whacky and the vicious in Rashad, Tyler, and Graham.  Between duels colored monsters, elephant trunks and wormy fingers, it’s clear these guys are not afraid to get silly.  The truly seem to be bringing to life this fantastic world right in front of us, and it looks like a sweet treat.

As they head into last looks, it’s Niko and Chloe who are in dire panic to try to pull it together.  Niko fear’s his precious body suit has transformed from T-Rex to turkey.  Chloe tries desperately for somewhat of a finished paint job, who do you think you are girl?  Corinne?

Here are my notes:

Chloe:  You say you were inspired by a Venus flytrap… Clearly you meant a cabbage that has been embedded with tooth picks.

Daran:  I love the concept but it doesn’t scream Dahl to me.  I can see Seuss in the outfit and Henson in the design of the creature, neither looks bad but it doesn’t look Dahl.

George:  This week, the Easter bunny is going to kick your ass.  There is something about this huge pink muscly looking hopper that makes me happy and nervous… Oh yeah it’s the gaping hole full of teeth in its chest!

Graham:  This was so very special, I loved the bloody oompa loompa skulls and the berry bait that was included but what sold it for me, was the eyes sticking through the safari hat.  Truly amazing job this week!

Niko:  This looks like a birthday party mascot that would get severely beaten by older kids if you didn’t watch out.

Rashaad:  The paint job and design of this duel colored creature was amazing to see.  There were clearly tireless hours put into the sculpt and it totally paid off… Beautiful piece!

Tyler:  This thing scared both me and my son who stumbled out during the final reveal.  The only thing I could keep saying was kill it with fire!  Oh my god I will never look at worms the same way again.  Bleh!

So in the end Tyler clenches a much deserved victory, although Graham was really close and I would love to see these two go head to head.  In the wake of joy a bit of sadness that Chloe must be sent home, that does it this season for girls in the competition but, not to worry for she has resolved to keep trying in the make-up world… Try a tad harder… Just sayin.

See for yourself

It will drive you mad: A FaceOff Recap

We gather round the SyFy channel again this week for another episode of the amazingly mediocre season of Faceoff.  After last week’s episode I was still kind of upset with the judges, and that was not a feeling of icy hate that thawed at all this week.  It is clear that Chloe should have gone home for that poorly made sex doll looking anime character last week that caused the judges to use their one save on Graham, so I’m still a little pissy when I see her on my screen.  Chloe has yet to really turn in a finished and complete project to date, in fact each project is noted as being very slapdash and hap hazardly put together, some people can just skate by I guess.

This week the team is taken to a horrible lab to be introduced to the next spot light challenge.  Around them are trappings of old experiments gone wrong and a table of antiquated medical torture devices.  The challenge is to create a character who is the victim of their mad scientist.

Determined to prove himself in this challenge Graham goes to work on the electrical shock therapy box and prepares to use lighting which is something we had not seen him use prior to this application.  I think it’s a smart move on his part because it can show a lot of versatility if it all comes together, but on Faceoff if’s are a huge risk.

Niko is setting to work on a pregnant woman’s stomach chest piece.  Inspired by the drill he wants to create a woman who has had her baby ripped from her.  What concerns Niko the most you ask?  Well the fact that he doesn’t want to offend anyone by showing a woman holding a fetus.  How could that possibly be offensive?

Rashad seems to be having a hard time becoming inspired by his gadget, which is a tool that is used to make holes in the cranium.  I guess you can say he needs more idea’s, like a hole in the head.  Okay, that joke sucked I’m sorry.

Over at Chloe’s station she is going big, and black and white.  She has decided to take her bone saw inspired creation to the dark side, or is it the grey side.  Once again these are huge risks that could either pay off handsomely or leave the judges wanting more.

Speaking of wanting more, Corinne is going small with her leeches’ project and to be honest I don’t know why.  There was so much she could have done to really bring out the gross and skin crawly element of leeches.  I personally would have had them crawling out of everywhere and oozing fat with blood so they looked positively squish able.  Hey no accounting for inspiration I suppose.

Two artists nearly come to a “head” when Tyler and Daren both realize that they’re creatures share a duality.  They both are going for the two headed effect and must now decide how to make them stand out from one another.  Daren seems apprehensive, but Tyler assures him that his being conjoined twins and Daren’s being many faces sewn together that they are far enough removed that the judges won’t penalize them. 

