I really thought I saw that last season…I must be losing my mind. I can’t have forgotten that tin man’s face with the metal mask. Am I from the future!!!
Just watched this week’s episode. I absolutely think the right person went home. She just doesn’t have the skills to be in this group. Not saying she can’t get there, but she needs a job working as an apprentice with lots of guidance to develop her skills.
I also agreed about Jerry and Tara’s work. Jerry’s was pretty good, just a few issues with lines, but Tara’s just didn’t work the concept. She tried to stay with the black and white tones as an intentional “universe” choice, but it should have been about sticking vibrant color in the middle. Possibly orange. And then her pose was ridiculous, and the clothing choice was strange, and the paint was inadequate and didn’t convey clothing at all. Total fail all around on her part. But she did such an excellent job with the Scarecrow on her own, I didn’t want to see her gone yet. She’s got ability, it just didn’t come out in this piece.
And even though Jerry was on one of the losing teams again, this time it wasn’t his fault. He tried to get Tara to change her ideas about the colors, and his work was pretty good.
Well, it wasn’t really sketch show work, because they had an hour and a half to design and construct. But it was a very interesting challenge to see how they worked under time pressure and how they did at communicating through the piece, and adapting to what was there. I wouldn’t say they weren’t good - the demon and the green alien had some real ability and coherence. They weren’t particularly original, but there was quality within the constraints. The Star Princess was a mishmash because there wasn’t a clear concept, there wasn’t good lines laid down to guide the followers, so it was just “uh, what if I do this?” The individual elements were okay, just not coherent. The “zombie” was strange. On the one had, Jerry seemed to convey that it was a zombie pretty well with the original prosthetics, because the next guy immediately said “zombie”. And the eventual shape of the face and the blood spattering around the mouth worked well. But I wasn’t impressed with all the red shadowing, looked strange, did not say zombie. And WTF was with the yellow? That made no sense. I just slo-mo’d and confirmed that was Athena’s addition. Little miss “I’m a body painter” totally horked that.
I definitely agree with the judge’s decision and the reasons for it. Beki nailed that one and her team were great at follow up and execution.
Well, he did say he was going to go about seeing how to show that to as many people as possible, so if not the actual cover art, it will be somewhere in the album or something.
I thought the concept of the girl’s ass as the basketball was great. I thought the execution wasn’t that great. The ball was too small, and the lines not there. Matt did a great job with the difficult shoes, but the legs weren’t the right color. And there was distortion around the ball. But the integration of the two images was seamless. And Dope lady’s basketball guy came out well. Actually, though it was a disaster out of her control and she was stuck there for long hours, she did have one advantage in having a trial run at creating the paint and the “pants”.
Agreed. Also, the color could have been brighter too to make it pop. It kinda got lost in the background unless you were looking for it.
Just started watching this show this season and I’m enjoying it, as is my wife. We know nothing about makeup, but also nothing about fashion, modelling, & dancing, and very little about cooking and still enjoyed PR, ANTM, SYTYCD, ABDC, Top Chef etc. 
Same formula, another genre.
Yes! It needed to be brighter. Like orange.
Makes me wonder if, while the painting was being done, she was more relaxed, and when it was time for the photo she tightened up her glutes a bit.
Now THAT was an excellent episode!
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Great focus on the fabrication techniques, and on the painting/sculpting skills. It showed who had the creativity, and had the skills to back it up. The younger contestants definitely had the tougher road, as the older ones had the plain old experience in doing “stuff” that made their time mangement skills crucial.
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Excellent, EXCELLENT work on highlighting the artist’s work, AND in reducing the amount of judging to the crucial bits required to show how the decisions were made. I was really proud that the judges could see that the adherence of the mask to that guy’s throat was simply a lack of time to do it right, rather than a hit on the guy’s experience or ability.
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Loved the judges’ comment on how the ice character would have looked better with a half-cup of diamond dust on it. The light that went off in the contestants’ eye was just perfect – and went to show the inexperience of the artist, versus how the pros would do it.
