Eddie’s look was just… odd. I couldn’t tell at all what it was supposed to be or how it related to Envy. And the paint just looked messy and confusing. I’d put Eddie and Frank in the bottom.
No surprise at who went home this week. That makeup was a huge mess! What was he thinking?
And I was so glad to see this Roy again. It was the same genius that we saw so much of in his season. He really is great at going big and over the top.
Eddie’s was extremely odd, but what totally did him in was that he couldn’t explain it. Just saying it was aesthetic choice doesn’t cut it, there needs to be some rationale behind your choices. You can make almost any makeup work if you make the right design choices that convey the story.
If Laney would’ve done a better job on the face sculpt so it was more reflective of a human face than an alien face it would have looked so much better. It just had some weird stuff going on.
I thought Tate’s was the best, actually, in the sense that it seemed like it was camera ready. But I get why Roy’s won, I totally dug it and he pulled it off extremely well. It wasn’t quite as finished as Tate’s, but it was far more ambitious.
Laura as usually did a flawless job in her sculpt and he paint job. Her main problem was simply getting the humor out of it.
Miranda’s was a complete meh. The paint job was plain, I was not a fan necessarily of the comical facial features. I assume she was third from bottom.
One other thing, I was exceedingly impressed with the Grim Reaper challenge. I thought all six did fantastic jobs in such a short time. I realize it is only a face make-up and not a massive concept, but i almost feel like they focus better under such time constraints.
Completely agree! I was impressed with all of them, and there were some I thought were outstanding. Even Eddie, I liked his tree root approach.
For the regular challenge, FINALLY Eddie is sent home. His design was weird, there’s nothing else much to say about it.
Again I thought Laney had a good concept, but was weaker on the execution. I thought it was interesting when Neville said that she needs to not make every character design an extension of her own personality, which is so true – she almost always goes for the waifish, cute, rocker look. In some ways, taken one at a time, I personally like a lot of her designs because she will often go for whimsical or merely fantastic (as in, like fantasy) designs when everyone else goes for horror, even when horror is not explicitly part of the challenge. But I can see, when taken as a whole, that her body of work is too much the same, and that would be a tough thing as a professional when presumably you are being hired to either create or support a look that is unique to the finished product.
This didn’t seem to be a natural fit for Laura, she seemed not to get the funny from the start, but overall, a great job. I think her model really sold the humorous aspects, too … another model might not have presented as well.
I loved Tate’s concept, although I was expecting the face itself to be a little more “TV host”-ish, I think that’s where most of the humor is. To me, it seemed like you could put that head on a serious ghost character and it would still work just fine.
Mostly I am excited that there wasn’t as much screen time with Miranda complaining and whining this week.
And Roy, it was neat to see everyone cracking up when he was trying the on costume pieces, and the judges really did laugh out loud. For a top look, it felt a little stiff to me – there wasn’t a lot of movement, but I think that could also be a factor with the model. Someone who was more animated might have made it seem a little more dynamic. I had a hard time figuring out the face of the top character – it seemed sad, but why?
I would have gotten kicked off last night.
When Glen Hettrick said “All your makeup choices don’t make sense! It must make some logical sense!”
I would have answered “Like the logical sense of a 50 year old man wearing eyeliner and goth makeup?”
And yeah, I was happy Roy was back, but I did like Tate’s better.
Good episode.
First off, Eddie was let go, and it was time, but I did see two good things from Eddie last night. First off, his Grim Reaper root face was very good work, and it had some interesting elements that Patrick liked with the split in the face. Second, he started his Spotlight Challenge with a “doctor” figure that was neither scary nor funny, but he recognized that his design was failing, and so he started over. And his concept for the ghost batter was moving the right direction for funny. So I do have to give him praise for that amount of awareness.
But both his pluses just serve to highlight what I think is his big weakness, conceptualizing. He just doesn’t seem to be able to grasp the meaning of the challenge, of how to make a sensible approach. Take his Grim Reaper - it had some good work going on, but what about the rootface really said Grim Reaper? At least Miranda had a story for the snake scales, with the Reaper taking on the fears of the victim. Eddie had a sculpt with no story.