It is George however, that is smacked in the face, or back rather by intense pain.  As he attempts to move his mold, his back spasms and the only real cure for that is time and ice.  Still he attempts to soldier on to create his chest and back spreader inspired victim.

The episode as a whole went by really slow as there wasn’t a whole lot of anything serious, save Corinne and Rashad constantly second guessing themselves and knowing their creatures just aren’t right.  My question is, why wouldn’t you fix it then?  I mean if you are looking at what you made and you are not happy with it, you should take that moment to correct the mistake right?!  Apparently ignoring your gut feelings leads you all the way to the reveal stage as the contestants put on the finishing touches.

Chloe:  First up is Chloe who totally redeemed herself by turning in an amazingly whimsical, grey scale, Frankenstein esque creation.  This is an example of a risk really paying off in the realm of Faceoff.  I have to say my favorite part of her design is the face.  It has a funny yet very spooky jack o lantern feel to it.  The clothing as well seems to add to the whimsy of the innovative idea.  Very impressed.

Corinne:  This is simple, and altogether sad.  There seems to be a real element of terror missing from the tiny leeches that don’t really read from too far off.  All of the great elements of horror that you would expect from a victim just wasn’t there.

Daren:  Flat out this thing gave me the hibby – Jebbeys.  The face rip was so perfectly blended for the concept that it was making it hard to watch and then the model blinked.  Because the rip was down the center an eye from both faces blinked and I lost my cool.  I couldn’t even look at it.  Now that’s a successful make-up.

George:  George struggled through pain to complete this open chested character but then did something terrible by coving him in the gown.  It really seemed to detract from the amazing pieces he had made.

Graham:  This thing was pretty cool looking.  I have to take the time to really complement the mouth and the way it was stretched to reveal fake, but well done teeth.  Not a top look but, the lights did pay off in the end.

Niko:  The face is completely busted and she looks like a fat woman holding a bloody hamster… just No!

Rashaad:  I think if you had done both less and more it would have succeeded.  You needed to do less of that ridiculous jaw and way more of the wonderful holes in the head.

Tyler:  Not great this week, but Daren did totally kill you on the two headed idea.  I’m so sorry my little energizer.

In the end this week Daren got the win he so richly deserved after that creepy creation, and we said goodbye to Corinne.  I was sad to see her go, however this is about finding a master and it’s time that the middle of the road starts to thin out.  Good luck to you out there lady!  May the “Face” be with you!    

http://www.syfy.com/faceoff/photos/face_off_s06_e0609_spotlight_challenge

Face Off Get's Animated!

This week Face Off sent us a big Konichiwa from the land of the rising son.  The remaining contestants hop on a plane and fly off to Japan, how exciting!  So, because we all know how much we as a society like watching people’s vacation footage, the first 10 minutes of the episode was dedicated to showing a shocked group walking through the bustling streets of Tokyo pointing at every “weird” thing they can find.  Oh my god another culture!  Oh my god they have different stuff here!  Oh my god, wait… there’s Hello Kitty…  Okay yea, I’m bitter because I want to go to Japan, I’ll admit it.

After I watch them get to live some of my dream, but I’m not bitter, the group is lead to a tranquil temple setting that is right out of a story book.  Being greeted by a performance of taiko drums they make their way to judge Mackenzie and special guest judge Kazuhiro Tsuji.  Mr. Tsuji is an industry leader as far as special effects goes and is known for his work on Planet of the Apes, Looper and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  He has been long since regarded as an industry standard and a credit to his craft… That’s why he’s on season 6 right?  So what’s on the menu for the foundation challenge?  Oni!  No we aren’t having a sushi lunch; we are making traditional Japanese demon spirits.  Known for their bright colors and use of hard angles, horns, many eyes, teeth and just all around disproportioned features the Oni have long since been regarded with both fear and wonder by the Japanese.  The challenge is to create an Oni in a matter of 4 hours that embodies the ideas of an Oni mask.

