Face Off 08×01 – Return Of The Champions (SPOILERS)
SPOILERS
It’s back!!!!!!!
Okay, so this season is going to be confusing to start off. Not only do you have to remember everyone’s names, but also what champions’ team they’re on. It will take a little while to sort out. Also, this first episode is kind of like an audition (like last season). All of the contestants are ON the show, but they’re auditioning for Laura, Rayce, and Anthony, since they have to choose people for their team.
McKenzie comes out, and tells them that their Foundation Challenge is going to be creating a ‘companion’ character based on one of the iconic creatures that the champions created. For Anthony, it’s his Sea Creature from the Bioluminescence challenge. Laura’s is her Mother Earth Goddess, and Rayce’s is his Cellist from the Tim Burton Challenge. But, when it’s all said and done, the champs don’t have to choose people who did companions for THEIR look. Confused yet?
To add pressure to the new contestants, the champs are watching them as they work. Since the show has been on long enough, we’re seeing quite a few contestants who were inspired to get into the business by the show itself.
We first officially meet Emily, who is only 18, so she’s the youngest Face Off contestant yet. She’s on Rayce’s side, and is making a poet that’s inspired by his cellist’s music. We then meet Kelly, who will be fairly easy to recognize with her periwinkle colored hair. She’s on Anthony’s side, and is doing a Sea Witch. Gregory is next to be featured, and he’s working on a Father Time concept to go with Mother Nature. He REALLY wants to be on Laura’s team, and they like that he’s going outside the box (at least initially).
Logan is next, and he’s one of two guys (Ben being the other) that has more of a military background than a makeup background. He’s on Rayce’s end, and he’s doing the antithesis of the cellist, and doing an ‘angry DJ’. He’s immediately going to black makeup, which is SO risky. Then we’ve got Stephanie, who works in Haunted Houses. She’s on Laura’s table, and is making one of Mother Earth’s babies.
Next we have Daniel. He’s from Brazil, and he’s only been doing FX makeup for about 8 months, so he’s a baby in the industry (even though he’s 38). He chose Anthony’s table, and is going with a younger brother concept to the Sea Creature. Next is Alan, and since he’s 6’5, he’s often asked to wear the makeups as well as create them. He’s doing a Mother Earth Protector to match Laura’s creation. I like how the models even know more about what the judges are expecting, because Alan’s model (Alexander) is asking about his backstory.
Next is Julian, and the champs like that he’s going with a human skintone version of Anthony’s creature. He’s on the show because he wants to win so he can help out his brother who has a disease that affects his speech and motor skills.
Back to Logan, who’s doing the angry DJ. He’s having big problems trying to get the ‘laser show’ effect on the model’s face to stay down on top of the black base. He’s pretty worried right now.
We then go to meeting more people, like Jamie. She’s doing a composer to match Rayce’s cellist. Next up is Ben, the other military guy. After his tour in Iraq, he went to makeup school, and is creating a sea princess. Regina is next, and she’s doing Mother Earth, and is doing her daughter in a woodland nymph style. She’s got a Face Off connection because one of her teachers was Graham from Season 6. Adam is next, and he got Anthony’s side, so he’s doing a Lion Fish character. Then we meet Rob, who works at his family’s auto collision shop. He’s got a daughter who was born with holes in her heart and Down’s Syndrome, and she’s the one that encouraged him to be on the show after watching it, saying he could do that stuff. So here he is, and he’s doing a Wizard that changed the cello for Rayce’s cellist.
We then meet Anthony, who is also doing a Father Time makeup. His is looking a bit more successful right now than Gregory’s, which has kind of gotten weird. Darla is next, and she’s doing a ballerina to go with Rayce’s cellist.
When time’s up, McKenzie brings out Ve, who is back this season, and will be checking out the makeups along with the champs. We don’t hear any super negative comments about the makeups… actually, we don’t even really get to SEE all of them that well. The screen splits into 5 shots for each champ character, so it’s hard to make out a lot of them that weren’t featured as finished products. But that’s why I’m going to post them here!
