S10.E11: The Art Of Warcraft

[ElectricBoogaloo]

The artists convert races from "World of Warcraft" into realistic characters for the big screen; guest judge Robert Kazinsky.

 

 

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Sneak peek:

[Pallida]

I've been waiting all season for this one! Maybe Mel will try to make a worgen to make up for last week.  Who am I kidding?  They'll all pick undead if they can...

 

(Still! SQUEEE!!! )

[Kev78]

I can't believe Rob was in top looks he should have been bottom looks for not completing the challenge.

[mjc570]

I thought this was a great challenge - and the super handsome, charming guest certainly didn't hurt.   He was right on - Rob's Tauran would have been much improved by adding a nose ring, although I thought "bipedal cow" was a bit harsh.  Walter certainly deserved the win, his character was awesome, although I thought the tail was pretty lame. Melissa dodged a bullet, her character was pretty bad.  What a relief not to have to suffer through Mel's moaning and groaning and panicking - it was nice to see her confident for a change.

 

I thought it was interesting that both bottom looks were the female characters. 

[Frozendiva]

I somehow thought this was the second-last episode of the season and that there would be two eliminations.

 

I liked the guest judge being a little harsh and speaking his mind. He knows the challenge world. Good for him.

 

Bye, Yvonne. Your goblin kinda reminded me of a green, ears-pulled-through-a-stretcher or rice machine shiny Ferengi.

 

Mel, you saved yourself for another week. As did you, Melissa. Methinks someone with an M initial will be going home next week.

 

Walter's was excellent. Rob's did remind me of a bipedal cow and should have been a bottom look.

[Toaster Strudel]

Mackenzie looked absolutely ravishing on the reveal stage tonight.

 

I ever want to make a a movie about peas I am calling Yvonne.

[Ketzel]

I laughed when the guest judge called himself "the Simon Cowell of the panel."  He wasn't even particularly harsh, just more blunt in his assessments than the usually fairly tactful (even Glenn) panelists.

 

I figured Yvonne was on her way to the bottom when she asked the guest judge to differentiate the characteristics of the goblin male and female. Then, after he clearly explained the differences between the two, she suggested melding the male and female aspects of her character into one makeup.  Just the WTF? look on his face as he politely said he didn't think that would work made it clear he wasn't going to be expecting much from her.

[GaT]

I was worried for Rob, I'm OK with him not winning this week, but I'm rooting for him to win the whole thing.

[Muffyn]

To me the winner and loser were so clear this episode that there was no suspense.  Melissa's had prroblems as did Rob's, but Yvonne's was terrible.  The area around the eyes did not blend into the face at all.  The color was waxy.  There was no way for the model to sell it.

 

The winning looking was tentacles and tail above the rest.  It was so well done.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Muffyn

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Caveat: I know nothing about World of Warcraft except that Mr. EB's aunt has been playing it for ages and used to obsessed with it.

 

Yvonne's goblin looked hokey to me. Even if she had been able to finish, I don't know how much better it would have looked. Those giant ears were killing me. They made her goblin look like a green chihuahua. The paint was too shiny and I didn't like the brown pits around the eyes.

 

I loved the paint job on the face of Walter's draenei. All those speckled but blended blue tones were so pretty. It reminded me of a watercolor painting. I liked the brow ridges and the plates in the head From far away, the face tentacles looked like a beard of ponytails. I loved when Walter tested out the tail in the workroom.

 

Rob's tauren looked like a big cow. I could not disagree with his assessment. I was surprised that the judges liked it so much.

 

I was so worried for Melissa this entire episode because you know when someone says that something is their favorite thing or they know a lot about it, that is the kiss of death. Melissa's worgen definitely had an animal look to the face but I couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a cat or a dog or what. I didn't like that the fingers were stuck together either.

 

Mel's troll was much better than Yvonne's goblin to me (if we were going to have a battle of the big ears). She was really smart to ask the WoW guy a ton of questions, which resulted in an accurate depiction of her character.

 

On a shallow note, Mackenzie looked great tonight. Maybe I was just so pleased by seeing her look slightly different. I liked her hair, her dress (still skintight, but a different neckline and the pattern really made a difference), and her makeup.