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I’m glad they noticed that the sideways-mouth that Brea did sucked ass, AND that it was a direct call back to the previous job she worked on. I’m glad to see her go.
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Personally, I hated the rope design more. It was just… dull and flat. The insipid mask was just awful.
Overall, I really enjoyed the show. They focused more on the work, and really cut back on the judging critiques.
Watched last night’s episode. I really liked this episode. There was only one challenge, not two. We got to see each person responsible for their own character, from start to finish. They had to conceptualize and build the character all by themselves. It really put everyone to the full task of special effects costume designer.
I wasn’t thrilled with the gimmick of waking up in the middle of the night and going to the “haunted” abandoned hospital. And they focused on the overreactors, not the guy who (presumedly) was thinking “geez, folks, you work in special effects, can’t you recognize staging when you see it?”
The idea of creating a villain from phobias was interesting. Some inventive ideas.
The walk through by the judges was fascinating. They get an early status on concepts, feel out what’s going on without trying to direct too much or criticize too much. Let the competitors do their thing. And as always, the experts spotted early concerns that the competitors ended up wrestling with later. Like Sue and the combination of pieces not working as well as the individual pieces on their own. Or Tara. She struggled to come up with a concept for Ommetaphobia - fear of eyes. Then she finally sculpted a mask to put eyes and horns on, and had made a full face mask for her female model that was essentally a female face. The judges questioned that, but quietly and not to her. Sure enough, she eventually came up with the same concern, and cut down the mask to the parts with the eyes and horns, and cut off the bottom half. They approved her design change, if the overall concept was weak.
For the top looks, we had Beki, Ian (redheaded guy), and Rayce (stocky guy). Rayce had Cryophobia - fear of ice and frost. The judges really liked his creativity and original look, even though the appliance pulled up around the neck. Beki is just awesome. She had Paracitaphobia, and made this scary parasite lady. She really kicked ass. From her concept nailed right away, from jumping right into sculping and sculpting the hell out of it, and then she had her stuff done for the day so she jumped in and helped other people clean up their stuff. Way to go. Too bad that wasn’t on the judging criteria.
Ian had Dentophobia - fear of teeth. He came up with a very scary looking dental monster, with a tooth-shaped head and teeth coming out everywhere. Excellent look. The judges really liked his, and the way he used sara wrap for texture on the chest. I would have liked to see a closeup of the finished product there. Ian got the win for his creativity and execution.
For bottom looks, we had Athena, Jerry, and Brea. The consistent trait of these three people seems to be overconfidence. Each seems to think they have better skills than they are demonstrating.
Athena had Merinthophobia - the fear of being bound. She came up with some sort of abused woman concept who was taking out revenge. But her sculping was not good - she tried to make emaciated looking ribs and inverted them - they bulged out. And she didn’t do a good job with painting and coloration. Plus, as one of the judges said, the directionality of the ropes was bad. I don’t think she’s really ever done bondage. 
Jerry had Electrophobia - fear of electricity. His concept was to come up with a 1930s style psychiatrist who had embedded electroshock into her own skull and such. Um, okay. But the judges made some offhand comment about if he was going to use lighting and have it blink, and he took that as direction and wasted time trying to rig lights to blink rather than focus on the make up. And then the judges called him on that. Also, he made a risky decision that did not go his way. He cast a facial appliance out of silicone, but when it came time to apply, he decided he didn’t like it and would mold a new one. So he had to set up a new mix of silicone in a different color and try to let it set up. So he took the whole mold to the “last looks” phase to apply, only it didn’t come out of the mold right. It was too soft and gooey, so he had to use the first one anyway. And then the coloration was off, and he didn’t have long to do make up and painting. In the end, his work came of poorly conceived, and not matching the phobia well, and not showing burn marks from the electricity. Which means he’s been in the Low looks the last 3 challenges. That’s not looking good for him.