Same thing with the doctor. What the hell was that mask thing? Where was he going with that? And then the baseball player - once again, that was a giant What the Fuck? The green color, the stylized stretched points, the hat smeared into the head, the funky eye shapes - none of it made any sense. He just said it was an aesthetic choice. Well, it doesn’t work that way. You can select an aesthetic choice on small details, but you really need justification for why your character looks the way it does. Not being able to explain your choices means you didn’t think them through and how they apply to the character.
I don’t know if that’s something he can learn.
The Grim Reapers were overall pretty good work. I think Roy had some good ideas but then lost it in the paint job, a bit too much black going on.
As far as the Spotlight Challenge, this was one that seemed to allow them a lot more creative diversity. They weren’t constrained to make seaweed creatures, or werewolves, but rather had the creative freedom to conceptualize with broad limits. So we see the greatest amount of variety in concepts.
Miranda’s idea could probably have worked if explored, but it didn’t really work as executed. Not only was the purple weird and the noses odd, but then it just didn’t really say funny the way it was pulled off, and the paint was incomplete. I see why she was safe, not bottom looks, but this wasn’t her challenge.
Eddie’s was a disaster from top to bottom, even with his start over.
Laney’s concept was good but her execution didn’t work. First off, I agree the head shapes did not make sense and did not say human. Furthermore, it didn’t really show the embedding of the equipment into her body right, the fusing of the amp into her chest. That did not come across. The lightning strike wasn’t obvious. It just didn’t seem to tell the story she gave. So it was a bad result for her, but not the complete disaster the Eddie was.
Tate had a very good idea and I thought a good execution. It seemed funny to me, so I don’t know why he was only deemed safe and not top looks. I thought it would be him and Roy on top.
Laura’s mad scientist had good sculpting, but I wasn’t a fan of the green, and agree it was weak on the funny. That’s why I would have made her safe instead of top looks.
And then there’s Roy. His concept was great, his execution really worked. The short stepping walk really sold the funny. All three judges were busting out laughing. It really was well done and a great concept. Well deserved win.
Updating my stats review, Roy gets a Win, Laura another High, and Laney a Low, means the top three are still Roy, Laura, and Miranda.
Somebody over at wikipedia is messing around, the results table is filled in through the winner. :mad: (I don’t know how to edit it. It’s got some weird coding to make the table I can’t read, and I can’t figure out reverting to earlier versions.)
Finally, when the challenge was given as a funny but scary character, I think we can all agree the best one was Glenn.
I generally agree with this assessment of Eddie, and ESPECIALLY with the baseball player. But funnily enough, my husband said the same thing as you about the Grim Reaper … what about roots is related to the Grim Reaper? This choice really worked for me, though … he’s the guy who is dragging you into the grave, so I felt it made a lot of sense that he would have a literal “crawling out of the crypt” look. The fact that we had such different opinions about the look made me really wish we could see all the footage that was edited out … was Eddie able to explain his choices for the Foundation Challenge?
Generally, my theory is that the times Eddie hit on a good look, it was through luck or accident (or working under the direction of others), for exactly the reasons you described. I felt maybe a tiny, tiny bit bad about my satisfaction that he’s off the show, because even when departing he was very good natured about it.
Well, I finally got caught up last night.
Had Eddie been familar with the history of baseball, he might have been able to save himself by doing a House of David player from the 1930s with the long hair and beard. Something went very wrong with the team bus and everyone got out in time except that player; he and the bus ended up going over a cliff.
Well, it was too bad to see Laney leave like that. I don’t think she was ever going to win, but it is not nice to see someone kind of lose it. There is a part of me that gets annoyed when these folks up and quit, though, because there are a hundred other people who would love to be in her place.
Noting much else to say this week. Miranda lucked out, because that was seriously the worst final look possibly in the history of the show. Roy had a great sculpt, for another challenge (clearly had no idea what an elf should look like, looked more like a goblin to me). Laura, again, shows the technical and artistic skills that set her apart from most of the other competition, but again lacked the “next level” creativity. And Tate shows why he is there, technically great and he also is more creative in his thinking that Laura at least lately). It seems to me it is between Tate and Laura. Roy is struggling right now and Miranda seems to be letting the pressure get to her.
