Challenge Ideas

[FormerMod-a1]

This season has had more of a variety of challenges (i.e. less monster, more other), but that doesn't mean we can't think up more fun ideas.  :-)

 

As a start, I saw this - remade Zodiac signs.  Granted, these are done in horror style, but I actually like all of these, but my sign (Aquarius) is my least favorite.  For Face off, I think it could be a good basis for a challenge - it could be done as beauty, or leaving it up to the contestant - it wouldn't have to be horror.

 

Sample from the link - my favorite and least horror-like.

 

This gave me another idea - remaking Greek or Roman or Norse (or any, really) gods.

[Bella]

Great idea, Aquarian1!

 

I'm sitting here thinking that my actual ideas might be too vague, like "evil birds" or "personify a month." But I'll keep thinking.

[Portia]

I don't know how "fun" this would be considered by the masses, but I really wish they would do more of the "everyday" makeups that are the bread and butter of your average movie makeup artist: namely age and illness/injury makeups. There really are ways to make these challenges interesting; they proved this a few seasons back when each contestant made up sets of identical triplets to appear young, middle aged, and old. I don't mean to sound heartless, but re-creating the look of a burn or amputation would have built-in gore appeal for viewers who are so inclined. And personally, I would find it fascinating to see how a skilled artist recreates the effects of chemotherapy or malnutrition or ebola. I have nothing against sci-fi and fantasy, but more than anything I'm just a film geek, and I think the artists' depiction of real life scenarios is magical, too! Even if it's just an occasional mini-challenge, please show me more of that, Show.

[SnideAsides]

Here's one that's really obvious that I couldn't see when I trawled the lists on Wikipedia: Food. Surely they could do a "you are what you eat" challenge.

[Lugal]

I mentioned it before on another thread, but I want to see a model challenge where the models pick the artist and the artists have to execute the model's ideas.

[hincandenza]

Has there already been a challenge where th contestants turn themselves into the opposite gender? I think that would be neat. Or a challenge where the contestants do a monster-themed prom.

There have been past challenges where the artists were their own model, including one that included changing their appearance to be unrecognizable to their own friends/family.  I'm not sure about opposite gender, but in season 1, episode 5 there was a challenge to take a MF couple and swap their genders. You can see some results here.  I didn't see that season, although from the pictures those results are kind of underwhelming; it seems to be that given how heavily most of the makeups are done on this show, a subtle transformation like gender swapping is probably a lot harder than "generic alien werewolf monster headshape #3".

[snakenax]

IMO, the awful results is why things like gender swaps and age make up are better left off the show. They take technical skill, sure, but they don't require artistic talent and require way, way more time than the show allows to be done well.

[FormerMod-a1]

Apparently I'm good at finding others' ideas that I think could apply here.   Here are Post-Punk Icons Reimaged as Superheroes. (also quite apt for this week).   I'd love it if they'd do something like this for a challenge.  It doesn't even have to be superhero, it could be mutant or alien or anything.

 

 

I think this one is my favorite, but they are all good.

[Bella]

I'd like a hybrid challenge with the Project Runway "unusual materials" challenge. They are taken to a site - PR has used recycling centers, candy stores, garden centers - and told that they will only be using the materials they can collect in a certain amount of time, plus body and face paints. No molding, in other words, just real-life materials repurposed. 

[Cyranetta]

How about students in a space-station high-school yearbook?

[Maverick]

I'd like a hybrid challenge with the Project Runway "unusual materials" challenge. They are taken to a site - PR has used recycling centers, candy stores, garden centers - and told that they will only be using the materials they can collect in a certain amount of time, plus body and face paints. No molding, in other words, just real-life materials repurposed. 

 

 The did that once.  They took to the contestants to a junkyard to source materials for a cyborg challenge.  Obviously not the biggest stretch in the use of the materials so they could definitely expand on the idea. 

[snakenax]

One challenge i'd love to see is one where they're provided a animatronic frame and they have to sculpt the covering for it.

[SnideAsides]

With the news of The X-Files being revived, I'd love to see a challenge where they got one of that show's classic designs and had to update it for HD. Added bonus? You wouldn't need a guest judge, since Glenn worked on it after the show moved to LA. (Although it kind of shocks me the show's original effects guy Toby Lindala has never been on Face Off, given he's done basically all of the Vancouver sci-fi shows.)

[90PercentGravity]

I'd like them to take old twins and do a fountain of youth challenge. But I suppose such a challenge wouldn't lend itself well to the use of copious prosthetics.

