Agree with you about George’s head - that was just a mess. And conceptually, I think it was a bit off. With creepy-crawlys, the fear - to me, at least - is that a whole bunch of them will crawl all over you. So even though Damien’s clown was flawed, the bunch of little spiders erupting from beneath the skin creeped me the hell out, more than Drew’s one big spider would have, even if he’d done a better job. The close-up on Damien’s clown left me squirming.
As good as Cig’s was, Sasha I think deserved the win. I couldn’t tell if the cracks were painted or sculpted. If they were painted, then that’s about the best trompe l’oeil paint job I’ve yet seen. Plus, the decision to use classical Pierrot clown face fit the doll and the concept. It was a beautiful makeup.
I thought this was a pretty entertaining episode, it definitely felt like we were seeing new things. Cig’s and Sasha’s looks were both absolutely fantastic, on the short list of bets Face Off makeups ever.
I agree, but think I would have given the win to Cig because he made a clearly evil clown. Also – degree of difficulty – coming up with a clown that encapsulates your fear of water? Not easy. Sasha’s was well done, but only creepy if you have a thing about old dolls. But both were excellent.
I was very pleased that Dina took Westmore’s advice and retrenched and came up with a pretty good concept. Again, the degree of difficulty of “fear of tornados” is just off the charts.
One odd thing about tonight’s show – at one point Stella asked George to make a mold of his arm and he very nicely did so. But that makes no sense – what contestant in Face Off has ever had a spare half hour to sit around with their arm in goop? They’re usually running around like headless chickens in a fire drill. There must be random production assistants wandering around the set who aren’t trying to beat a three-day deadline – why not use one of them?
Yeah, it’s this kind of behavior that actually keeps me watching Face Off. So many shows are about watching a dozen assholes bashing each other as they scramble to the bottom. Face Off shows a lot of cooperation between contestants, even when they’re not on team projects.
I am ALREADY afraid of clowns, so this episode was nutty. I could have done without the performance or whatever that was.
I absolutely agree with Sasha for the win. Her doll clown was creepy as all get out, and it looked so finished and polished. At first when it came out and the hair was all pouffy, I was thinking it was too bad she spent so much time with pulling the hair plugs through the wig because it would be so hard to see, but the judges still noticed it!
Man, every week I find Cig really annoying, but I can’t deny he usually comes up with great stuff. I thought his clown was scary, and I liked how it truly did look like a water-logged dead thing. (Even so, I was thinking for pete’s sake, does he have to be afraid of dark water? Can’t he just be afraid of water like normal kids? Does even his childhood fear need to be esoteric?)
I’m a little iffy on Dina’s because even though it was good, I think not being impressive from far away should be more of a strike at this point in the season.
Stella’s monster under the bed - I liked this concept but it didn’t seem quite put together enough.
George’s worm thing was meh. As was Rachael’s cockroach. Okay, here is a gripe I have had in past seasons as well. So they need to incorporate their childhood fear into a clown. It is possible that someone could have come up with an awesome way to combine worms and clowns, or cockroaches and clowns, BUT … neither George nor Rachael seemed to have a truly inspired idea. This is the time, where if I were a contestant, I would think “okay, what other ideas do I have for things that go with clowns?” It’s not like anyone is phoning their mothers to confirm their childhood fear. As an example, a twitchy rat might make for a better clown combo than a cockroach … just say you were afraid of rats as a kid. WHATEVER.
I thought the two spiders were both very bad, and that I wouldn’t have quibbled if either one had gone home.
Stella’s did not deserve Top looks regardless of what you think of Sasha’s. I thought the concept Sasha did was superb, and I thought her execution was superb. The texture, the coloration, the application was flawless, and the details with the hair all tied to make an outstanding makeup. Now I admit Cig did an impressive job, and the win could have gone to either IMO, and I thought the judges might lean that way because of the quality and the creepy, but I can’t argue Sasha being in Top looks, and to a degree I understand rewarding the risk-taking. She twisted the concept to fit her fear. As Glen said, that’s what win’s challenges, so it won this challenge.
I didn’t like George’s, and could have seen his in bottom looks. In particular, not realizing his paint schemes didn’t match until after he was done applying the basecoat was a workmanship flaw. His giant worm arms but tiny worm face thing was strange, but making the face covered with worms could be creepy if done right. But just as a whole it didn’t work for me, especially the clown look. However, the judges saw some merit in the arms and decided he had more than the two others.