So help me, if Miranda somehow wins this thing, i’m going to cut a bitch.
I don’t know what’s up with Roy. He seems… tired. He’s not acting like his perky, excited self anymore, like he’s been beaten down by the judges once too often and he’s gunshy.
I think, right now, its a close competition for first, between Tate and Laura. It depends entirely on their time management on the next competition.
I think if Laney had just taken a nice nap, with perhaps a blankie and cookie, she’d have been OK. Not surprised to see her go, though.
One thing about Roy’s sculpt - he started out with pointier ears and nose - and Laura ‘suggested’ otherwise - to go smaller/less obvious - While Roy’s was definitely ‘bottom’ compared to the other two - I don’t fault him for not being enough ‘elf like’ - lots of interpetations possible there - (he was a stunted elf, picked on by others who compensated with his SUPER HUGE BRAIN).
As for the "head to big for a frail body’ - clearly these judges have never seen a Talosian.
Miranda, IMHO, should have been sent home for ‘cheating’ where it comes to how much work she had the model doing - cleaing out a mold and helping make the makeup? Not sure that was kosher.
Good assessment.
I don’t know what “Occult Abilities” means. How distinct from “Psychic Powers”?
Here’s an observation - when they’re doing set ups like this, they have those elaborate props like those saracen stones from last night. Somebody is getting paid to set those things up.
It’s sad that Laney walked out - she was the only newbie left. She just got too homesick to be able to focus. Unfortunately, in the state she was in, she would likely have not been very productive.
Yes, they dropped that comment about substandard work getting a pass. The only other person to walk out was that guy in season two, who was a total dick, and at least he walked out during the judging.
What the hell happened to Miranda? Let the stress get to her indeed. She got caught up in her sculpt and didn’t really know what she wanted to do with that headdress, and kept reworking the part. That was a disaster, and it affected the sculpt design because she ended up shaping the ears to make the mold work better rather than looking anatomical. Then she was so behind on application day she basically had no time to do anything, even with her model pitching in like a trooper. But yeah, just a giant meltdown.
Roy did a good head sculpt and a good paint job, but as everyone has said, for a different challenge. Goblin is right. That, and his decision with regards to the proportioning.
Laura’s craftsmanship was excellent again, and even when the scarification didn’t work out, the tribal painting was an acceptable back up that conveyed the idea. I thought working the runes into her character was a pretty good way to try to embed the concept into her character. What else would have worked for “occult abilities”? I mean, she didn’t emblazon a pentagram on the character, but that would have been trite and out of place to me.
Tate’s work was good. I was a bit thrown by what was happening in the face, but the judges liked the helmet melting into her skin. I thought the red on the belly was unexplained, but they liked the color contrast.
So with today’s results, my handicapping summary:
Laura has 2/5/1, plus a bonus Foundation Challenge. That’s 7+/1
Miranda has 4/2/1, which should be 6/1 but I gotta call today’s disaster so bad it’s -2, so that puts her at 6/2.
Roy is 1/2/3, with three Foundation challenges, so I’ll put him at 3+++/3, or 4+/3.
Tate has 3/1/1 and a Foundation win, so that’s 4+/1. Plus, I still think one of his previous challenges was completely overlooked.
That nominally puts the rankings Laura > Miranda > Tate > Roy.
Tate’s on a roll and Roy is struggling with concepts. We’re down to 4, so Roy is going to have to bust his balls to stay in. As we just saw, there isn’t any room for screw ups any more. Miranda got the final free pass.
Can Tate’s conceptual integration pull him past Laura’s craftsmanship? Can Roy get on target or will he flounder again? Will Miranda pull her head out of her ass and sculpt a win? Tune in to find out!
My main problem with Roy’s sculpt, actually, was the nose. The nose was far too animal/creature-like. And since it is literally the center of the face it threw the whole thing off.
Did anyone else get super annoyed at how they were all saying, “runes?”
They kept saying it like, “Rue-ins.” It should be pronounced, “Roons,” right?
Am I losing it?