Brea had Chemophobia, fear of chemicals. Her concept wasn’t bad, she was going for someone mutilated by chemical exposures, and she thought she had a cake walk because her day job is making injury applicances for medical and emergency response teams. But her execution was bizarre, with teeth in strange places and not anatomically right. “Does she realize how shitty her piece is?” “No, because she’s spent the last two hours lovingly painting it.”
In the end, Brea got the axe, which is fitting. Yea, the “dope” lady is gone! Like I said, overconfidence.
I think I’m rooting for Beki. She’s got good skills, she’s consistently been high (one mere pass, which I thought deserved better, and that was teamed with Miranda, the girl who didn’t know how to do much), and she works fast and well. The judges even commented on that. The walk through they observed just how much she had sculped and completed, and the end result was quality work, not shoddy. It’s one thing to be fast, but you have to have good work, too, which she does. She’s one one foundation challenge, and been on one team that won a Spotlight Challenge. She’s consistently doing top work. No one else is near as consistent.
Looking at their records (conveniently summarized here)
I’d say that Jerry doesn’t look like he’ll be around long. Athena’s record is misleading, because her “high” ratings were team efforts with other skilled folks who did more of the work. Tara seems to have problems with conceptualizing. Matt is deceptively quiet. RJ just seems to be getting by. Doing okay work, but nothing outstanding. Sue has had a similar experience, other than her first outing with the Cowardly Lion that she carried Athena.
I am definitely hooked!
And thus, I am glad he didn’t get sent home.
Docking him for the screwups, like the second face mold, and issues with his sculpt is perfectly fair, but they were doing a lot of talking about how he’d wasted time on the lights, which was not part of his original idea, but a path Savini sent him down (note his ‘now I have to make blinking lights!’). If he’d gotten sent home for ‘wasting time’ on something suggested to him by the judges, it would have been supremely unfair.
I disagree, while they made a recommendation about lights, but he still needed to make them incorporated into the total character. Savini consistently said the makeup was just wrong, the burns were not the right kind and while the lights were a nice touch, he completely dropped the ball on the makeup.
I figured out what Brea was trying to do with her weird teeth thing: she was trying to portray the cheeks as having melted away exposing the teeth at the back of the mouth. The problem of course was the front of the mouth was closed and the teeth anatomy was all wrong, it didn’t look like she used molars and the jawline was simply wrong. Hers was the most that looked like a Halloween mask, which is not a compliment.
i thought Athena should go because it was just a total mess, IMO. My wife thinks she got to stay because she tries to bring the sexy with her tight dresses and cleavage and it influences the judges. I dunno about that.
What also was impressive was the response of the models. I must say that the one Asian actor that was the Zebrafish was also the Razor Doctor, and he did his damndest to sell both characters. I think his involvement really helped both times. I wonder if the artists choose their models based solely on physique, or if they take into account the acting ability of the model.
It’s a bit of “is this a recommendation or something to consider?” That’s why they try to limit their comments, because they don’t want to influence the end product. In that case, the guy saw lights and asked about them, and Jerry agreed rather than saying “maybe” or “something like that” or “I was thinking about it”. But in the end, it doesn’t matter what the judge said there, the important point is the end result. Does the end result match the task description? Did the end product form a cohesive whole, and convey the character it is supposed to? The blinking lights would be a fine enhancement, but if they weren’t working, he should have ditched them and just accepted they weren’t there. The judges would have been much happier with good makeup and no lights, blinking or otherwise, than they were with what they got. Jerry made bad decisions. He did not convey electricity in the effects/damage to the character, and he wasted time with the mold that didn’t work out. He would have been better off using the original with the color issues right off and painted more on it. If he could have redone the mold earlier, it might have been worth the trade off, but to not even see it, he then spent 20 minutes twiddling his thumbs while it cured. If he’d done the mold earlier and tested it before, and realized he needed a new one, he could have still done that on the second day, and then been further ahead on day three.
Hey, I’m second guessing with benefit of hindsight. If the second mask had come out better and been used, that might have helped the color a bit. But the thing is, he still probably wouldn’t have done the burn marks, because he didn’t think of that.
