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03-05-2013
bigbarada

Face Off

I'm kind of surprised that more people aren't watching this show, especially sci-fi fans. Anyways, we're halfway through season 4 right now and I've been very impressed with some of the talent on this season. Of course, there are also those artists who you have to wonder how they even made it onto the show in the first place.

Anthony if my pick to win this season and he's probably one of my favorite artists showcased on the show so far. I like that he isn't afraid to be playful with his designs and everything doesn't have to be a scary, demonic monster.

I'm a big fan of Eric F.'s and Wayne's work as well.

Anyways, double elimination tonight. I'm excited and kind of worried at the same time.
03-06-2013
JediTricks

I think the problem is that it's a reality show and a lot of folks aren't into seeing how the sausage gets made, if you catch my drift. I enjoyed last season, although ironically I think the Star Wars episode was the weakest work they put out except for the teams that had Roy's creation (the winning entry) and Nicole's creation (I think, or maybe I'm mixing them up), the rest either felt a tad prequely or worse (one looked like a reject from the original Trek).

This season I haven't caught up on yet, I DVRed the marathon that aired yesterday but haven't watched any yet. Their designs in the preview during the season 3 finale looked very good though.
03-07-2013
bigbarada

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

I think the problem is that it's a reality show and a lot of folks aren't into seeing how the sausage gets made, if you catch my drift. I enjoyed last season, although ironically I think the Star Wars episode was the weakest work they put out except for the teams that had Roy's creation (the winning entry) and Nicole's creation (I think, or maybe I'm mixing them up), the rest either felt a tad prequely or worse (one looked like a reject from the original Trek).

This season I haven't caught up on yet, I DVRed the marathon that aired yesterday but haven't watched any yet. Their designs in the preview during the season 3 finale looked very good though.

I guess I can understand that. The behind the scenes stuff might take away too much of the magic for some. I could also see how CG effects have made much of this kind of work irrelevant and outdated, so it might not necessarily be as fascinating to people as it might have been 20-30 years ago. I thought maybe they could do something similar with 3D animated characters, but it would be absolutely impossible to make a fully realized CG character in only 3 days. Those characters take hundreds of people working for years to get them looking as realistic as they do.

I agree about the Star Wars challenge from last season. I actually liked Laura and Sarah's alien the best (the one with the white cloak), because it felt like something I would actually buy as an action figure. I had no issue with Roy and Rod's guy winning though, since that was a ton of work. I think I kind of cooled to the design as the season went on, though, because Rod kept repeating that same face sculpt over and over again.

However, I definitely agree that they felt more Prequely and not like they belonged in the OT at all. Too many bounty hunters and badasses. The actual Cantina scene worked because the aliens felt rough and unpleasant and just generally disturbing. A few of them were even goofy and made you want to laugh, but you probably wouldn't want to laugh in their face or they'd slit your throat. It was the seedy, dark underbelly of the Star Wars universe and the designs reflected that. So there weren't any polished characters that the designers went out of their way to make look "cool."
03-09-2013
JediTricks

I don't think a show about creating CGI characters would ever catch on because there's no drama in watching someone sit at a computer with a WACOM tablet, the art in digital arts is more in the artist's mind which is too complex a thing to show on TV.

Yeah, Rod really didn't know how to break out of that same face, that's what cut him.

I'm catching up on this season, and it's really odd to see such a large disparity of talents from one end of the contestant spectrum to the other. It's like there's so many mediocre people that they can't kick them off fast enough.
03-09-2013
bigbarada

Yeah, creating a character in a computer used to be such a wildly different process. It's a little more similar these days with 3D scanning becoming so commonplace and programs like ZBrush pretty much taking over the traditional modeling methods. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact 3D printing has on film special effects in the future.

But I agree, there's very little to base a TV show around. I don't know if you ever watched the Viral Video Showdown series on SyFy, but a lion's share of the competition for that show was centered around guys sitting in front of computers and it was incredibly boring to watch.

Rod's problem with his faces was that he didn't seem to understand the human face that well. Even when he consciously tried to change his faces, he still kept sculpting them with the same overall structure which is why they all looked so similar. It's actually not uncommon for artists since most of us learn to draw faces by using our own as a reference (even if we're not conscious of it). The best way to break out of that is to find a person who looks nothing like you and try to recreate their face. I think if Rod had just based his sculpting on one of the other contestants, that would have made all the difference, even if he didn't actually make it look like that person.