Loved Laura’s. As long as she keeps her focus, this is her’s to lose.
Tate’s was good, but his faces never look good to me. Last week’s looked weirdly wet. This week’s blended into the helmet too much, and wasn’t pretty enough to be the warrior queen. If any part of a finale challenge requires beauty makeup, he is screwed.
I love Roy the most. But I just don’t think he has it in him, technically.
Miranda needs to get over her self doubt. She’s good. But she should not win.
Hello, my Face Off friends!
Roy: what was with the defensive comment about not knowing what a dark elf looks like? You know what an elf looks like. IT’S AN ELF. You have the whole range from Hermey the Elf who wants to be a dentist, to Legolas.
That said, while I agree his look could also be more “goblin” than elf, I think it had some elf potential. The head size wasn’t a problem for me, especially as it made sense in terms of the backstory of the character. I agree though, that some standard elf pointy ears or SOMETHING more iconic incorporated into the original design might have made this work better.
One thing I’ve noticed about him in general is that he’ll get very into his design and doesn’t always seem to keep checking back to make sure he is on point with the challenge, it’s like the design runs away with him. And then he seems confused (or defensive) when his product is not a great match for the challenge. I’m disappointed he’s not learning from this. Even if he doesn’t agree with the judges (and sometimes I don’t agree with him), he needs to be able to see the pattern and adjust accordingly.
Miranda: I felt teased by the potential of Miranda going home, she is so terrible and I want her to leave so badly. I don’t know what she was doing design-wise, and I don’t even care. I would (maybe) give her some credit for recognizing the problems … except that just about every week she moans about something being terrible and then it ends up looking great. I feel like her abject self-criticisms were just as much from habit as from real self-assessment.
Weirdly, despite my dislike of Miranda, and the essential problem of getting so behind that she had to get her model to help her work … I actually thought the model pitching in, pretty cheerfully too, made for good television. I think it was Roy who said something like “he’s going to be a contestant on season 8” - completely cracked me up. I’ve also noticed that this is the first season that has included brief footage, a few times, that shows that the models and the contestants have a nice on-going professional relationship (not so much Miranda’s model having to do her work, but just the general greetings and enthusiasm when the models arrive).
Tate: the judges love Tate more than I do, this must be a personal taste thing. I always like his concepts, but often I find them a little hard to read. They are visually too busy for me. Overall, I liked his elf last night a lot, but was disappointed that he didn’t take Mr. Westmore’s advice to make the face and the helmet very distinct … and then sure enough, the judges seemed to think this was a plus.
Laura: I would put Laura as the winner. I thought this was a great design and great execution. It’s too bad the scars didn’t work out, but I think the show showed that she had a back-up plan and put it to good use. I could really believe this character being in a movie about elves.
I’m wondering if there was some behind the scenes wackiness that we’ll never know about, because Laney’s meltdown came out of nowhere. Yeah, she was always insecure and has the most annoyingly whiney voice in the world (except maybe Miranda), but she had talent.
I think the judges were unfair to Roy on the dark elf challenge. If you give someone a challenge to illustrate “psychic powers”, they pretty much have to go with an enlarged head. And in comics and movies, the freak mutant with the big head is usually a puny physical specimen. So that lack of proportion really comes with the territory.
And who the hell knows what a nordic dark elf looks like? We all know what Tolkienesque elves (and elves out of English mythology) look like. But for the Scandinavian tradition, I’m OK with something that looks like it dragged itself out of a cave.
I am confused as to how Miranda got so far behind. “Dark elf” isn’t a particularly deep concept. You’d think that any of the artists could slap something together in their sleep.
Question: Do the artists have behind-the-scenes help with the costuming? It’s something they rarely show them working on, and, that cosplay show at least demonstrated how hard it is to generate a costume in a short time period.
A few (very few, like twice or three times) there has been a mention of “ordering something from costume” so my impression is that the contestants can order basic pieces, or specific things they need for fabrication.
In one case, someone ordered a dress and it arrived in a different color than ordered, and the contestant (Alana or Laney, maybe) was talking about how there wasn’t time to “order” a different one so they were just going to have to work with it.
Yes! Especially Laura kept calling it ‘ruins’!