[John.G]

Take a late episode, with four or five remaining artists, and give the contestants a "do over" challenge. Assuming that every surviving contestant has been a bottom look in a solo challenge, preferably longer ago than last week, the assignment is to do that challenge again. You don't have to attempt your original design, feel free to rethink/redesign. Just as long as you answer the original challenge criteria, only better this time! Not every season will meet the "everyone has been bottom look" criteria, but probably most will.

[jbrecken]

They should do one where they cross-promote some medical show and give each of the contestants a disease they have to make their model the victim of.

[OakGoblinFly]

How about one where the artists are not allowed to use prosthetics?  I'm tired of having the make-ups look like masks, making it difficult for the model/actor to emote.

 

Or, have all the artists given the same two or three pre-fabricated prosthetic pieces and let them design whatever they wanted -- I think it would be interesting to see how the artists' creativity differ when given the same material.

[OakGoblinFly]

 

Or, have all the artists given the same two or three pre-fabricated prosthetic pieces and let them design whatever they wanted -- I think it would be interesting to see how the artists' creativity differ when given the same material.

 

I think that was a challenge in the season before last

 

 

They had a foundation challenge relay race where the artists could select from a variety of pre-fabricated prosthetic pieces, contacts, and wigs - the artists didn't have to use the same pieces. 

[snakenax]

 

More beauty makeup! It seems like so many of them struggle with this but isn't it a basic skill in their profession?

It depends. The show kind of mashes up the make up department, FX designers and concept designers into one but they're actually different skill sets and careers(admittedly careers that are adjacent enough to move easily between). Most of the people on the show want to be a FX designer, though usually there are 2-3 make up artists thrown in there as well, and a FX designer is pretty much never going to be called on to do beauty make up, Similarly, the make up department generally doesn't make appliances, just doing the application of them. And the concept designer will likely not have their hands on either. The person who sculpts vampire forehead ridges not knowing how to put make up on the actress the ridges are applied to would be very normal.

[Thealmightymalachi]

I want them to have to do it based entirely on pinball machines - that they have to incorporate parts of the pinball game itself into the makeup.

Watch them all go "What. THE. HELL."

[Thealmightymalachi]

Another idea - science fiction aliens based on nonorganic structure shapes. Humans tend to go in squares and rectangles, but have them do aliens and species based on other geometrical shapes and angles.

Triangles, pentagons, hexagon, octagons, lines, rhombus, and squiggle (like someone just took a freaking pen and handed it to an epileptic walrus with one tusk dipped in ink).

[GaT]

I happened to run across this picture of Bryan Cranston made up for his role as LBJ

http://imgur.com/DhQaAcx

We never see work like this on the show, it's amazing & completely lifelike, I would love a challenge where they had to do something like this.

[Lugal]

I happened to run across this picture of Bryan Cranston made up for his role as LBJ

http://imgur.com/DhQaAcx

We never see work like this on the show, it's amazing & completely lifelike, I would love a challenge where they had to do something like this.

That would be really cool.  Call it a time travel challenge and they have to make the model look like a historical person.

[HunterHunted]

Someone over in a Tom and Lorenzo post about Heidi Klum's Halloween costume suggested that a challenge for Face Off. Her costume was Jessica Rabbit and it is a horror show, but not in the way the Face Off contestants are used to. Heidi takes her Halloween seriously any many of costumes would make good challenges.

http://tomandlorenzo.com/2015/11/heidi-klum-is-jessica-rabbit-for-halloween/

[HunterHunted]

I just watched the beautiful make ups and costumes in The Wiz live. The main characters had hip hop inspired make ups and costumes and the Emerald City folks had sort of drag/club kid make up. It made think about how interesting it would be to reimagine known characters with different musical styles as an inspiration: punk rock, country, reggae, classical, hip hop.

[Betelnut]

I love True Stories of the ER which has tons of special makeup effects like a stiletto heel through a cheek, people swollen up, impalements, etc. Why not something like that?

[Lamb18]

Maybe have a game developer come on the show with a story line for a game and general ideas of the characters, and the contestants have to bring the characters to live. (I have so little experience with computer games, but something like Farmville with different farm animals would be funny.) Maybe the winner could have their creation be used in the game, if it's good enough.

[Quilt Fairy]

I'm bringing over this post from the Better Call Saul thread because it how it relates to special effects makeup: If you haven't seen BCS, it's this weeks episode entitled "Gloves Off" and because it's all in flashback, you can see what I'm referring to in the first 2 minutes of the show. Mike (Jonathan Banks) walks into a darkened house and as the lights are turned on is revealed to have had one side of his face bashed in with numerous cuts and bruises and his eye is swollen shut.

