FACE OFF: Season 10 Begins
Season 10, Episode 1: “Wanted, Dead or Alive”
[photos: Jordin Althaus/Syfy]
Host McKenzie Westmore welcomes back regular season judges and special effect gurus Glenn
Hetrick, Ve Neill, and Neville Page to kick off season 10 of Face Off. Fourteen new contestants
possessing a wide variety of backgrounds and skills will be pitted against each other for some nice
prizes, including $100,000 cash, a year’s worth of Krylon special effect makeup, and a Fiat 500.
Some participants have industry-related experience and training, while others are self-taught,
either through hobbies or building on previous professional skills. At first, you might see the lack
of experience or formal training as a disadvantage, but if you’ve ever watched these creative
competitions before, you know that it’s all about creating characters with a good story, having a
solid plan that’s manageable within the time given, using materials in unconventional ways, and
giving the judges something that they haven’t seen before. Often, the simple designs are the best,
and over-the-top “scope creep” can kill the impact of an otherwise good idea.
Pictured: (l-r) Glenn Hetrick, Ve Neill, Neville Page
This episode’s task put the contestants into a spotlight challenge before they even unpacked their
bags. Pulling inspiration from characters who impact a great many sci-fi movies, such as Star
Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Chronicles of Riddick franchise, they were
to create a rogue alien bounty hunter based on a wanted poster providing the character’s name,
their last known whereabouts, and an image of their space ship.
The imagery, color palate and character background from the poster gave the teams a head start,
letting them get right into the design phase. By giving them a team challenge, each contestant
also had the support of a teammate — well, in theory. As we saw with the bottom teams, this
didn’t work so well for them. With Michael Westmore’s tips and critiques, the teams push
forward, fixing potential issues in their sculpts before it’s too late to turn back. His
recommendations included design tips for more successful application of the finished makeup, and
improving facial proportions to fit the character.
Michael Westmore: “That chin looks too much like Jay Leno.”
As is often the case in a team challenge, the success of the design depends a lot on the chemistry
between the teammates. Johnny and Ant start out in a rough spot, first sculpting their individual
parts without agreeing on a common design direction, then switching mid-way to work on each
other’s work to try and make it more cohesive. In reality, they worked against each other the
entire time. While Johnny tried to follow Mr. Westmore’s suggestions, it seemed that Ant had a
hard time giving up his initial ideas, and his changes took the face sculpt a few steps backward
when they traded spaces. Although they kept their interactions professional, their frustration and
lack of cohesion is apparent, and they end up in bottom looks with a poorly-executed makeup and
an uninspired, flat paint job.
Pictured: (l-r) Anthony Canonica Jr., Johnny Leftwich
They were saved, however, by Greg and Yvonne. After Mr. Westmore’s suggestion to improve
their character’s bio-mechanical face, Greg decided to scrap what little he had done and start
over. His partner, Yvonne, focused on her own portion of the project and left Greg to his own
devices. He spent the entire day on a simple square nose and chin in which there was little
design.
However, he and Yvonne didn’t discuss how their pieces would work together, and at day two, he
realizes that her cowl includes a nose piece and the styles don’t match, so they scrap his work
(again). I’m not sure why Yvonne included a nose in her cowl design, but since they were working
side-by-side, it seems that one of them should have noticed before now.
Unfortunately, their foam edges turned out very thick and rough, resulting in a rough finish that
looked neither biological nor mechanical. As you might have guessed, Greg was ultimately sent to
the workroom to collect his things and go home.
Pictured: (l-r) Yvonne Cox, Greg Schrantz
I always feel bad for the first person eliminated in any of these types of competitions. If you don’t
take the time to look at their previous work, all you ever see of their talent is the one hideous
piece that sent them home. At the end of the day, Greg didn’t contribute much to the finished
product due to all of the re-dos, and what he did produce was clunky and ill-defined. I’m sure that
Greg has talent or he wouldn’t have been selected for the competition, but judge Neville Page said
it best in his very kind parting remarks to Greg:
Neville: “Greg, what I’m confident of, is that the best of you is yet to be seen.”
Yes, we all hope so, because if it gets much worse than what he made here, he should pick another
profession.
As for top looks, I agreed with the judges about their top two picks, but not about the winning
look. While Anna and Melissa’s version of “Tolo Ezulon” was good, it seemed to me that the
shapes and details in the cowl that gave Melissa the win are something that we’ve seen before
in Aliens, albeit on a much larger scale. Also, the monochromatic paint job lacked the depth
that Kaleb and Walter’s lizard-man, “Maas Rossi,” featured.
On their lizard bounty hunter, the guys thoughtfully transitioned colors from front to back, and
included short translucent horny projections, a realistic cross-lip scar, and glowing eye prosthetic
to give him a believable back-story at a glance. In my opinion, this creature showed a more
realistic and better-executed finished look, and should have taken home the prize this week.
Pictured: (l-r) Melissa Ebbe, Anna Cali
Pictured: (l-r) Kaleb Lewis, Walter Welsh
Just as the judges love to be surprised, so does the audience. With the promise of new themes this
season like World of Warcraft, Skull Island, industrial/futuristic, and the return of the Gauntlet,
and including appearances by some of the industry’s best talents, this season looks to be off to an
interesting start. Guests we can expect to see in upcoming episodes include:
Lance Henriksen (Terminator, Aliens)
Robert Kazinsky (Pacific Rim, Warcraft)
Gale Anne Hurd (The Walking Dead, Terminator)
Douglas Smith (Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, Terminator Genisys)
Bill Corso (Star Wars: The Force Awakens)
Lois Burwell (Saving Private Ryan, Braveheart)
Jason Blum (Whiplash, Insidious)
Paul Reubens (Pee Wee’s Playhouse, Blow)
The program airs Wednesdays on Syfy. Check your local listings for times, and watch past
episodes on Syfy.com.
[Also published at Horror4Me]
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