[OakGoblinFly]

I thought this was a great challenge - and the super handsome, charming guest certainly didn't hurt.   He was right on - Rob's Tauran would have been much improved by adding a nose ring, although I thought "bipedal cow" was a bit harsh.  Walter certainly deserved the win, his character was awesome, although I thought the tail was pretty lame. Melissa dodged a bullet, her character was pretty bad.  What a relief not to have to suffer through Mel's moaning and groaning and panicking - it was nice to see her confident for a change.

 

I thought it was interesting that both bottom looks were the female characters. 

 

 

Though she did start with the "I have no idea what I'm going to do; this is so outside of my comfort zone" whining in the begining.

 

Honestly, other than Walter, I thought all the make-ups were lackluster.  

 

I had no idea what Melissa's was supposed to be; she and the artistic director guy kept saying "werewolf" yet I saw feline.

 

Take away the hair on Mel's creature and you're left with a rather dull piece,

 

Yvonne's was a mess; she shouldn't tried to "unpretty" her creature -- make it pretty and then add dirt, grit and other elements.

 

Rob's was okay - but missed the challenge mark.

Mackenzie looked absolutely ravishing on the reveal stage tonight.

 

I loved the finger waves and the old-school Hollywood vibe she was giving off.

[diebartdie]

When Rob's was a top look I was flabbergasted. He's an amazing artist, he has been top looks all along and I thought his bipedal cow ended up looking ok but...what were the judges smoking because it wasn't AWESOME like they were gushing on and on about. It was ok for what it was but it wasn't amazing and it wasn't a Tauren. Sad to see Yvonne go but she came to the show already in her career as a makeup artist, she is a good, solid journeyman artist with a very clean presentation, she'll do fine. I wanted Mel gone but Mel turned in a solid, if on-the-nose critter so good for her. Melissa got way too caught up in her own mind, her own expectations for this character and too deep into her memories of having played the game so deeply, all of that worked against her, her creation was a flop. Walter's was AMAZING! Holy moly I loved that thing.

[Ketzel]

Walter's makeup was the first genuinely impressive piece any of the contestants have produced to date, imo. I wonder where in the process the upcoming movie is - his makeup was worthy of a cameo appearance at least! 

[LoneHaranguer]

What's the point of declaring a winner when it doesn't even keep you from being stuck with last pick the following week?

 

What's the point of having a guest judge who's an expert on the subject of the week if the regular judges are going to ignore him?

[Rhetorica]

Can someone tell me if all the mold problems are due to the lack of time, the contestants lack of skill, or just plain bad luck? As for Mackenzie's sartorial look this episode, she's a small chested woman but she really needed a bra with her dress for judging. Walters was lovely, if that's possible in WOW. Yvonne just didn't listen.

[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.

I was excited for this episode because it was related to a post I made in the Challenge Ideas thread. But I felt the artists fell flat except for Walter. I thought Rob's looked like a cow playing an Old Testament prophet. It wasn't all that cow-like (I see cows several times a week).

[AppleCore]

As a long time WOW player, I am so thrilled that they did this challenge. My main 'toon is a Draenei, so I was rooting for Walter from the start. His Draenei was made of awesome!! He really nailed the facial tentacles and ridges. Mel's Troll was also really great. She was smart to ask so many questions and really listen to the answers.

 

Yvonne asked a few questions, but did what she wanted anyway. She put a big downturned male Goblin nose on a female face.  The girl Goblins are much cuter, with turned up noses and sassy attitudes. The Goblins are really fun little characters. The hair should have been pulled forward and styled into a poof of bangs. In the game, some of them have cute little skull clips holding the bangs. I agree with the poster who compared her look to a Ferengi.

 

Even if you don't know the reference world, you need to create something that fits into it from photos provided. They aren't inventing new species here, they are adapting well-loved characters to the real world. Millions of gamers have spent countless hours with these characters. We want to see them done justice, like Walter's Draenei.

[Primetimer]

Does enthusiasm for World Of Warcraft translate to great makeup work? Maybe, maybe not.

