S06.E12: Industrial Revolution

[formerlyfreedom]

Los Angeles' Union Station inspires the artists before they create futuristic robots tailored to specific professions.

Original airdate: April 1, 2014

[Rhetorica]

I'm so glad Rashaad finally won! He's been number two far too many times. I'm also glad Daran was eliminated. Especially after his competition last week. I felt he was over rated. YMMV, of course.

[EC Amber]

Holy crap did Rashaad pull of one AMAZING piece of art! It seemed like everywhere my eyes landed was some really interesting detail. And the actor was so into playing that role. So well earned and so very well done!!

And I'm with you Rhetorica - it was Daran's time to go... I can't put my finger on the instance that he turned for me, but I do remember that he had done or said something that just rubbed me the wrong way. And while I'll admire he's got a lot of talent, it's not enough to justify how well he thinks of himself. I rather like that he was the only bottom look. Not only did it kind of underline how I've felt about him, it says a lot about who is left standing. They really are at the cream of the crop stage... this is really shaping up to be another great season for FO.

[Portia]

So pleased for Rashad. I loved when Tyler, who's won so often, whispered "Finally!" to him in recognition of the long-overdue victory.

At the end, when Daran said "I feel like a winner," I said, "But you're not, Daran. You're a loser. Now go."

[Toaster Strudel]

Nico is still there?  He's so sloppy.  Everything he does looks so... fourth grade.

[OSM Mom]

Loved Rashads makeup! Wow! And Daran? "I don't do robots.." Yes and don't try either. Ugh.

[Bella]

I, too, was happy for Rashad. He's been so helpful to the others and has a consistent level of high-quality work despite a misstep or two.

Daran, OTOH, was overdue to go. When he said "I don't do robots," I sensed major burn-out, especially given last week's lousy job. He'd definitely checked out of the show mentally and emotionally, so it was time to send him home.

Niko keeps skating by, which has to end soon.

[CherryMalotte]

Rashad's robot could be put into a movie right now - it was just incredible.  He's going to have a great career ahead of him.   

Never could get much of a read on Daran, but he really flutzed this challenge.  There's so much he could have done, but he just seemed to give up. 

[dialyn]

Rashad deserved the win, and I continue to be impressed by how willing he is to stop and help other contestants (really, Niko seems so clueless at times).  Daran has seemed to lose energy over the last couple of weeks....probably ready to go.  I was a little afraid of what George's robot was going to end up looking like since he started out with a bit of an odd design, but he took suggestions to heart and the results were a greatly improved subject. Tyler was inventive as always, though I can't imagine how he missed the difference in size between his manniquin and his model.  Still he made it work and the result was pretty original (I didn't really like the transparent face mask though; that would scare me as a patient since you can see through to the parts behind it).  All in all, I wasn't looking forward to robots (afraid they were going to go the monster route) but it turned out to be pretty fun to see how they worked the professions into the design (sorry no one took the chef, though).  This is by far my favorite reality show and I'll miss it when it ends.

[Tara Ariano]

It seemed to me like Daran just seized the out-of-his-comfort-zone challenge as a good opportunity to give up. "Maybe I didn't do enough"? YEAH, MAYBE, YOUR GUY ONLY LOOKS LIKE A KID LOSING A THIRD-GRADE HALLOWE'EN COSTUME CONTEST.

Also: I'm stealing "I don't do robots" for any time Dave wants me to do something and I don't feel like it.

[frenchtoast]

For someone who says he doesn't do robots, Daran sure sounds like one.

Daran earned my dislike when he told Corinne (I think) to hold his glue cup. Ew, that sounds dirty. He wouldn't let her do anything and was kind of a dick to her. Which is sad, because in some ways he reminds me of Jamie from Mythbusters.

I really enjoy it when they are enthused about what they're doing. As Rashaad said, it's like being a kid again. I blame Tyler. Is he ever grumpy?

[drmka9]

The thing that stuck out to me about Daran's was that it didn't seem to fulfill the requirement of having a clear advantage over its human counterpart. I'm actually a little surprised that they didn't call him out on that, as it was laid out as a requirement pretty explicitly at the beginning of the challenge. 