He specifically asked Laura about the ears, and whether she liked the bigger one he did or the smaller one he did. In other words, he sculpted each ear independently, possibly trying out two different concepts, then asked help evaluating them. Laura commented specifically on the ears.
Roy did say something about his design choice being “less evolved”, and thus the more creature appearance. But it didn’t read to the judges as “elf” and probably wouldn’t read to an audience as “elf”, so it’s a fair criticism that the design choice was faulty.
I think I recall one other episode from IIRC season 2 where one of the contestants was behind schedule and drafted the model to help, by cutting things out and gluing them on and such. I think the real issue is that Miranda was so far behind schedule by that point that any “rules violation” call was unnecessary. If Laney had not walked out, I think Miranda would have gone home for that effort regardless.
That would have been an interesting call: suppose Laney had competed and done something reasonable if not stupendous, and was at lest Safe. That left Roy and Miranda to be judged on what they did. Would you fault Roy for missing the challenge concept (elf, not goblin), or would you send home Miranda for this disasterous result, regardless of her record for great sculpts from before? Looking at overall records, Miranda’s is still better than Roy’s, but on this challenge Roy had decent work that missed the mark, while Miranda just failed across the board in execution. I would have sent Miranda home on this one, because the quality of this challenge was so bad. But we’ve seen before where the judges picked “failing to execute the challenge as stated” as the determiner. That was RJ, but the result was lackluster as well as off the mark, whereas Roy’s was pretty good in sculpt but needed better integration to the overall character.
For whatever reason fantasy isn’t his thing.
Fair observation.
I think a couple of his have been superb, but many of them are cluttered. This one the painting didn’t pop to me. Agreed about the helmet comment.
I wonder if there was something with her family, or if she just got worn down and depressed.
Overall the big head with puny body was the concept he was going for, but something about this combination was off. Not sure how to describe it. Of course, he could have tried to argue that point more. “I was trying to convey a weak-bodied strong-minded creature, so I didn’t build up the musculature and whatnot.” But he made his case in his explanation and so he was politely taking their criticisms, whether or not he agreed. Comes off better than arguing with the judges.
I just don’t understand what fell apart in the sculpting phase for her. She just couldn’t arrive at anything to do with the headdress, and then rushed the ear design to get something molded when she realized she’d be running the mold on application day.
Basically, she got distracted/befuddled/stymied by what to put on the headdress, and wasted all her time that day. She should have moved to the rest of the sculpt, and left the headdress flat and gone for painting designs on application day instead. But it was a bad decision to keep reworking the headdress. That left her with no time application day.
I think the real problem was she stuffed herself by secondguessing “Dark Elf”. Her original observation was she had already done two “elf-like” projects, and wanted to make this distinct. But the thing is, even though the Pixie was somewhat elf-like, the horned demon wasn’t really elfish except for the ears being pointed. She had a lot of room there. Instead, she latched onto the Mayan element, and I immediately thought that was probably a bad call, but she likely could have argued the design choice if she had executed well. Instead, she froze up. Piddling with the headdress was just the manifestation of her real problem, choking creatively on the concept of Elf and being different than what she’d already done.
Yes, there appears to be a lot of stuff coming from some other production group. Earlier this season when Lyma did her Mother Earth goddess, she ordered some bunnies for the pregnancy belly and then received something different than she expected. Similarly, the costume work that went into Laura’s outfit this week seemed incredibly detailed for her to have done on top of the other parts of the make up.
But sometimes they do a lot of the costume stuff, because there have been weeks with horrible costumes (basically a sack). We’ve seen them cutting up shirts and things to make the fit the concept, and sometimes the costume has been part of the criticism. So it’s somewhere in the realm of ordering specific objects/materials and then having to craft them. But when did Roy put together the outfit that guy wore?
In one case, someone ordered a dress and it arrived in a different color than ordered, and the contestant (Alana or Laney, maybe) was talking about how there wasn’t time to “order” a different one so they were just going to have to work with it.
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We have our top 3, and I think it’s the right ones: Roy, Laura and Tate. Miranda did great sculpts, but she just couldn’t manage her time appropriately.