Read the story

[Kaoteek]

Well, that was one successful make-up (the obvious winner), and four misses - one obvious loser (that goblin was a mess), one mediocre, no-creativity, xeroxed-from-the-in-game-model troll (which felt a bit simplistic in its sculpting), one bipedal cow (loved Kazinsky's comments), and one barely wolfy enough worgen. Meh.

 

As for the upcoming semi-finals, I'm bracing for the worst, with that "create a species from Kong's Skull Island" theme.

[sourpickles]

I'll preface this comment by saying I am almost totally unfamiliar with WoW or whatever, and this is all humbly my opinion, so gamers don't kill me. Yvonne went home because she finally got caught out, and rightfully so, on her smooth clean paint job she's been doing for however many episodes that just didn't work this time. And yeah on the doggie ears. Melissa just got so overexcited she couldn't produce, but I'm glad she stayed. I do not see werewolf anything, though. Rob's Tauren reminded me of (Cig's?) high school stereotype a few seasons ago. But it was alright. Walter also seems to have a signature paint job, a lot of that spattering or whatever looked like last week, just blue instead of purple. I don't know about the troll. Maybe cause Mel drives me batty, but I was just eh on that troll. But good for her. At least she didn't have a nervous breakdown. And had the courage to ask a ton of questions. Next week looks interesting, can't believe the season is almost done.

[Thog]

Yes, Rob's looked like a cow, but it didn't look (to me) like a human dressed as a cow. I was genuinely impressed with the artistry despite the problems he'd had. It didn't deserve to win for sure, but I did think it was very well done.

 

I thought Mackenzie (or whoever dresses her) was going for a Marilyn vibe during the judging. My main thought (other than "wow, she's pretty") is that she doesn't need to try that hard, because, well...wow, she's pretty.

[Black Knight]

McKenzie broke script again! For 9 1/2 seasons she sticks to the same "[Contestant], it's been so great having you here with us" and then she deviates from that twice over several weeks! I don't know what to think. Where is the real McKenzie? Has she been secretly switched out with a twin? (Hey, she did use to play a character on one of the craziest soap operas ever...) Kidding aside, wow, she really did like Yvonne. That "Yvonne, it's been such a joy having you here with us" was delivered with the softest, warmest tone I've ever heard her use for the goodbye spiel.

 

Mel does worry a lot. But, I find it interesting that Rob has worried a lot too this season, including in this episode, and yet he's never mentioned.

 

I feel like the judges would have given Rob the win had the guest judge not been there insisting that his character didn't look the way it was supposed to.

 

McKenzie's mention of "four semi-finalists" indicates that this is going to be a three-finalist finale. I'm ready for this season to be over. As far as I'm concerned, there's been exactly one look - Melissa's dragon-clops in the previous episode - that is worthy of being remembered alongside the successes of previous seasons. I really hope next season is either a year from now or a returning-contestants season.

[Merneith]

 

I had no idea what Melissa's was supposed to be; she and the artistic director guy kept saying "werewolf" yet I saw feline.

 

Worgen are Humans who have been cursed to be Werewolves (long story.) In the game, they can appear as either Humans or Werewolves. One of the classes (ie - jobs) that a Worgen can do is a Druid. That's the class that Melissa wanted to depict. Druids are spellcasters who can turn into other animals. They can turn into a hawk and fly, turn into a sealion and swim fast, turn into a bunch of things. That's the job's big advantage is its versatility. One of the things that Druids can turn into is a Cat. The Cat form is a fast and agile fighter.

 

This is what a Worgen Druid looks like when she's a Cat -

 

 

Melissa wanted to show her Worgen in the Werewolf form while she was transitioning into the Cat form. So she  was pretty much doomed from the start. You just can't do that with a single prosthetic. Designwise - she was all over the place.

 

One of the things that makes the art in WoW so successful is that everything is very specific and intentional. It's a cartoon - but it's all deliberately a cartoon. You don't get vague transitional forms or ambiguous gender fluidity (Yvonne.)

 

Also, Death Knights are not Zombies. Zombies are a whole other thing. Death Knights are Undead, and Zombies are Undead, but Death Knights are Not Zombies, any more than they are Vampires, Ghouls or Skeletons. Walter did a bitchin' Draenei Death Knight.