What comes of the challenge?  Well first I have to say it’s becoming painfully obvious that Daren hates the human eye.  He never wants his actor’s eyes to show in any way, and he takes the liberty once again of trying to hide them with a total of 4 eyes and an unpleasant sad mouth over biting with sever pointy teeth.  Corrine turns in another stunning paint job, however even more so I want to take a moment to complement her on her use of prosthetics to create the had angles in her demons face.  The horn coming from the chin as well gave a brilliant focal point in the facial construction.  The others seem to find their way around the mediocre, and in the end Daren clenches immunity in the win.

As for the spot light challenge, this week we dive into the amazingly bright and bold world of Anime!  Yes, my heart skipped a beat.  But, wait, there’s more… It must be a representation of self and they get to have help and advice from anime master Hidetka Tenjin when they sit down to lunch at the @home café in amazing Akihbara.  Okay, back up… they get to go to Japan, fine.  They get to do anime characters, cool.  But, you are going to send them to the famous Anime district to a cosplayer themed restaurant… I want to die.  My dreams are literally mocking my through a TV.  The kawaii waitresses, the beautiful fabrics, the adorkable bentos… I wanted to cry and barf rainbows of jealousy.

So now infused with plans to build their own images in anime and clay the team sets to work.  First major issue, Chloe and Corrine seem to be making the same freaking idea.  Okay, true in anime the girls all look very similar with the large eyes and strange proportions but goodness… Next is the “what in the world” is Graham making?  He wants to go with a half plant monster idea but maybe less would be best.  Then again Niko’s uninspired simple design makes me wonder if these people have ever seen an anime before in their lives.  Oh wait George’s riff on Dragon Ball Z totally lets me know he has.  George struggles with his chosen armor design, as Tyler builds a literal hair helmet… That looks surprisingly good on Rashad, who is channeling square soft.  All in all there isn’t too much sculpting drama going on in this episode, maybe they left Japan with a lot of Zen.

In last looks, it is George and Graham who are panicking to put together their master pieces and all I can say, is that as an anime fan, this is so not looking good at all!

Reveal stage:

Chloe:  I’m sorry I thought this was an anime competition, what she created could be considered reminiscent of perhaps a cheap themed sex doll.  She clearly does not have the talent to stay but, for some god awful reason keeps slipping through the cracks.  Speaking of cracks, you can see every seam in that face, the eyes look ugly and awkward.  The nose is almost pinched out of nowhere and the hair is ridiculous.  If you are going to do the wild hair that an anime girl requires, then take the time to do it right or do not do it at all.    Even her props look cheap, just somewhat altogether like she gave up, which makes me question why she is still in the competition at all.

Corrine:  Where Chloe absolutely failed, Corrine puts up a cohesive beautiful character.  She is smooth, bright and reminiscent of the kawaii personality of an anime girl character.  The hair is bright and ratted high but smooth on the outside, the eyes are reflective and the lashes give her depth.  The enlarged bosom and tight fit to the waist gives an amazing nod to the unreal quality of anime (that I do not embrace but admit that it’s there).  Even her accessories give her a playful element that embraces and embodies the joy of the medium.  Yeah!

Daren:  Now he has immunity, what does he do with it?!  Blows your mind, that’s what!  He has gone with a fish man creation complete with koi swimming around the characters head.  The district realism in the initial face blew me away, I felt like I was really looking at a fish.  The only not I had was at first I wanted more color in the face, however I think it would have detracted from the detailed scale and paint jobs on the swimming koi.  All in all it was truly amazing, I’m thinking that when he’s on… he’s on, but Daren needs to find consistency.

George:  This was an armored nightmare attempt at a Dragon Ball Z knock off.  There’s no other way to put that, I mean you can see all the strokes of paint and cracks where he needed more time.  Not good this week, not good at all.

Graham:  This is a hot mess straight out of FLCL and not in a good way.  There really isn’t a lot good going on but, I do give credit for a great fabrication of the goggles on this mad scientist, half plant nightmare.  Graham has an amazing talent for the weird, but on this challenge he needed to reign it in just a little bit.

Niko:  Niko went safe, small and kind of really boring.  It had really tall wacky hair, and high cheek bones… yeah I just made an “eh” noise and shrugged my shoulders… I’m sorry.