Part of the challenge is staying true to your own vision. Matt got that lesson on the first spotlight challenge, when the collective redesigned his scarecrow face to something he liked less, and the judges also liked it less and preferred his original concept.
Yeah, I know what she was going for, but this is the second time she’s gone for teeth through the cheek (her first foundation challenge with the zippers), and it hasn’t worked out right either time. For somebody who makes a living making realistic looking trauma makeup, she has a very poor grasp of anatomy. By the way, there was a similar comment to the Men’s Wicked Witch that Jerry did. They eroded away the lips and exposed the teeth, and the judges didn’t like it then, either.
I wouldn’t have complained if Athena was sent, because she just can’t sculpt. Her Cowardly Lion paws were dreadful. But I think Brea’s end result was worse.
I doubt at first, although I might start considering it now. Obviously, you have to start with the character concept, and if you want a female character, a male actor isn’t the best choice. But it’s certainly something to pay attention to. But I was actually more impressed with the subtle behavior of the tooth demon than the antics of the razor guy.
[Edna Mode voice]No teeth on the outside![/EDv]
I was glad to see Athena go. After those atrocious paws she made early on, I’ve been eager to see the last of her.
I also agreed with the winner. That chameleon/orchid creature was awesome!
And although I think Beki is extremely talented, was she not a total bitch tonight?
Yeah, it was Athena’s time. Although I’m really starting to despise Sue. I don’t fault Beki’s bitchiness at all! I think that if Beki hadn’t had immunity, she’d have put up a HUGE fight against putting all that “puke” on the spider costume, and she would have won.
I can definitely see Beki’s point of view. Having to work with Sue, and her constant need for reinforcement, and her passive-aggressive-whiny attitude would make me have to cement her mouth shut.
Personally, I’m most impressed with Ian. Seems like a nice kid, he’s genuinely helpful to others, and he was damn quick to give credit where credit was due.
Cheetah-Iris woman was good, but it was just too derivative. I think they should have definitely done something with the stomach.
And yeah, snake-guy definitely needed pants or something. It just didn’t work.
Overall, I was again impressed with the judging, and the way the show was edited. All of the relevant stuff was left in – and the personality conflicts shown were directly relevant to the final designs, rather than being manufactured conflicts.
I really, really love this show.
I liked it when they called Beki on not being a team-player - “You have immunity, and you threw your teammate under the bus. Nice.” I don’t know what Sue thought she was going to accomplish by asking other people’s opinions rather than Beki’s, though - that wasn’t cool, either.
What do you figure they are going to do with Sue? Tell her to shape up and quit being a whiner?
Was this left as a cliffhanger? My TiVo cut off just as they called on her.
Yes.
I agree with all of this. Beki basically checked out because she had immunity. While everybody else had a teammate to help and provide guidance (I am sure other folks had bad ideas that their teammates worked with them on), Beki just basically left Sue fall on her own sword. Sure Sue screwed up, but Beki was just an extra pair of hands and did not participate. Yeah, Sue shouldn’t have gone to others, but one gets the feeling she wasn’t get the collaborative vibe from Beki.
The winners this week was really awesome. And Athena had to go, plus there was almost no flowers in that.
Yup, team Sue here, not team Beki. Despite her talent, Beki has a knack for stirring up drama.
Thankfully, Athena did even worse. I felt sorry for Tara, though. I thought she had some good ideas that could have turned out better if she didn’t have to babysit Athena. That snake was beautiful, it’s the one I would have picked. Too bad the stalks wouldn’t stick, leaving what looked like open pustules…
Of course the one to really feel sorry for was the poor zookeeper who had to schlep a rhino over there for nothing. 
My only issue with seeing athena gone is that she was clearly a 'makeup goddess" - that episode where they woke them up in the middle of the night with 15 mins to get to teh scary place - she had perfect (for her) makeup!
otherwise, she may be talented, but she never really got to show it - judges decision was spot on.