[Nutjob]

 

It seemed to me like Daran just seized the out-of-his-comfort-zone challenge as a good opportunity to give up. "Maybe I didn't do enough"? YEAH, MAYBE, YOUR GUY ONLY LOOKS LIKE A KID LOSING A THIRD-GRADE HALLOWE'EN COSTUME CONTEST.

Yeah, I kinda liked Daran, but DUDE. He TOTALLY gave up, and that "makeup" was embarrassing.

I am also happy for Rashaad--I think he's going to take the whole thing.

[Taeolas]

Man this is going to be an awkward 2 months while TWOP shuts down. Where to post, where to post...

Anyways, since this seems a bit more active at the moment, here's what I posted on TWOP on my take on the ep.

Rashaad's Firefighter by far was the winner. Everything the judges said about it was spot on.

The hair dresser one is probably my second pic; it was saved by the mentor advice to have the vacuum/hairdryer as a single piece instead of having them look like "breastginas" as a friend of mine termed them. (Once you see that you can't unsee it. I'm sorry. :P ). He (my friend) also commented on how hard Michael had to phrase his advice not to point out what they looked like in the sketch. :)

The surgeon was a solid third. Didn't like it as much, but it was a very practical take on the challenge and I liked it for that part.

The construction one was a mess, but had some good elements. A more solid paint job would help. In looking at the photogallery, is it just me or did they change his strobe light between the show and the photos? I could swear it was red on the show. 

And the less said for the photog-bot, the better. So many possibilities were missed with that. Hell, even his design could have been improved with very little extra effort. Make the model's body draped in black cloth to look like a shade, and put quadrotors on the model's camera head, and claim the robot was modular. It moves around as a unit but when it goes to take photos, it separates and the camera part can fly to get better shots or something.

[dialyn]

"Make the model's body draped in black cloth to look like a shade, and put quadrotors on the model's camera head, and claim the robot was modular. It moves around as a unit but when it goes to take photos, it separates and the camera part can fly to get better shots or something."   That would have been a better idea. 

Daran's looked more like he was going for a SteamPunk kind of robot; more retro than futuristic.  I think photographer was a poor choice anyway.....now that many people take photos constantly with their phones, I don't see anyone bothering to build a photography robot unless it was a little drone robot that could fly into people's personal lives without being so obvious, and that is already here.  What would be the advantage of a big robot taking photographs unless, as Taeolas suggested, it broke into smaller pieces.

[Monty]

I liked seeing a variety of techniques being used in this episode. The usual molding process everyone does can get a little same-y, what with the inevitable freakouts about molds not opening easily. So when they mix in the Vacuform machine and foam armor and that sort of thing, it always makes me happy.

[Ananayel]

I've lost the habit of paying close attention to this show, since it's so samey. Did I hear someone say they got an extra day? If so, I approve, and I wish they would do that for all the challenges, except maybe they could do some more subtle challenges like the body painting again, or age makeup, that don't need four days.

[morakot]

I was pleasantly surprised by Rashaad's addition of the phoenix wings to his firefighter robot -- a lovely touch.

[David T. Cole]

I was pleasantly surprised by Rashaad's addition of the phoenix wings to his firefighter robot -- a lovely touch.

I bet Rashaad plays Warhammer.

[Portia]

Did I hear someone say they got an extra day? If so, I approve, and I wish they would do that for all the challenges, except maybe they could do some more subtle challenges like the body painting again, or age makeup, that don't need four days.

Yes, you heard correctly, and I agree on all points. On a different thread I mentioned that I'd like them to toss in more conventional challenges from time to time. I know creatures are more fun, but I'm guessing that age and injury/illness makeups are the bread and butter of most working makeup artists.

[Monkshood]

Grrrr. And here I supported Daran, only to have him wimp out on a robot challenge. I'm just glad that the show threw 12 billion hints about who was going home, so I wasn't surprised. Or disappointed.

Oh, and it was Nico's girlfriend who got to hold his glue cup, when they were working on a team challenge.

Rashaad definitely deserved the win, and I would think he, Tyler, and George will be the final 3. Any of them are certainly deserving.