Rayce’s Cellist Companions:
Logan’s Angry DJ:
Darla’s Ballerina:
Rob’s Wizard:
Jamie’s Composer:
Emily’s Poet:
Anthony’s Sea Creature Companions:
Daniel’s ‘Son Of Sea Creature’:
Kelly’s Sea Sorceress:
Julian’s Distant Cousin:
Ben’s Sea Princess:
Adam’s Lion Fish:
Laura’s Mother Earth Companions:
Gregory’s Grandfather Clock:
Stephanie’s Daughter Earth:
Alan’s Mother Earth Protector:
Regina’s Daughter Earth:
Anthony’s Father Time:
All right, so it’s time for the Champs to choose who’s going to be on their team. Darla is the first chosen, and she goes to Laura’s team. It breaks down like this:
Team Laura – Darla, Julian, Emily, Gregory, Stephanie
Team Rayce – Adam, Anthony, Rob, Logan, Regina
Team Anthony – Kelly, Alan, Ben, Daniel, Jamie
Ve was also doing some stealth judging on the side, and she chooses a winner who will get immunity, and it’s Darla’s ballerina. WHEW. That was only the first half of the show. I know I spent a lot of time with it, but this season more than ever, the framework seems very important. I also looked at the clock and was like “Is this episode going to be extra long or something…?”
Everyone gets to go check out the house afterwards, and they’re of course stoked. Why wouldn’t they be? It’s an awesome house. The next day, they head out to a place called Vasquez Rocks that’s used for a lot of movie shoots, especially when they want other planets. Each team winds up having to choose an alien crash site and create two aliens that would have survived said crash. McKenzie’s also with Rick Baker, who’s won 7 Oscars, so his resume is as long as his luxurious silver ponytail. Not only will he be on the reveal stage, but he’s going to consult with the teams’ designs.
Team Laura gets a crash site with three big eggs, so they’re going with a concept of two newly hatched beings, but one is older than the other because it hatched first.
Team Anthony picks one that’s got a crashed pod with weapons and a cache of gold, so it’s a bit of a shoulder-shrugger in terms of concept, since they can do a lot of stuff. They decide to go with a big brute fighter and a smaller pilot alien that the brute is protecting.
Team Rayce pick the one with the cryogenic pod, and decide to go with a predatory creature since there’s a dead deer nearby. They’re going with a scorpion/bug kinda look for one of the aliens, and a higher intelligence water-based alien for the other.
They all head back to the lab and geek out over all the stuff. The champs are there, and it turns out that they aren’t there all the time for them. They spend some time helping to hammer down concept and give advice on what direction to go, but then take off so the contestants have to do the rest on their own. Michael Westmore is also mentoring this season, so they’re getting lots of advice this time around.
As Michael Westmore walks around, he’s REALLY not digging Team Rayce’s concept for the horizontal gills over the higher intelligence alien’s mouth. Anthony is the one that sculpted that, so he’s pretty destroyed. He decides to start over. They seem to be in the most trouble right now, at least from this initial walkthrough.
Team Anthony is the first in the mold room, and we’re almost near the end of the show…. Anthony (of Team Rayce) is worried about his face and how much work he’s now got left. On Day 2, they enter the lab, but it’s been transformer. Ahhh, McKenzie is starting with the mind fucks early in this season. The desks are all gone, and there are monkeys. The twist is that the crash wasn’t on earth, but essentially on Planet Of The Apes. So, now they’ll have to choose from one of the monkeys available to create a third character who is a native of the planet, and not happy to see the aliens. We don’t get to see which team chooses which monkey (FYI – I’d sooooo pick the Mandrill), because the final credits role. A two parter!!!!
Normally during Face Off, I choose a horse to bet on after the first episode, but I’m going to wait until next week, since you can’t really base it off a Foundation Challenge alone, and need to see sculpting and painting abilities that the Spotlight Challenge brings out.