I listened to the 204 insider podcast today and was astounded to find out that Mike's injuries were 100% CGI, done after the fact. Apparently Jonathan Banks has a problem (an allergy? they really didn't specify) with spirit gum, which is typically used to attach facial appliances.

 

Wouldn't that make for an interesting Face Off challenge: "Contestants, put away your makeup kits, no molds, sculpting or air-brushing today, you're doing it all by computer!"  The contestants would then whine and hope that at least they'd be able to do a monster, zombie or alien, which is all they know how to do, anyhow.

[JoyousSpring]

I wish they'd do another challenge like the Walking Dead (I think that was it?) where they had to do make up for a whole group of extras in a limited amount of time. 

[SnideAsides]

How about a focus challenge where the area focused on isn't the face? Why not give them a challenge like "make your model's limbs look like they've been rebuilt with this material" and then have one person make wooden legs, another make metallic robot arms, another turn their model into a living tree, and so on?

[Animelover101]

I love Face Off. I gotta say, there isn't a bad episode. I just enjoy the way the cast make up their own versions of characters from television, movies, books, comics, etc., but how about something extremely difficult. What if the cast create their own Gems from the popular kids show Steven Universe? 

This is the challenge: 

The models are all women and the cast would each pick a gemstone for their models to make into their own Gem from the show. Of course, we should make things more interesting. The cast team up into groups of two and get three models. Two of them are to be made into two different gemstones while the third is to be made into a fusion of the two, who have a fusion dance. 

It'll be difficult, but I think that it would be awesome to see what the cast can do. Give it some thought. 

[starri]

I know the first time they tried this didn't go that well, but what about each teammate having to do a makeup on his/her partner?

[Frozendiva]

With the mention of Irwin Allen the other week, why not a challenge to go back and create a 60s monster or alien look?

[starri]

6 hours ago, Frozendiva said:

With the mention of Irwin Allen the other week, why not a challenge to go back and create a 60s monster or alien look?

They did that on Ben and Evan's season.  The Foundation challenge was to create a retro character and then the Spotlight was to update it.  The McGuffin was that Ve, Mr. Westmore, and Neville had all worked on different iterations of the Klingons.  Jonathan Frakes was an adviser as well, and Michael Dorn was a guest judge.  The looks weren't great, but it was a fun episode.

What about a challenger where Face Off fans get made over, kind of like the challenges with the kids who create their own characters?

[Frozendiva]

I remember that episode. I was going for less Trek.

i think they did make over some people. It is tough, though, as they would have to be folks who did not have allergies to the products used. Perhaps do beauty make ups for those with cancer, etc.

[Redangel2560]

Two ideas 

1) every person has that teacher that is a nightmare. Overly strict, mean, etc. in this challenge they would use kids drawings of their teachers to iinspire over the top terrible teachers.  Possibly as a team challenge, one artist would design the teacher, one would design the nightmare child that drove the teacher to what she became. 

2) self reflection: the artists have to make the model look like themselves.  It would be intestejng to see how self aware they artists are and how they can edit 

[enoughcats]

On 3/29/2016 at 4:28 AM, SnideAsides said:

How about a focus challenge where the area focused on isn't the face? Why not give them a challenge like "make your model's limbs look like they've been rebuilt with this material" and then have one person make wooden legs, another make metallic robot arms, another turn their model into a living tree, and so on?

"Your model has eaten too much _____________, and is turning into a ______from the ground up." Design accordingly.

Chicken, duck, beef, lamb, pig, quinoa, tofu (soybean), coffee. 

[SherriAnt]

I know this thread is old, but here's hoping nobody has suggested this one, what about a fan challenge? Like for a couple weeks before the season starts filming, let fans vote or have a "suggestion box" type thing on SyFy, and ask for some ideas. I know there are a lot  of us on here who would love to see more beauty type makeups, and more challenges with less prosthetics. I remember the old days when they had to make just the face look like something, or just the hands, something they only got like 2 hours for. Some of the ideas I've read on here sound like they'd be amazing! 

[HunterHunted]

I love RuPaul's Drag Race. We know that quite a number of the Face Off contestants have problems with a beauty makeup. I would love a drag queen Foundation Challenge because it's actually a gender swap and beauty makeup combined. Furthermore, drag queens manage to create a lot of illusions of being women without prostheses.

[enoughcats]

Gender swap, but avoid stepping on RuPaul's stilettos.  

How about doing the runnersup in the Miss California contest as 35 year old construction workers.  Not beauty, but would require an understanding of human muscles and aging. 

Go to  a home for retired folks and ask if they'd like to revisit their teen aged years?  With makeup.  

[VintageJ]

I would love to see them do a new character for Star Trek or Star Wars.  I know it’s a regular alien, but I would still like to see that.