There are probably only about 5 or 6 truly talented artists this season. The rest I really don't understand how they made it onto the show in the first place. Fortunately, nobody has been eliminated so far that I didn't think deserved it.
03-11-2013
JediTricks

Rod definitely just didn't recognize that he was exaggerating his face over and over again, it's too bad because his other ideas were pretty good. He probably would have been better served by working with less appliances, sticking closer to the actor's face underneath than trying to go full mask.

I must agree, it astonishes me to see how clumsy and thoughtless some of these contestants are, and makes me wonder how they got on the show with such meager skills.
03-12-2013
JediTricks

So, I just finished the last episode via On Demand (they have the last 4 episodes in HD for free and available DVR controls and just 1 ad per break, pretty good really), completing my catch-up on season 4.

This season has really stuck to "monsters", and I think that's part of what's keeping away the audience, not enough grounded material and not enough sci-fi. Also, not enough Michael Westmore, I would love to see him spend more time with the contestants and even maybe a moment direct to camera, his name is draw in the geek community.

That elimination I think was the first instance where someone made a mistake to leave, rather than not having the skills to measure up. Meagan wasn't who I meant either, she's got some skills but isn't quite there in concept (although she is, in theory, the only one who didn't go with a sea-based design). Eric Z is who I meant, he didn't let the job sink in well enough and you could see it in the design phase while he's trying to draw, he just looked lost and never found that inspiration, instead having to fake it with something nearby. But he had skills and had his concept been better even with that mediocre execution it would have been House going home instead (and again, that would have been based on a mistake, although I noticed he made similar mistakes previously).

Anthony, if he doesn't win this whole thing, it's only going to be because of a big mistake he makes. His skills are head and shoulders above the rest, he deserved to win the glow in the dark episode from every conceivable angle - concept, sculpt, paint, and blacklight paint, and all of that seems to come down to an ability to make a plan and execute it without trying to go too big.

Eric F's concept was exactly what I was thinking it should be, and when it first hit the reveal stage I thought it was a disaster, but when the blacklight hit it, oh my god did it look amazing, the saran wrap chest did NOT hurt it there and even the doofy iridescent costume didn't fail it. His vision is impressive, and should they ever change the format to add more production time, I would love to see him return for an extra day's work per challenge. I do think he got away with murder on the giant challenge though, as big as it was the sculpting wasn't outstanding.

Autumn, it blew my mind how long it took to get rid of her, she has to be the luckiest contestant to get as far as she did, basically surviving on team challenges while other bad players kept her alive in individual challenges via worse mistakes. And that's sidestepping the attitude problem. Hers was the first elimination where the judges are not shown saying anything nice.

I was surprised to see Alam go when she did, not because her losing submission wasn't bad - it was really bad - but because generally her boldly unique ideas had carried her through better in concept and execution.

Quote:

I'm a big fan of Eric F.'s and Wayne's work as well.

I like Eric F's work too, but I think what's holding him back is a sense of "halloweening it" rather than creating an original character. He falls back on gimmicks and gore despite having vision and sculpting skills. He still sees it as putting smiles on faces at parades and spook houses rather than growing. It's like he's so set on being "dark" that he can't pull himself all the way out of that box, and I think once he gets past that he's got a winning talent.

Wayne has blown me away as a dark horse contestant, at first I thought his bro/jock way of carrying himself was going to hold his ideas back, that first episode where he was in the bottom because of bad paint and a weak concept seemed like a lazy guy, but he quickly rose in the ranks to show a lot of range and talent.

I think Kris is a strong contender, he doesn't have the balance of Anthony or the brass ones of Eric F, but he's got range and discipline, he seems sensible and it's kept him out of the bottom every time, the only contestant who can say that, which obviously makes him a threat.

So that's 4 strong choices for win, and poor House comes up slightly under that.
03-12-2013
bigbarada

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

So, I just finished the last episode via On Demand (they have the last 4 episodes in HD for free and available DVR controls and just 1 ad per break, pretty good really), completing my catch-up on season 4.

This season has really stuck to "monsters", and I think that's part of what's keeping away the audience, not enough grounded material and not enough sci-fi. Also, not enough Michael Westmore, I would love to see him spend more time with the contestants and even maybe a moment direct to camera, his name is draw in the geek community.