Rashad:  It’s like cloud fucked a clown and stole the gun blade.  Yes I went there.  The extreme colors of red and yellow in the hair makes it so bizarre that you almost miss the angular face and weird accessories.  Good enough to pass dude.

Tyler:  Oh my little bundle of energy with plastic hair.  This way middle of the road at best.  The hockey glasses that look almost cut out of paper seem to detract a bit from the awful hair, but we all get there eventually.  It makes me sad.  Still he does look like an anime character brought to life, even if he has 4 arms.

As for the judge’s selections, this is one of those episodes where I can see where the judges are coming from but I still think its crap.  They decide that as far as top looks are concerned it’s all about Daren and Corrine.  Not to surprise there, both creatures were beautiful makeups.  What really did upset me was that Chloe escaped the bottom.  Every week she exposes her jugular in just how untalented she really is and it’s like the judges just do not see it.  Instead they pick George’s rough armor and George’s hot house hodgepodge as the bottom two.

Now both were justifiably bad, however I think Chloe’s fuck doll was worse.  Still the judges decide it is Graham who will be cut from tonight’s challenge.  A disappointed Graham seems to want to collapse until he is told he is going to be this season’s “save.”  Thank god for the new rules right?!  Good for you Graham, we will see you next week in what appears to be a mad scientist challenge… wait that doesn’t bode well for little Graham.   


The Gallery

         

Wicked wizards: a face off review

Finally had time to re watch this yawn fest... Sorry for the delay.  So where we?  Oh yeah, we are dwindling down so now we need to see more house interaction, like cat, Corrine and Chloe having a girl power moment.

Now that we get past that crap the contestants head to the magic castle, an exclusive club for magicians to receive the details of the spotlight challenge.  They are met with a table of wands and instructions to create the character or wizard that will wield it.  Sadly, no one picked the wand I wanted.   Ice is amazing damn it!

In the first day of sculpting, Niko is the first to bitch with his hatred of wizards and love of robots... Thi isn't a robot challenge!  Chloe is setting herself up for failure with a filagre chest and neck piece.  Why god why?!  Daren and Rashad are going way simple as George, Grahm and Tyler prepare to go literally tooth and nail barking mad.

The walk through shows little promise for poor Niko who seriously is drowning in a sea of uninspiring-cliché.  It seems that all there is left is to scrap it all and start again with an armored idea.  Tyler is given a stricked warning about the shape of his chest and Cat refuses nose job advice.

Tyler is kicking ass again with the sculpted as he's already molding.  Day one ends with everyone reeling with various emotions and a sense of hatred of their creations.  Where some people seem to be losing touch, Grahm, Rashad, George, and Tyler are taking off. It's a really rediculous mix of energy.  The whine level Chloe is exuding could only be exhausting when I realize... Corrine and Daren haven't really said anything.  Corrine seems to be tribaling it up with a Mayan shaman look while Daren's molding a large nosed weird witch idea.  Yeah the middle is pretty boring I guess... 

The clock ticks away as last looks looms in the distance.  Thus far this is an insecure love hate creating process.  Daren is putting what looks like a wottle on his witches face... It's a buzzard witch!  Tyler is well done by close of the day, and even though he's always energetic, he's even more so...

On application, George's model is alergic to the glue that holds down the prosthetic.  Don't they check for that?!  Thankfully George ran a second face.  Everyone is running around like crazy to paint and glue.  Chloe as always hates her work, Niko is wondering how he's going to finish, Tyler's done, Corrine is painting and painting and painting, Goerge is overwhelmed and the beat goes on.

Last looks is more like a samba of insanity as they rush through details, thankfully there is a big push in even painting this week which is refreshing.  I can already tell I hate most of these looks.

Cat: Dear god, what is that orange thing?  It looks like a broncos fan on their way to Woodstock got lost in a box of bargain wax flowers.  I get the nature reference but this seems more pixie meets extreme self tanning accident.  Sorry but this is ruff.

Chloe:  From far away all that filagre work looks like gold is dripping from mishapen breasts or a bearded blonde who could put a dwarfs face fuzz to shame.  Up close that beauty makeup is doing you no favors honey.  Another ouch to the XX team.

Corrine:  Now she did go the other way and did a smaller sculpt.  Wisely she played to her paint skills.  This Mayan shamon looks decent and the blending is good, not top look good but nicely done.

