S08.E14: Just Recommended

[Biosynth]

Not only that, but Logan had a skunk and armadillo  Also a hammer head shark, for crying out loud.  That's a pretty interesting concept.  And Darla did, oh look, elements.  *yawn*.  Yes, they were done nicely, but hardly unique.

[Kelda Feegle]

Am I the only one who doesn't understand the point of an AIR sprite/element/fairy having hooves? 

Add me to the list of - yeah ok Darla won but anyone could have it it would be okayish, better facetestants next season please

[ElectricBoogaloo]

One thing I disliked about the finale was some of the gimmicky stuff. Like did the artists really need to grab ten words off a huge wall in 60 seconds in order to come up with a title for their fake movies? One of the reasons I like Face Off is that they usually focus on the actual work rather than stupid pointless activities like chasing barnyard animals (Hell's Kitchen) or having to outsprint each other to get materials (Project Runway).

 

Logan got points for saying his movie was called The, but I did not understand why the judges raved about his hammerhead shark. One of the things they usually do is ask the models to move their mouths and faces because the actor needs to be able to speak and, you know, act. There is no way that hammerhead shark could move anything from the neck up. While I thought the skunk was very distinctive from the other three characters, some of the makeup on the face was a little too reminiscent of carnival face painting. I'm also surprised that the judges didn't ding Logan for just tucking the skunk's limp tail into her belt. I mean, that is what I did the year I was a cat for Halloween because I was too lazy to try to pin the tail to my pants. The iguana looked too much like a generic alien to me. And I can't even remember what the armadillo face looked like. Overall his characters looked too cartoonish to me.

 

What I liked about Emily's is that they looked very different from each other but they were still obviously within the same theme. I really liked the way the moss was applied to the tree character's face, and the windshield chest piece was great (and showed some interesting creativity in how she uses materials). I agree that the shards of glass headpiece was not the best though.

 

Darla created some very beautiful shapes and the paint was gorgeous, but I can see why that genre would draw more votes from the public. I really loved the tree with the mushrooms. Thank goodness Laura talked her out of that worm thing. I agree with the previous poster that said Darla was smart to stay away from a sculpted flame. The flames on the face and neck were more subtle and less Heat Miser hair than the sculpted flame heads we have seen in the past.

 

I could have seen the judges choosing any one of the three finalists to win but I'm good with Darla winning.

 

I have no idea why the original episode description mentioned Vietnam but I'm glad they got to stay in LA. Everyone is already exhausted and under pressure. No need to add a long flight and jet lag to the equation.

[starri]

I have no idea why the original episode description mentioned Vietnam but I'm glad they got to stay in LA. Everyone is already exhausted and under pressure. No need to add a long flight and jet lag to the equation.

I still want to know how that happened.  Vietnam and Universal CityWalk are pretty random places to confuse.  The concert is either at Budokan or at the House of Blues.

[sourpickles]

I agree with those who thought they had seen another locale for the finale very early on, I did too, looked it up just now and (disclaimer, not my fault) was moved from Viet Nam to US for no reason I could see. Pre taped stuff sucks. Still, looking forward to July. I'd say this was my least fav season, except for the one I don't remember, which was Anthony's.

[paramitch]

It's interesting. Yes, Darla was less interesting season-long, but she was consistently adored by the judges (sometimes in ways they explicitly pointed out TV audiences might not appreciate) for her technique. I actually found her very approachable and similar to Laura 1.0 -- quiet, skilled, and subtle. I think she'll do quite well in the industry.

On the others, the recap got most of it -- I thought Emily's looked fun but very very VERY rough (and was called so disguised as "raw talent" by judges), and that Logan did fine, but his work was really derivative and might as well have been called "Even More Guardians of the Galaxy." I don't agree that Darla's were as derivative or even nearly so, and I even liked her Merman!

I have confidence that both Emily and Logan have justifiably strong futures in the industry (and I hope Adam does too), and overall, I liked the season a lot, meanwhile, and as someone who's interviewed Laura and knows how talented and quietly capable she can be, I have no doubt she'll continue to kick butt and hopefully show up on this show.

I love people like Laura -- she's superb at what she does, has gotten some acclaim for it, and still seems to have maintained some equilibrium, humility and approachability. But then that's what I love about this show anyway. Congrats to all 3 teams for what they achieved, meanwhile, as I loved all their visions and characters. A really fun season!

 

ETA: Typos make Baby Jesus cry.

Edited April 20, 2015 by paramitch

[Whodunnit]

I couldn't tell what animal Logan's commander was supposed to be. I liked the skunk lady and the shark suit (though not the sculpt of the shark's head), the armadillo had way too much hair and should have had a grayer color palette. Having said that, if the win had not been for the competition as a whole, I think Logan should have won it, because the characters did look like a cohesive team, I would actually watch the movie, it looked clean and genre appropriate, the models looked like they were having a blast and could actually move in their costumes.

In contrast, Emily's looked messy (as others have pointed out, post-apocalyptic does not have to), and the story did not make sense. This is really too bad as I think she has the most talent but burnt out a little at the end.

Darla needs to share her win with Stephanie as well as Laura, since it was the woodwind faun that Stephanie worked on that got her the win. The fire lady did not look like fire, she was too fuchsia and the merman was extremely generic. The tree lady was very beautiful, but was originally going to be a giant worm-tree combo. I do think you can do a beauty makeup with a worm/worms, but I don't think she has the talent or time to pull it off, so Laura's redesign saved her bacon.

Also, she had a really bad makeup early in the season that I remember being surprised did not send her home and it looked anything but camera ready.

Edited April 22, 2015 by Whodunnit