Face Off on SyFy is back with Season 9. New people, new challenges, new disasters.
The first challenge right off the bat is a doozy - no Foundation Challenge, straight to the Spotlight challenge: the contestants were paired and assigned to create an alien creature inspired by stuff from the Natural History museum, but not to be too literal. And the twist - they have to combine two models into one creature.
Naturally, there are big ideas, consultations with Neville and with Mr. Westmore, good advice delivered.
Okay, now for the results. First, I must be getting jaded, because I couldn’t help notice all the flaws, the problems, the WTFs. All of them had problems IMO. That said, it was a huge challenge out of the gate, so I think the judges took that into account and ignored some of my complaints out of [del]pity[/del] recognition of the scope of work, and looked for the best in the work.
Now for the detailed rundown.
Jasmine and Ricky, Alligator skin. What I liked about theirs was they didn’t do an alligator, they just took inspiration. They made an armor shelled back with the upright head and torso. I liked the overall paint job and the concept at that point. What I didn’t like - the number one failure for many of the teams was masking the human forms. Just like the body paint challenge last season, too many of them look like two humans stacked together. This one has the guy on the ground and the girl sitting on his back. But they didn’t do any drape or molding or masking to blend that form together, so you can see both independent body forms, especially in silhouette. That said, it was a somewhat interesting use of form - until they had the guy raise his head and pop up some red ass thing at the back. What was that supposed to be? Why? It ruined the elegance of the form, having the back run straight down armor plating and making one creature. Ultimately, they were Safe.
Jordan and Ben, Azurite with Malacite. First glance - it’s an unintelligent animal, why is it draped in cloth? That said, there is a lot going for this one. First and primarily, they did a superb job of masking the human form and making it look like a real creature, not human parts. They were probably the best at that part of the challenge. Second, the creature looks like some sort of alien dinosaur. It’s got a full body makeup (except for that stupid cloth), the sculpting and fabrication look interesting and organic, and the paint is good. (And the models did good puppetry to look like an animal moving around.) The judges loved the paint as well, and they give this one the Win. I can agree with that.
Omar and Kevon, Clam. They took inspiration from a giant clam shell, so they made a giant clam. :smack: The idea was to use the models’ arms to open the shell and then have the other pair of arms form a projecting mouth thing from inside. They undertook a huge amount of effort to sculpt the clam shells. They were going to use the models’ eyes, but Mr. Westmore told them not to, to avoid having two human faces inside the clam. Instead, this thing is a disaster. One of the judges called it SpongeBob the clam. The clam interior is a cluttered mess that for some reason looks kinda like a giant face, possibly not intentionally. The rubbery layer doesn’t work. And then the judges said for all the time and effort spent sculpting the shell, it looked like L200 foam with shapes cut in it. Bad concept, bad execution, about the only thing they liked was the idea of the hands forming the mouth protrusion. Bottom Look. I will say they took a huge risk integrating the two models the way they did, which means they couldn’t put the costume on the people until last looks. Also. they at least hid the bodies of the models.
Nora and Scott, Ram Horn. I liked the sculpt and paint job. The horns look like foam tubes not well shaped. I don’t know what the shell thing around the legs is, but at least it hides the form of the legs. I think the biggest weakness is the second model doesn’t appear to be used. It isn’t obvious he’s even there. Maybe a profile would have shown it, but we aren’t shown that. The judges give them Safe.
Evan and Sidney, Scorl Tormaline with Albite (minerals). This one I completely disagree with the judges. First off, it looks like a human form from the front, and is wearing a cape and carrying a staff. Neville chastised one of the other groups for their concept when it was an intelligent queen that forced miners to mine silver for her, but he lets this pass without comment that this alien is intelligent. Second, WTF is that giant rock left hand? And the thing on the back doesn’t make any sense, doesn’t look like the albite mineral (I think that’s the pale one) in texture. Okay, what the judges liked - the black rock mineral and paint job are very good, and the creature has tentacles out the back that the second performer shakes about. That and the overall form is reasonably covered to not look like two people together. Still, I thought this one was pretty bad, and the judges loved it. Top Looks.
Missy and Meg, Herbivore Jaw. They had problems that hampered their efforts, but still. Biggest problem is they didn’t do anything with the legs, so they are definitely two people legs in trousers. And the butt. Also, they went with brown colorings. Mr. Westmore specifically said if it turned out muddy he was going to kill them. Yep, it’s muddy. There is some okay detail in the sculpt on top of the head, but the mask is very rubbery and the paint hides the detail. The body is a baggy mess without real form. I thought this was pretty bad, but the judges gave it Safe.
Stevie and Libby, Native Silver. This was the one that had to rethink their concept after Neville didn’t like their queen idea. They designed this creature with a fake head on top to lure in prey and then a mouth below that would eat it. Right off the number one flaw that jumps out is they did not execute what they drew. The body positions of the models didn’t work out right. The concept had a taller person with longer legs and then a shorter person crouching below with head in the crotch area. But I guess part of the problem was doing this without the models present, because what they got was the guy on his knees and the girl straddling his head with her feet barely on the floor. It took out the multiple leg look and just looks like two people sitting on each other. Second flaw, the face in the crotch is too much like a face and the “decoy head” not enough like a face to be convincing in the concept. And my own complaint, the torso has boobs and even nipples. But Ve did love the paint job, capturing the look of the mineral. Bottom Look.
Jason and Brittany, Turtle Shell. They put the two models side by side with some shell thing for their feet and rubbery drapes over the shoulders and arms. They had decent sculpts and good paint. The rubbery drapes were liquid latex painted over cloth, and the folds in the cloth are still a bit evident, detracting slightly. Also, they should have hidden the models’ legs better. Having two legs together coming out of the single base doesn’t make any sense. Should have wrapped that so it looked like a single stalk. Still, it was pretty good. I’d have put it in Top looks, but the judges gave it Safe.
So, we get to the end and it’s time for eliminations. We have four candidates: Omar and Kevon (clam) and Stevie and Libby (native silver). The results, a surprise twist, nobody is eliminated. Because of the difficulty of the challenge, they gave this one as a free pass to see what people would do. Good news is we get another chance to see what these people can do.
I still don’t agree with the judges on Evan and Sidney and their Top look, but at least the other set won.