 

Except for Walter, I was bummed over all. This crew just falls down every time they have to implement someone else's vision. If they can't wing it, they don't know what to do.

[Mabinogia]

Why do these designers seem so intent on doing "transitions". It doesn't work. Fake German tried it on that aquatic thing and now Melissa on this wolf/cat. Stop trying to be so fancy and just do a freaking good job!

 

Walter, for me, was the clear winner. I'd say the green thing next then cow man. (I'm terrible at names and remembering who did what. Sorry). The right person did go home though.

[hincandenza]

Walter was the obvious winner this week; he's a bit of a dark horse.  He's not really consistent, but when he's on, he can be very good.  He's clearly got skills, and the right work ethic and patience to succeed.  When he's feeling the challenge and has a clear concept in mind, he's one of those guys that could win the finale with a burst of creativity- but is as much a risk to turn in something kind of vague and ill-conceived.

 

Rob probably shouldn't have been in top looks with an unfinished piece that so clearly missed the conceptual mark.  To his credit, he knew it too, and was suitably shocked.  To the discredit of almost everyone else on the show this season... he was in top looks with an unfinished piece that so clearly missed the conceptual mark.  :) I get where the judges were coming from: the challenge was to make a cinematic makeup of video game characters, and his Tauren, while not faithful to the original, was still a skillfully executed piece despite how rushed it was.  I would have liked to have seen him not keep restarting, so he had time to do a proper fabrication for the cowl, and give it that minotaur-like giant chest and neck. I think it was Neville who responded in kind, suggesting that he'd sure like to have seen the best-case effort.  Rob is clearly the one to beat, since we know that even in an off week when he is fearful of going home, he'll turn in something better than all but one other Facetestant.

 

Mel should not have been in top looks either, but they don't really have a "safe" anymore, just top/bottom.  For as much as I was expecting/hoping she'd knock herself out this week- and again with the early whining, oy vey- she ended up being focused and effective this week.  The editors were having some fun with her wall o' questions, but that was smart: why wouldn't you ask the visiting expert everything you could think of, especially if you were uncertain about the source?  Asking questions like "Is the hairstyle culturally meaningful" is a fantastic question, because it tells you what you can go freeform with, and what's actually beholden to clear canonical rules.  So while her piece wasn't inspired, nor exceptional, it met the challenge parameters well, the sculpt was clean and balanced, and the hair in particular was called out as true to form.  Just asking smart questions and minimizing the avant garde for something cleanly executed is usually enough to stay safe in every episode outside of the finale; you know someone else will screw up by being too ambitious/"out there".

 

Melissa scared me this week, because while watching I thought there was a chance she could go home; the longer I looked, the worst that piece got.  The judges were right that she should have ditched the feet and hands, but I think her big problem- seen so often on this show- is an unwillingness to commit to a truly non-humanoid face.  The wolf creature was very long-snouted and, well... lupine. Melissa here, like so many before her, just didn't want to do a full on animal head and face, instead making some kind of human/animal hybrid.  Relating back to Mel, it's sometimes a curse on this show: when someone is too in love with the source material, they can become a combination of overly ambitious and easily frustrated (because they care so much), leading to a spiral of "bad luck" and bunch of half-completed parts that don't assemble to a coherent whole.  Melissa clearly has the talent and passion about WoW to have turned in a great costume, but got so scattered fighting a war on several fronts- the hands and feet for example- that she ended up with something sloppy and rushed.

 

Oof.  Yvonne.  In the forums last week, we noted that Yvonne has a "Rob from season 3" tendency to make her sculpts look like her.  It happened again tonight, where we can see a lot of similarities between her facial shape and that cheap dollar-store mask creation. It's a testament to the power of genuinely seeking feedback- as opposed to confirmation bias- to constrast Mel and Yvonne this week.  Both claimed no real familiarity with the source material, both have a tendency to get whiny and fearful at the drop of a hat... but Mel buckled down, asked a bunch of questions, and actually listened to the answers carefully.  Yvonne not only saw the elfin featured female goblins in the game, but also heard the head art designer of Epic confirm that they should be clearly gendered and "cute" and not to do any gender blending... then blithely ignored that to make an traditional ugly genderless goblin.  I was so was rooting for her to go home after that, and in that one way, she did not disappoint.  