The big cracks were sculpted, but I don’t know if all the little cracks were, or if some of them were paint. That would be a sensible mix to me. But it wasn’t just the cracks, it was the coloration hint she took from Mr. Westmore to age the porcelain that really helped sell the aged look.
Well, you do have a point that Cig’s was pretty evil and scary all around, whereas Sasha’s relied on the dead-eyed dolly to be creepy. But it really did fit what a creepy doll for a kid should look like - it’s not intrinsically evil, just there’s something around the edges that unnerve.
Oh, absolutely. I’m trying to think how I would make a scary tornado clown. I think her rethink was a lot stronger. Like I said, her one weak point in that design was there could have been more big effects to the body.
I don’t know for sure, but I bet there’s some rule that you can’t use any of the production people for assistance. Otherwise you’d have them help you lift your heavy molds, clean molds out, etc. No, I’m certain the rules state you can only use contestants for your work.
There have been a couple times I’ve seen them put the actors to work. It’s usually something small like base coat painting some part of their body. One contestant in season 2 had the actor fabbing something, but that only happened that episode, and there’s probably a rule on that now.
She purposely left a patch where the hair was pulled out to show the look. I think that was one of the other contestant’s suggestions.
From the video of MacKenzie at the challenge reveal, she drew upon a survey they took before the start of the season, and she assigned these tasks based upon the survey. So if they thought that far ahead and cheated on the survey, that’s one thing. But they couldn’t change their fear, these were assigned by MacKenzie.
They both sucked. The spiders all over is creepier than the one big spider, but it’s also the lowest hanging fruit on concept, and the clown was absolutely abysmal in design.
Me, too. They’re actually nice to each other, and I buy them being sad for whichever one goes home in a given week. You can also see them congratulating each other on the reveal stage. I imagine that the artists who make it past the first two or three episodes begin to bond with each other like recruits in boot camp do. I do know that right now, Laura Tyler and Roy Wooley are working together on The Hunger Games, with Ve Neil.
That helpful attitude is what also keeps my wife and I watching. For many seasons now, if someone asks for help, a lot will drop what they are doing to help. That makes a better show for me than them being jerks to each other.
Sasha’s dolls worked for me as they can creep me out. Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose helped with that.
We confirmed that the guy who went home works on clown make ups and is known for it. So that’s got to be a bummer. But as others have said, it wasn’t great.
I agree the worm guy needed to either match up head to arms or arms to head and especially with colors. I was surprised he wasn’t bottom but not going home.
I thought Dina’s was done well from a technical angle. Yes, not a lot, but enough to tell the story, which is why she got top looks.
I did miss this, thanks for clarifying! The show’s start time comes right after my kid’s bedtime, so I am often still fielding some “MOM! I DROPPED MY BEAR!” inquiries from the bedroom and end up missing parts of the set-up.
I know using childhood fears has come up on past seasons, I wonder if it was the same situation where they were asked ahead of time.
Cig’s was amazing, and I probably wouldn’t have complained (much) if he’d won, but here’s why I think Sasha deserved it.
It looked real. Between the missing pieces and the cracks and the authentic paint job, if you’d showed me a still photo of that makeup and told me it was a real doll, I’d have believed you. (Except maybe for the eyes, but what’re you gonna do?)
It was creepy. Not everyone here agrees, but I thought it was creepy as hell. Yes, Cig’s was scarier. But this was scary enough.
It was beautiful. The paint job was extraordinary. It perfectly mimicked old porcelain, and it perfectly mimicked the style of painting on those old dolls. But what’s more, it was beautiful. She managed to make something that was creepy and scary while also being esthetically pleasing.
The only way it could possibly have been improved would have been less hair, more holes. But that’s just my opinion.
Well, another great episode. I agreed with the top and bottom looks. I personally would have given the win to Cig, (though I’m not familiar with runny noses being a stereotype of nerds), but I’m equally happy with Drew’s win. Both were great. And I really thought that George should have gone home. His look was so unfinished. Yeah, Rachael hid the ears and couldn’t attach the horns, but I still thought it was better than George’s.
I’m a little surprised they only had two top and bottom looks. If they would have gone top three then I would have kept Stella safe, and put Dina in the top and Sasha in the bottom for the following reasons.
Dina - The judges thought it was too cartoonish, but that didn’t bother me. I thought it looked great and hit the mark on Goblin and nerd.
Sasha - As she said, it read more alien. And a Cyclops is supposed to have one eye. That is what really bothered me.