I do wish they would give Michael Westmore more screen time. Maybe even put him in one of the judges seats at the end of each show. Having seen the artists work in progress, I'd be very interested to hear his thoughts on their finished products during the judging.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

That elimination I think was the first instance where someone made a mistake to leave, rather than not having the skills to measure up. Meagan wasn't who I meant either, she's got some skills but isn't quite there in concept (although she is, in theory, the only one who didn't go with a sea-based design). Eric Z is who I meant, he didn't let the job sink in well enough and you could see it in the design phase while he's trying to draw, he just looked lost and never found that inspiration, instead having to fake it with something nearby. But he had skills and had his concept been better even with that mediocre execution it would have been House going home instead (and again, that would have been based on a mistake, although I noticed he made similar mistakes previously).

I think Eric Z. is a talented artist, but he seems to lack experience and maybe a little bit of maturity as well. Sure Autumn is overbearing and bossy, but he should have been able to handle that conflict in a more professional manner. Kind of like Glenn said, if that had happened in a studio environment, then he would have fired both of them.

Meagan seems like more of a beauty make-up artist and it seems like she's totally lost when it comes to designing monsters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

Anthony, if he doesn't win this whole thing, it's only going to be because of a big mistake he makes. His skills are head and shoulders above the rest, he deserved to win the glow in the dark episode from every conceivable angle - concept, sculpt, paint, and blacklight paint, and all of that seems to come down to an ability to make a plan and execute it without trying to go too big.

He's definitely the best artist on the show, hands down. I even liked his ant and, sure it wasn't his best work, but I do not understand why the judges were so harsh on him during that challenge. Maybe he just set expectations so high in winning the first 4 challenges, that they are more unforgiving when he makes mistakes. I don't know if you've seen tonight's episode yet, but it's a great example of that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

Eric F's concept was exactly what I was thinking it should be, and when it first hit the reveal stage I thought it was a disaster, but when the blacklight hit it, oh my god did it look amazing, the saran wrap chest did NOT hurt it there and even the doofy iridescent costume didn't fail it. His vision is impressive, and should they ever change the format to add more production time, I would love to see him return for an extra day's work per challenge. I do think he got away with murder on the giant challenge though, as big as it was the sculpting wasn't outstanding.

Yeah, Eric and Kris' giant looked like something you'd see walking down the street during a kid's parade, NOT something that could actually work in a major motion picture. It would be awesome if the artists had more time, but I guess they are being judged by their performance under extreme pressure as well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

Autumn, it blew my mind how long it took to get rid of her, she has to be the luckiest contestant to get as far as she did, basically surviving on team challenges while other bad players kept her alive in individual challenges via worse mistakes. And that's sidestepping the attitude problem. Hers was the first elimination where the judges are not shown saying anything nice.

Autumn was the first contestant on this show that's I've actually been glad to see kicked off. She should have been booted for that giant Gummi Bear. That thing was horrible. Plus, her attitude has been bad from the very beginning. She definitely overestimated her own talent level.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

I was surprised to see Alam go when she did, not because her losing submission wasn't bad - it was really bad - but because generally her boldly unique ideas had carried her through better in concept and execution.

It was sad to see Alam go, but I understand why it happened. I think I liked her personality more than her designs. I'm actually surprised she didn't get sent home on that superhero challenge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

I like Eric F's work too, but I think what's holding him back is a sense of "halloweening it" rather than creating an original character. He falls back on gimmicks and gore despite having vision and sculpting skills. He still sees it as putting smiles on faces at parades and spook houses rather than growing. It's like he's so set on being "dark" that he can't pull himself all the way out of that box, and I think once he gets past that he's got a winning talent.

I think that's a pretty good assessment. He's so intent on being dark that it kind of makes his ideas feel predictable. And sometimes his "go big or go home" attitude can backfire big time, as was evidenced by his and Anthony's werewolf (which was seriously just such a horrible concept). I think he's going to try to go big on one of the next challenges and, as a result, his make-up won't have the polish that the other guys' will and that's going to come back to bite him and he'll end up going home.

Did you see tonight's episode. The challenge was clearly right up his alley and his make-up ended up looking like something off of an Iron Maiden cover.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

Wayne has blown me away as a dark horse contestant, at first I thought his bro/jock way of carrying himself was going to hold his ideas back, that first episode where he was in the bottom because of bad paint and a weak concept seemed like a lazy guy, but he quickly rose in the ranks to show a lot of range and talent.