Tyler:  It's an ent! An ent magician, well done but not inspired.

George:  This is amazeballs lol!  No really there is a free floating face, the armor is well detailed and blended.  Ultimately an example the right way to do a kind of bio-mechanical.

Daren:  No!  This is pretty much a weird chicken witch, with a sink the titanic shnoze.  There is really, in my opinion, no design element worth saving.

Rashad:  Simple, safe, spiked...

Grahm:  Voodoo wizard.  Stereotype.

Niko:  Dear god man what happened? This is a guy in shitty armor that doesn't even look metal!  

So the judges are now making their comments and to be honest it's nothing you wouldn't already be yelling at your tv!  Mind you I'm no expert but apparently I have decent taste, or this is completely obvious...

In the end George gets the win.  Totally well deserved.  Cat gets the axe, much to Nikos dismay... But what she should be mad about is the announcement that everyone's going to Japan.  Poor Cat, Yeah Japan!

Creepy Cryptids

Since it is Wednsday we rejoin our weekly review of the ever stagnant season 6 of Face Off on SYFY, aren’t we the lucky ones?  So this week we trip in on a foundation challenge, why there isn’t one every week is really confusing but, maybe they sneak one in when they don’t feel the making of the spotlight creatures won’t take a whole hour. 

This challenge takes our creators to a large open field where there a few rustic army camp looking structure and special guest Howard Berger.  Mr. Berger is an award winning makeup artist known for his work on such films as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Breaking Bad.  After some gushing and oohs and awes Mr. Berger unleashes the contestants, in groups of two, onto an army of orcs.  The challenge is for each pair to produce a leader orc and 9 other supporting orcs.  That’s right folks we are making an orc production line!

What is produced by the challenge varies from bright hair to electric green with the “orcs” looking more like disgruntled trolls and dark elves.  The highlight of the challenge was Corinne’s sponge paint application.  Once again, girl can paint!  It is her knowledge of the color wheel that grants her the win and immunity from the spot light challenge.

Here this week to introduce the spot light challenge is special guest judge Doug Jones.  Mr. Jones is a creature/ character actor in such films as Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth.   This was awesome to see, every special guest judge tends to be behind the scenes which gives great insight to the creative and building process, however this week having an Actor gives our creators an insight to what is the living being behind their creations.  Mr. Jones explains the need to have it be truly organic in feel and as much as he is an actor for these creatures, if he cannot feel the creature… he’s just a man in a suit.

This week’s challenge: Cryptids, the fabulous creatures of Urban legends around the world.  From the Jersey Devil to the Bunyip, these crazy characters have haunted us from all corners of the world… and yet they are so open to interpretation that the idea’s seem to spiral forth in modeling clay.

In the lab there are cohesion, conflict and panic running rampant from all four corners of the room.  First let us check in on our immunity winner Corinne. Corinne has hooked up with Matt and the two have picked “The Jersey Devil.”  There is already a train crashing in on them as Matt panics.  It finally dawns on Matt that his partner has immunity; if they end up in bottom look then you can guess who is taking the long walk?  Add this to his inability to create animal like faces, and he becomes a quivering goo pile.  Think Tess a few episodes back and you can understand that it’s kind of annoying to watch.  He isn’t the only whiner though, Cat has taken up the whine as she buts heads with Daren the Diva.  Seriously, if he were a Broadway play, he’d be a one man show.  Cat sulks away under Daren’s uninspired ideas and is demoted quickly to glue holder.

The emotional rollercoaster keeps chugging along as Tyler and Chloe work hard on the Mapinguari, a creature that encompasses two features that the judges have always hated, fun fur and “baked – in mouths.”  The other major flaw is that there hasn’t been a “photographed sighting” of this thing.  So in the end you are working with items that are despised to create something no one has ever seen.  I’d be pretty stressed too.  However, I’d rather have inspiration problems than the mold problems George and Niko almost had.  Thankfully with four people to pry it all apart the twosome put it all together with literally seconds to spare.  In all of this the only group not stressing out is Grahm and Rashad.  I’d keep my eye on Rashad, the kid has got some talent.