[ramble]

I liked the firefighter a lot but for some reason I liked the hair dresser even more. I was worried about the air dry boobs, but thankfully Mr. Westmore squashed that. I agree the less said about the photographer the better. Did he glue an oversized plate on the chest for the flash? School grade arts & crafts indeed. I was a little concerned that the surgeon might not translate well, but the judges seemed to get it.

Did I miss any snarky comments from the judges? I don't recall any off the top of my head, but there were rug rats watching with me & talking.

[Joystickenvy]

Loved Rashads makeup! Wow! And Daran? "I don't do robots.." Yes and don't try either. Ugh.

I think it was the "I don't do robots," as much as the bad makeup that did him in. I think the judges were itching to send Nico home, but after two bad weeks and the lack of fight, they didn't have much choice other than to send Daran packing.

The top three were all good and very different approaches. Rashad's had a more modern sci fi look, while Tyler's would have looked at home in a Star Wars Movie. George's had a very Art Deco retro look. Hopefully those will be the final three.

[Tara Ariano]

Nico has really been skating by; there've been a few times when I was sure he'd go home. When he saw Daran's "robot," he must have been so relieved.

[starri]

I was honestly surprised by the overwhelming lack of steampunk in the designs, because that's a look that almost everyone thinks s/he can pull off, but few actually can.

I am still rooting for Tyler, but I think that Rashaad had this challenged down cold.  The firefighter was great.

[Kelda Feegle]

It was almost like Daran just couldn't be arsed doing anything - he didn't even look sorry to be leaving.

[frenchtoast]

It was almost like Daran just couldn't be arsed doing anything - he didn't even look sorry to be leaving.

Well, he feels like he won, so of course he's glad to go home. But man, dude is cold--the guys got him cupcakes for his birthday and he's all, later losers. I'm a winner. Ooookaaay.

[John.G]

This was another show where the choices were uninspired. Hairdresser robot? Photographer robot? These aren't jobs one usually thinks of as being robot-appropriate jobs. Construction, surgeon, firefighter, these are good roles for robotics. I was surprised that George was able to save the hairdresser motif.

The unchosen Chef Robot could have been cool. Chopping/dicing hand on one arm, whisking/mixing hand on the other, spice bandolier, pantry chest, lots of room to play (and I'm not even a makeup guy)

Edited April 6, 2014 by John.G

[Joystickenvy]

Hairdresser I could see in a sci fi world where pretty much every job that can be done by robots is. Photographer was tricky. Drones are becoming very common in present day for some types of photography & videography, but a flying robot that makes sense as a photography robot would be tough when you have to put it on a human model.

An interesting approach might be to gear it towards situations where human photography would be dangerous or difficult.....combat, burning buildings, space, disaster scenes, underwater etc

[starri]

Yeah, but all of those require that Daran be able to get robots.

And I think he might have said he doesn't do robots.

[Tara Ariano]

Wait, DID he?!

[Bella]

 

Drones are becoming very common in present day for some types of photography & videography, but a flying robot that makes sense as a photography robot would be tough when you have to put it on a human model.

Especially when the 2014 Winter Olympics, which ended just weeks ago, had camera drones on the snow events. You could see the shadows of the little things as the skiers and snowboarders competed - they looked sort of like mosquitoes. Occasionally, a drone would be shown via another camera, possibly another drone.

This leads to a whole other line of thought about the robot challenge. Technology is becoming smaller and smaller, and with that, it's becoming more and more mobile. So at the risk of sounding like Daran, who came across as a whiner, I wonder what the point of a robot challenge is, given that they do have to use human models in Face Off. Of course, it's a sci-fi thing, not a modern tech thing, but robots were once envisioned as our future, and what we've got is the world at our fingertips on a device that's less than half the size of a deck of cards.

Interesting factoid that might bring back the relevance of a robot: NASA has learned that astronauts show a very strong preference for working with robots that echo a human shape, in that testing shows the astronauts to be more effective when working with such a device. So the outside-the-ISS robots are being designed with a rough torso/head configuration and arm-like projections that come out of the sides of the torso. No legs, though.

[ChicagoJosh]

I was a little disappointed that everyone made a very human-like robot.  I know that both movies and real-life situations seem to prefer that style, but I would have loved to see someone completely hide the model in a tube, box, or other non-human shape.