Wayne definitely has some of the best sculpting skills I've seen. And I think his interest in fitness gives him a better understanding of anatomy, which is not uncommon (comic book illustrator Joe Jusko is also a bodybuilder, so he uses himself as a reference in many of his paintings).

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

I think Kris is a strong contender, he doesn't have the balance of Anthony or the brass ones of Eric F, but he's got range and discipline, he seems sensible and it's kept him out of the bottom every time, the only contestant who can say that, which obviously makes him a threat.

I have to admit that he's a talented artist, but I haven't personally been a fan of anything he's done so far. His sculpted faces always feel unappealing to me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

So that's 4 strong choices for win, and poor House comes up slightly under that.

House has some amazing concepts (I loved his candy creature), and some not so amazing concepts; but I think his final products end up being too unpolished and rough for him to make it to the final three.
03-13-2013
JediTricks

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigbarada

Meagan seems like more of a beauty make-up artist and it seems like she's totally lost when it comes to designing monsters.

True, but this show is way too dependent on monster makeup, leaving it very niche, so outside skills are good too. If she was better at concept, it's have still paid off.

Quote:

He's definitely the best artist on the show, hands down. I even liked his ant and, sure it wasn't his best work, but I do not understand why the judges were so harsh on him during that challenge. Maybe he just set expectations so high in winning the first 4 challenges, that they are more unforgiving when he makes mistakes. I don't know if you've seen tonight's episode yet, but it's a great example of that.

I thought the same thing about the ant! They came down on him like a ton of bricks and it seemed like the criticism was "too much like an ant makeup". I just finished tonight's episode and definitely see what you mean. The fact that the choose Wayne's awful gator man as a top look and not this was astonishing, basically the same mistakes AND WORSE, yet Anthony is a bottom look and Wayne is a top.

Quote:

Yeah, Eric and Kris' giant looked like something you'd see walking down the street during a kid's parade, NOT something that could actually work in a major motion picture. It would be awesome if the artists had more time, but I guess they are being judged by their performance under extreme pressure as well.

That giant really was parade material, I didn't think it was a bottom look but to win? That was nuts.

More pressure? Maybe give them more than 8 hours on days 1 and 2. This is a competition based on artistic merit and execution, it shouldn't be office hours.

Quote:

Autumn was the first contestant on this show that's I've actually been glad to see kicked off. She should have been booted for that giant Gummi Bear. That thing was horrible. Plus, her attitude has been bad from the very beginning. She definitely overestimated her own talent level.

Ugh, that gummy cat with the stupid afro wig, and absolutely nothing about the concept came through, and the extremities didn't fit or blend. I honestly think they put her in intending to fail, a reverse ringer who played the reality competition game well enough to stick halfway through.

Quote:

It was sad to see Alam go, but I understand why it happened. I think I liked her personality more than her designs. I'm actually surprised she didn't get sent home on that superhero challenge.

Compared to the other entries in the superhero one, I think she deserved the save: http://www.fearnet.com/news/review/t...ic-proportions Her character, with all its flaws, reminds me of a silver age or bronze age DC character brought to life.

Quote:

I think that's a pretty good assessment. He's so intent on being dark that it kind of makes his ideas feel predictable. And sometimes his "go big or go home" attitude can backfire big time, as was evidenced by his and Anthony's werewolf (which was seriously just such a horrible concept). I think he's going to try to go big on one of the next challenges and, as a result, his make-up won't have the polish that the other guys' will and that's going to come back to bite him and he'll end up going home.

Did you see tonight's episode. The challenge was clearly right up his alley and his make-up ended up looking like something off of an Iron Maiden cover.

His sculpting never looks rough the way House's does, even when he comes up short in other areas, and I'm sure that's what keeps him in it. You are not remotely kidding about that bring Eddie from Iron Maiden, they were too generous with the claim that he nailed the Evil Dead aspect, that was b.s., he made a cartoon character.

Quote:

Wayne definitely has some of the best sculpting skills I've seen. And I think his interest in fitness gives him a better understanding of anatomy, which is not uncommon (comic book illustrator Joe Jusko is also a bodybuilder, so he uses himself as a reference in many of his paintings).