After and angry last look the models head for presentation and judging:

Daren and Cat:  So the whiner and diva attempt to present El Chupacabra.  What ensues is a sad looking, emaciated, spinney Chihuahua.  My frenchie, with tear stain looks happier than this poor thing.  The chest and caul are poorly blended, much to Cat’s dismay.  Still she whines on about not finding her own voice.

Corinne and Matt: Ah, the Jersey Devil, minus the “kangaroo” and well anything really inspired at all.  What we got was a grey, splotchy, mediocre effort with homemade wings that were made from ugly drapes… Should have gone bigger!

Niko and George:  With the craziness that this mold required the Puerto Rican power couple’s Vodaynoy (a fish/frog monster) should have inspired a little more color.  Now, I really liked the sculpt of the face and chest plate however the brightness of the paint and the sculpt of the flipper seemed to just throw me off.

Rashad and Grahm:  Of all the creatures, this one clearly had the most going on and with good reason.  Your typical bunyip consists of so many parts that it’s easy to over load a makeup and find yourself with a 5000lb. creature that looks overworked and over loaded.  The beauty of this makeup was that even though there was so much going on, scales, horns, feathers and tusks, it had a true sense of being a real creature.  The painting was excellent and the scale and feather work gave it a real organic origin that the guest judge felt a real connection to.

Chloe and Tyler:  Starting with two strikes against them (fun fur and a stomach mouth) Chloe and Tyler’s Mapinguari takes the runway with a force.  First off the actor’s ability to roll the stomach and get that effect with the stomach mouth was amazing.  The color and cohesion of the fur pieces left the judges over whelmed, but in a good way.  Truly this is the best case scenario of two people working together to bring forth one creature.

In the end, it is Tyler who walks away with another win for his creep-tastic sculpt while Matt takes the fall for the less than inspiring Jersey Devil.  So long Matt, I’ll miss your hair.

Beyond a shadow...

Well it’s time to go back to everyone’s favorite monster makeup competition, okay the only monster makeup completion on TV at this point, SYFI’s Face Off.  As we slowly weed through this season’s hopefuls I have to say right now that the major talents, at least to me have been Tyler and Rashad.  Sadly, Rashad always seems to be a bridesmaid when it comes to top looks.  This is a double edged sword when it comes to these kinds of competitions, of course you always want the win but, being in top looks at least guarantees you exposure in a good way in front of the judges.

This week we bring in a different guest judge, Oren Peli, the mastermind behind Paranormal Phenomena, to introduce this week’s spotlight challenge.   The challengers come into a room of shadows; literally, there are shadow silhouettes of various creatures on the wall.  The contestants must choose a shadow and make a supernatural creature that casts it.  I have to say, at first I was laughing at how simple this seemed.  Your shape is given to you, all you have to do is build it, right?  Wrong!  Think about it realistically, not only do you have to come up with a creature, you have to conform it to someone else’s prefabricated idea.

Each artist rushes off to sculpt away the rest of the afternoon before the preview.  Everyone seems to be coming along except poor Tanner who cannot seem to grasp scary in his “cute” and “small animalish” nose.  Don’t worry Tanner, your bad luck soon finds a mate in Corrine who had a mold disaster.  Despite all of her efforts, she can’t get the cowl out of the mold.  Frustration mounts as she pounds away but the only thing that results is a broken piece that she discards for a wig and a set of prefabbed ears.

Niko, who is working on what appears to be a bull inspired creature is once again running behind and turns to girlfriend Cat and Tyler to help him out of his timing situation.  A decision that Cat is really going to regret as it cost her time on her mantis styled creation.  Tanner, poor Tanner, has run into yet another problem as he attempts to create horns from red solo cups… While at first I thought “brilliant!”  My next thought was “holy smokes that’s going to weigh a ton!”

On the day of reveal we now see that helping Niko has cost Cat everything but the head of her creature.  Paint is flying every which was as both Cat and Tanner realize they have nothing for the body of their creations.  What do you do? Well you either paint the face with spots of obnoxious yellow (Cat) or you cover him in plastic wrap and pray that it works (Tanner).  Thru all the odds and ends of last looks we get a few fleeting glances, and to tell you the truth none of it looked promising.  Here’s what we got:

Cat: Let’s start with cat and the yellow spots.  She created a mantis creature with no claws.  I would think you needed those but, who am I to judge.  What comes out looks like one of two things, either a man in a mask or a weird pincher faced alien.  The lines in the face are hard and angular and the lines seem to just out with the mass of black paint she used.  The stand out, and not in a good way, is her use of a toxic yellow looking paint that feels spattered as a last ditch effort.