I find myself in strong disagreement with the judges this time.
Stella, Emo Minotaur: I loved it. I thought it was the best up there. I liked that she went cow instead of bull, and that Lois called Glen on that. It looked so right to me.
Drew, Emo Faun: I can’t fault anything the judges said. The work was exquisite, the look was perfect, and the actor sold it with the attitude. Out of their Top picks he’s definitely the win.
Dina, Goblin Nerd: I loved this look. I thought she nailed the challenge in every aspect. The judges said something about the face needing more texture, but it all worked very well to me.
Cig, Faun Nerd: I wasn’t as thrilled by this as the judges. I didn’t like the shape of the face in the nose, the runny nose isn’t really a nerd thing but whatever. The painting was great with the freckles and all, but the sculpt on the ears had texture issues, and there’s a huge seam line down the right side of the head. I jumps out. I can’t see how they put him in Top looks over Dina and Stella. I’d let them argue Drew over Stella, but not this. I would have put him Safe at best.
Rachael, Faun Cheerleader: Her concept was great, the art she drew was a great concept. It’s too bad that’s not what she executed. The judges really nailed all the issues with this one. The face texture and execution on the legs was bad quality, and once again a contestant hid the best part of their work in this case with the hair. I thought the ears were going to be bigger, but when she lost the horns then she really needed the ears to stand out, and they didn’t. The leg thing was an interesting approach. I was wondering if she was going to try stilts, which is what her artwork suggested. I accept the judge’s comment that if you are going to go small on forms, you have to go exquisite on application, and she had lots of problems. Still, I liked her efforts better than George.
George, Goblin Jock: Gah. Just dreadful. Okay, the mullet was fine, but everything about the sculpt was trash. Compare his goblin with the tiny ears to Dina’s with the huge ears. Why did he think that would be a goblin? Yes, I see he was going for the no-neck football jock, but what he made was junk. Out of their two, I would have pitched him on execution. Yes, Rachael had problems, but his was garbage.
Sasha, Cyclops Cheerleader: So Sasha is aware that “Cyclops” means “round eye”. Great, but the mythological character has always been depicted with one eye. I think there’s some Greek translation issues, she should have stuck with mythology. Even more so, a Cyclops in Greek myth is basically human in shape, but gigantic. Where did the V shaped head and the shoulders come in, the numerous wrinkles? Suddenly on stage she realizes it looks like an alien. I wish that Michael Westmore had pounded her harder on his critique. I get that he’s not trying to stifle anyone’s concepts and make them do his ideas, so he’s being careful to say “That doesn’t read like a cyclops” instead of “that’s wrong in every way, start over”. But holy shit. I was sure this had to be bottom looks for failing the concept - she’s not a Cyclops, and she’s not a cheerleader. Seriously, that rainbow dress isn’t a cheerleader outfit. The only two things in her favor are (1) hiding the eyes with the wrinkles, though it could have been masked a little better if some of the other wrinkles were as big; (2) the quality of her work (application and paint) was far better than either Rachael or George. So you’re arguing failing the concept against not being able to sculpt, glue, and paint. In the past, failing the concept has gotten the loss, but usually the other elements are more even. This time, the other two they picked for Bottom looks were far worse in application.
So Sasha is safe once again. Was there any pressure on being their save to justify keeping her, or was their decision based purely on quality of execution over concept fail?
I think they’re doing a great job this year of having really creative and fun challenges. It’s not just zombie/werewolf/alien like it felt the last few seasons.
This was a fun episode, although I was 100% certain that Dina’s goblin nerd was on top. It was by far the most fun and creative, and seemed perfectly executed from what we could see.
Absolutely agree! They still have plenty of horror-based challenges but I think they have thrown in some fun and creative new ideas.
I’m with Irishman in that I think it should have been George who left. Both his and Rachael’s were bad … but his was both bad and the results didn’t seem like he had even tried to do a lot of work.
And I also thought Dina’s was one of the best, and I would have switched it out for Cig’s as top looks. One thing about Cig’s minotaur, though … I really got a lot of emotion from that character, even though there were some technical issues (I thought, but the judges didn’t seem to care). So perhaps that was part of it’s appeal.
My husband said that he felt like Glen’s line about Stella’s minotaur not looking like a bull was staged, so that the producers could get that point in there. I’ve never really gotten the impression that the show did this very often, but to him, it was striking how scripted it sounded, and he thinks Glen is smart enough to know that a girl minotaur is a cow. Hmmm.