His bio says he's a football guy, I wouldn't think that alone would give him anatomy inspiration. His work tonight was a joke, the gator head was ok at best, the paint sucked, and the body was terrible. He has a lot of range, his crab inspired guy last week was genius, great observation of alien anatomy, not just human.

Quote:

I have to admit that he's a talented artist, but I haven't personally been a fan of anything he's done so far. His sculpted faces always feel unappealing to me.

I liked his butterfly girl and his fish creature, but I can see on both how they aren't for everyone. His winning candy guy had a face right out of Star Trek TNG/DS9, and I don't mean that as a compliment, but I loved the chest design.

Quote:

House has some amazing concepts (I loved his candy creature), and some not so amazing concepts; but I think his final products end up being too unpolished and rough for him to make it to the final three.

It seemed like his work got worse as the show progressed, sculpts getting rougher and rougher. I didn't dislike tonight's work as much as the judges did, but I did see their point on the headdress.
03-13-2013
bigbarada

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

Maybe give them more than 8 hours on days 1 and 2. This is a competition based on artistic merit and execution, it shouldn't be office hours.

I agree. In a real studio environment, if they were only given three days to create a complete character, then they'd have people pulling all-nighters to get the work done. However, I guess the editors still need time to get the individual recaps of the day filmed and the artists have to refine those concept sketches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

Ugh, that gummy cat with the stupid afro wig, and absolutely nothing about the concept came through, and the extremities didn't fit or blend. I honestly think they put her in intending to fail, a reverse ringer who played the reality competition game well enough to stick halfway through.

I can kind of see them picking her because they thought she'd create good drama, but she definitely didn't give them a shortage of material to make her look bad.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

Compared to the other entries in the superhero one, I think she deserved the save: http://www.fearnet.com/news/review/t...ic-proportions Her character, with all its flaws, reminds me of a silver age or bronze age DC character brought to life.

In that photo, it looks way better than I remember it. The head design definitely feels like something straight out of a comic book, which is probably what kept her safe in that challenge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

His sculpting never looks rough the way House's does, even when he comes up short in other areas, and I'm sure that's what keeps him in it. You are not remotely kidding about that bring Eddie from Iron Maiden, they were too generous with the claim that he nailed the Evil Dead aspect, that was b.s., he made a cartoon character.

I think he got his final warning from Glenn in last night's episode, who very specifically said that he wanted to see something less cartoony and more realistic on the next challenge. If Eric F. can't make that happen, then he will probably be the one going home next.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

His bio says he's a football guy, I wouldn't think that alone would give him anatomy inspiration. His work tonight was a joke, the gator head was ok at best, the paint sucked, and the body was terrible. He has a lot of range, his crab inspired guy last week was genius, great observation of alien anatomy, not just human.

I was thinking of the "Wayne's Gym" bonus scene on the SyFy website:
http://www.syfy.com/videos/Face%20Of...04/vid:2626634

Usually guys who are that dedicated to weightlifting, are going to have a better understanding of the different muscle groups and how they interact with each other.

On a side note, when I watch that video, House and Eric Z. are kind of giving off the vibe of the nerds who are just totally enamored with the fact that the jock is actually paying attention to them. Maybe not so much with House, but definitely with Eric Z.

However, I think Eric F. really seemed to have the whole "boy crush" thing going:
http://www.syfy.com/videos/Face%20Of...04/vid:2620948
:D

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

I liked his butterfly girl and his fish creature, but I can see on both how they aren't for everyone. His winning candy guy had a face right out of Star Trek TNG/DS9, and I don't mean that as a compliment, but I loved the chest design.

He's definitely a talented guy. It's just something about his overall aesthetic that doesn't "speak to me" for whatever reason.

Quote:

Originally Posted by JediTricks

It seemed like his work got worse as the show progressed, sculpts getting rougher and rougher. I didn't dislike tonight's work as much as the judges did, but I did see their point on the headdress.

I actually predicted that House would be the next to go, but I didn't submit my post in time before the show ended.

I think all the make-ups were good overall, House's just happened to be less good. With the level of talent that the final four have, it's going to be the guy who merely makes a good make-up, not a great make-up, that ends up being eliminated.

It's harder to predict who will be the next to go home; but I'm predicting Eric F. because he might have a problem breaking out of his natural style. However, if Wayne botches another paint job, then it could be him. I would be very angry if Anthony got sent home at this point.

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