Chloe:  This is supposed to be some sort of cow demon thing, I think.  What she presents is another overly draped creation that looks like one of those cow skull ornaments that people hang when they are trying to go for a south western theme.  I’m really starting to get tired of Chloe using lots of fabric to decrease the effort needed for finer details in a body.

Corinne:   This girls needs to fall on her knees and thank god that she knows how to blend paint.  Even with a cowl mold that was a no go, and using prefabbed ears, what she presented was a goblin clear out of Grimm’s faire tales.

Darren:  Okay, you won’t see thin in the attached gallery, but the only thing that could sum up this creature is “dirty homeless dude with a huge vagina on his back.”  I cannot even begin to dissect this idea.  It’s supposed to be a hunchback that swallows your soul with a mouth on its back, or something… I don’t even care.

George:   George needs to be given a lesson on a color wheel, There are far more colors available than differing shades of red man.  What he has put forth this week looks like a skeleton that is draped in Kool-aide and bubble gum.  Not the worst, but by far not the best thing seen on the run way.

Graham:  This cockroach inspired creature should have took Top look.  You want to feel sick look it up in the gallery.  From the moment it went out, all I could do is writhe in my seat and feel sick to my stomach.  The neck piece is what sells it, I looks like he glued maggots down her throat, and ugh, it gave me a serious case of the hibby jibbies.

Matt: See silent hill… uninspired… next…    

Niko:  This was a large makeup and I give him full credits for that, the face was bullish and the horns were of a decent shape.  However, this bull monster’s face seemed a bit lopsided.  I didn’t fully read it as bull at first.  I read fuzzy, miss shaped, bug, animal thing.  The judges remarked that they were scared of it, really Graham turns your guts out but the fuzzy, bull bug scares you more?

Rashad:  Rashad’s demon character was a brilliant choice and I loved that her horns were so well done.  They really brought something to the creature, but the more I look the more I saw Pan’s Labyrinth and, although she was beautiful, I couldn’t say it was original.

Tanner:  I feel so bad for this guy.  It was heart breaking to watch everything he tried, it all just fell apart.  First the face, it was too teddy bear cute.  The nose was sunken in like my adorable frenchie puppy.  I just wanted to snuggle with it.  The next hiccup was the horns; they were just as I had originally thought, too heavy.  The weight seemed to break the head of the beast leaving nothing in their wake but, disappointment.  Finally, the plastic wrap… the character was literally falling apart as it walked down the run way.  There was no saving this travesty.

Tyler:  Oh my god, how this didn’t end up in top looks just blows my mind.  The details of the creature blew me away.  The vac sealed bubbles on the back contained insects and slime; the little legs sprouting from the well painted mouth piece.  It was all so brilliant.

The top looks were a collection of Corrine, Niko and Graham.  Each one had some very strong elements however, when they announced that Niko would be given the win, I can only say I was strongly against it.  Out of the three I would have gone with Graham’s gut wrenching monster.

The bottom contained Darren, Tanner and Cat.  No shock poor little Tanner was sent packing.  Slowly I’m starting to realize this season is total hit and miss.


Monster Gallery

Rock Flops and Other Strangeness

Once again we gather Tuesday night to watch the only reality game show where the goal is to become a complete monster, the SYFI favorite, Face Off.  With a short recap of the loss of Daniel last week to a slimy, fish looking dragon we bust in on our little monster makers making small talk.  It just seems so forced and dry when they are out of the lab.  Not to worry, soon they are called in for the first foundation challenge since the season opener.  I was wondering when they were going to bring back immunity challenges.