[needschocolate]

WOW is unfamiliar territory to me - I have no opinion on how accurate the make-ups were. I think Rob's was in the top because what he had was very good, much better than Melsnie's or Yvonne's. It seemed unfinished to viewers because we heard about all the trouble he had snd what he wasn't able to get done, but the judges fon't know how much was missing from what he planned to do.

[starri]

I didn't think Yvonne's was great, but I did prefer it to Melissa's.  I get why she went home, but I feel like the totality of her work this season has been stronger than Melissa.

 

Walter's was clearly the best, but I've got to go against the grain and say I also really liked Rob's.

[Rammchick]

As a long-time viewer of this show, I think there are a few truisms that have become clear:

 

• If you know your piece is bad, own up to it.  It gets you further than standing there defending it.
• Corollary to the first -- Not having any self-awareness is a sure ticket home.  If you produce a bad piece and you *don't* know it, you're going to be packing your kit
• Pick your battles.  If your challenge is a very well-defined universe with specific characters, don't try to go outside the box.  You won't get any credit for originality and you might even go home for not following the rules of the challenge.
• Every season, Glen's hair will get weirder and his biceps bigger ;)

 

Any others we can think of?

[Pallida]

As a longtime WoW player, Walter's draenei was undoubtedly the winner.  I didn't like Mel's troll because it didn't adhere to the original source.  The ears were incredibly off.  WoW troll ears are narrow, so her ears threw off the whole profile.  I will say she did a nice job with the mohawk though.

 

I thought Rob was getting there with the tauren, and I wish he had more time.  Tauren aren't much different from bipedal humpback cows!

 

I don't know that anybody could have been successful with worgen in the short amount of time available.  Blizzard had immense problems getting the worgen model correct for the game (and many still think it's clunky, especially female worgen).  I wish Melissa had been able to pick a race earlier and chosen something else.

 

Also, i was tired of the "don't make the goblin cartoony" comments since goblins are caricatures.  (My alliance side is showing...)

[Richness]

Walter did a excellent job. He's been mediocre for most of the season, so it's nice to see my handsome beefcake do so well at the end. Conversely, it's alarming to see Rob falter. I would have been very upset if he had went home after they used the save on Mel. I really hope he wins this season, with Melissa and Walter in the finals with him.

 

I didn't think Yvonne's was great, but I did prefer it to Melissa's.  I get why she went home, but I feel like the totality of her work this season has been stronger than Melissa.

 

Walter's was clearly the best, but I've got to go against the grain and say I also really liked Rob's.

 

The Wikipedia entry indicates that Melissa has performed better than Yvonne. While they've both had two wins, Melissa has one more high ranking and fewer low rankings (even if you count that horrible job she did when she had immunity as a low ranking). Though I will admit that Yvonne has had several gorgeous paint jobs/make-ups as of late.

 

However, I agree with you about liking Rob's even if it didn't quite represent the game character as much as it should have. It was really well done.

As a long-time viewer of this show, I think there are a few truisms that have become clear:

Any others we can think of?

 

• Read the clue.
• Learn to drive stick shift.

Oh wait. That's the wrong reality TV competition. How about:

• Never do fire/lava make-up.
• Never bake in a frozen expression.
• McKenzie's legs must be exposed up to the knees.

I'd have to think a while for more, but this would probably be a better in the Small Talk thread since it's not about any one specific episode.

[riverheightsnancy]

I had to post. I watch this show on occasion, but never post. It is interesting, but I only have time to post on certain shows. With that said, I have to say that the host (Mckenzie?) is one of the most well put together hosts of any show out there. She always looks stunning (in beauty and attitude too). Whatever she wears is always perfection. She seems to favor a lot of silvery toned dresses and they always look spectacular on her. Always. I would love to know the names of the designers or brands that she favors. Almost everything she wears, I would also chose too. Love her.