The foundation challenge brings our wonderful little minions into a garage where we meet the guest judge Patrick Tatopoulos.  With all his work on projects like Underworld and Stargate, the arena of action is like a second home to Patrick.  With his knowledge of creature and bikes he introduces an array of motorcycles and a challenge to create the creature that rides it.  What transpires is a trip from huh to cool to uninspired, because of the amount of people still in the game we don’t really get to see every ones makeup up close.  We do get a look at a bumble bee warrior from Tess, a primal/tribal post-apocalyptic princess, a ride to hell, and a ghost rider with a green and black color scheme.  The winner of the immunity prize?  Daren for his post-apocalyptic princess.

Let me take a moment right here.  I understand the time crunches and the need for instant turn out of the foundation challenge.  Given only a bike to create a character, the challenge poses the need to pull from the curves and bends of the machine.  This is why I loved Daren’s design.  He used the curves of the metal in the bike to inspire the coils of the hair and the bold copper color to accent a grey color scheme.  The exposed mechanics gave a great canvas to the idealist “mad max” mode of transport.  The only drawback is, that like most of the people in the competition this year he relies heavily on wardrobe.  He does give a complete makeup, but for this challenge, the wardrobe sold the character.

With immunity in the bag Daren can breathe a little easier as they move into the spotlight challenge.  The contestants are met with a room filled various odd shaped and colored guitars.  Working in teams of two the monster mavens must make a makeup that generates a character that is being taken over by one of the guitars.  The relief is that this week they get to pick their own partners.  Now as people swoop in on one another, I assumed no one would want Daren.  I wouldn’t a partner with immunity, if they don’t like our make-up, I would be the one leaving.  Well, George was willing to take that risk apparently as it seemed no one wanted to work with Matt or Tess who end up smashed together. 

Daren and George:  Daren picks a clear guitar with a few wooden accents, much to George’s dismay.  George’s lack of confidence in Daren’s design is so apparently obvious to everyone, except Daren.  Still on and on without too much incident the two work away at what would become at first bizarre and then quite incredible.  I give this gruesome twosome amazing props to be the only group to not try to build a creature with a guitar built into them.  Their white and wood painted creation was the only character to embody the guitar instead of morph into one.

Corinne and Graham:  From the “hip” guitar comes a paisley acid trip.  Yet another partnership that seems to work almost in sink as the two build an interesting take on bizarre hippie culture.  What I really loved about this creation was the paisley design in the skin.  Adding a pointed wig brought a lovely bit of whimsy that turned him from man into instrument.

Matt and Tess:  From the unlikely and unwanted pairing of these two sprang forth something foul.  They created a “rockabilly goat.”  The only thing missing at the reveal at my house was the little Asian guy in back going “Ha… GGAAAAYYY.”  This thing was an absolute mess.  It was like hell boy and Gary Busey had a three way with a goat, which wouldn’t be so horrible if it weren’t how it fell apart under a mild head shake.  Looking back on the creation of this “monstrosity” it’s clear it was doomed from its conception.  With Tess breaking down every other moment and Matt’s subpar painting skills, this team was bathed in fail.

Cat and Niko:  So fun story, apparently these two are dating… I’m trying to remember if I heard that before without looking back.  Well, a lid for every pot I suppose right?  Imagine if these two go to the finale together… Or better yet break up while filming… The tension in my made up drama is so much more intense than the spark between these two.  Their creation had about as much electricity as their relationship does.  They made the stereotypical bull demon.  The interesting part of this creature is that he is a solid form, which is a huge gamble when considering the amount of time it takes to sculpt and set the molds.

Chloe and Tanner:  It’s so angry! I mean angular.  The points on this red mess seem to go every which way but loose.  Both the caul and the face are so over worked in this piece that it detracts from the overall look.  The dark red and black begs for shading and the points on the face beg for shaving.

Rashad and Tyler:  This creation was so literal that it worked.  They worked hard to incorporated the actual mechanics of the guitar into a clear chest plate and cords into the face sculpt.  From far away the speckled design doesn’t translate in my opinion and the guitar neck horn type things jutting from the caul seem hokey at best.

In the end Daren grabs a full win for his work on the head sculpt of the guitar goddess while Tess is asked to pack her tools and leave.  If you ask me it’s been a long time coming and wasn’t a bit surprising.  The surprise is that I do not have a favorite at all yet.  I just want a contestant that I can care about.  Hopefully next week something will come along to melt my face off.     

Galley of the spotlight challenge