S01.E01: Game Face: Sy-Borg Showdown

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The artists must create fantasy characters around a set of ears, monsters that haunt creepy locales, and Star Trek-inspired cyborgs using everyday electronics parts.

[sourpickles]

The more peeks I see of this the more excited I am.....................and my cat just upended my beer all over, so we'll see if I can comment. Sigh.  Petlife.

[enoughcats]

I liked it.  And, boyo, does the competition move fast.  Two hours per challenge.  Actually, it was a bit energy sapping for a Monday night 10pm TV show.  I think it will fit much better next week at 9pm.  

Two hours, the way I read it, was get a good idea and execute it, and don't spend much of your time running to get different stuff from the stuff wall. 

(McKenzie got herself a new hairstyle and stylist.  I didn't recognize her just standing there.  

This is one that will be saved for watching in the future, sort of like my Battlebots  from ages past.  Fun watches regardless of when they were filmed/

[katalizt]

It's like Chopped: Face Off Edition. I like it!

It reminded me of the foundation challenges of old which we haven't seen in the past couple of seasons. I like seeing what people make with the limitations of time and premade prosthetics. 

Definitely agreed with the judges in the first round, Faina's look wasn't very well executed.

Roy's second look reminded me of the Ood from Doctor Who. 

[Maverick]

 Was the judging on cumulative or per challenge?  Because Jasmine's Borg didn't look anything like a Borg.  The Borg have grey/washed out skin, not normal human skin tones.   They don't have gears (they aren't steampunk) much less ones that are just pasted on their head.  They don't have have clear plastic anything.  And they most definitely do not wear Member's Only jackets.   

[mlp]

Quote

It's like Chopped: Face Off Edition.

That's exactly what I was going to say.  I liked it too.

I was hoping Roy would win but that helmet thing he made for the final challenge looked really artificial, like grey foam sheets just rough cut and wrapped.  I didn't understand why someone in solitary confinement would be turning into a fish either.  I also didn't like Jasmine's so I just accepted that the judges were correct in their decision.

McKenzie's hairdo did her no favors.  She's very attractive but that style made her look a good ten years older.  

[GaT]

I liked it, the challenges were really quick. I didn't like either Jasmine or Roy's final look, I think they were both just burnt at that point so neither look was great. It was a toss up.

[sourpickles]

Really, really happy with the show.  Was happy to see everyone who was there, though I did sort of feel like Faina was rushed in.  But glad to see Roy, Jasmine, and George.  And I am happy for Jasmine, third time's the charm!  Roy was a gracious second placer.  Definitely going to keep watching. 

[slaterain]

I enjoyed this and am excited to see who else they bring back! And then will there be a finale with the ep winners competing against each other for a bigger prize? Feel like they could do a tournament semis and finals etc. 

Three makeups in one day is rough! I'm not surprised the last looks were the weaker ones. I liked the judges watching it all come together with a little commentary. Even they noted how fried you would be by the last round. 

Jasmine had my two favorite looks. Especially her catacombs one. There was something about the paint job that I found really interesting up close. 

[enoughcats]

Why was Jasmine wearing "good" clothes?  Pretty flowing clothes have to have slowed her down. I wonder if she thought there'd be an intro and then they'd work the next day? 

 

 Then we have Roy, same hat.  And was that the same yellow and black plaid?  Dude doesn't age.

Dude from Puerto Rico looked good, I really liked his first effort.

Faina, we hardly saw you.  I'd like to see her in a color-based competition.  Same faces for all the participants.  Then do their best.

[LittleIggy]

Ve, honey, I love you. Just back away from the blush!

 I couldn't understand how Roy got "guy turning into an aquatic creature" from a padded cell.

Edited August 24, 2017 by LittleIggy

[ElectricBoogaloo]

I really liked the periwinkle dress that Mackenzie was wearing in the intro. It was a nice change from the usual skin tight bandage dresses. I also liked her black and white dress but I hated her hair and makeup, both of which made her look so much older.

Although 90 minutes is a ridiculously short amount of time, the one thing I liked about these short challenges is that it means the contestants have to focus on application, colors, and makeup instead of sculpting and construction.

It was interesting to hear the judges' comments while the contestants were working on their models (as opposed to only getting their thoughts on the finished product). They're pros so they know what the pitfalls can be, but they still ended up surprised by some of the results.

Jasmine's first makeup was very simple but I get that she was trying to set a reasonable amount of work to do within 90 minutes.  Faina's was my least favorite. Her edges were so obvious and I agree that her model's face looked overpainted. I thought Roy wouldn't finish in time so I was pleasantly surprised that he was able to finish painting in the last few minutes. I really liked George's bluish purple creature.

I'm with Rick Baker - avoid putting wig caps and bald caps on the models when possible!

My favorite question in this episode was Jasmine asking, "Is there any lube?"

I was okay with the drab color palate that Jasmine used for her catacomb guy, but I didn't like that the area under his eyes was so red. Roy's octopus doctor was creative and much more unique than the other two creepy girls. I liked the reptilian texture on George's model's face. The neck gills were a nice addition. I would have kept him and eliminated Jasmine.

I love ST: TNG so I was interested to see how they would deal with the Borg challenge.

I appreciated that Jasmine decided to incorporate her model's hair into her design. She could have used a cowl, but it was more that she had a good attitude and was willing to adapt her design and work with what she had. I do agree that the required pieces from the table ended up looking more like extraneous decorations instead of really being incorporated into the design.

What I liked about Roy was that he recognized he had been behind on painting in the first two challenges so he made a huge effort not to do that again in the final task. I agree that the foam stuff on the model's head ended up looking kind of like a football helmet. I hated the piece of foam that was sticking up from the top. That looked terrible.

[Lugal]

Not bad, Face Off meets Forged in Fire meets Cosplay Melee (I'm pretty sure that's the set they used).  I'm in for now.

I think if Roy had given himself a little more time to paint the helmet so it didn't look like foam, he would have won.

[sourpickles]

32 minutes ago, Lugal said:

Face Off meets Forged in Fire meets Cosplay Melee (I'm pretty sure that's the set they used).  I'm in for now.

I actually wrote in my notes "so, Game Face is Cosplay Melee?".  I thought maybe it was just me.  And beer.  Glad to see I'm not alone.

Truthfully, I don't mind the time restraints here on this show because I feel like that might be closer to real life movies and the challenges don't seem too far out there, AND we're seeing people shine on their own.  I can live with that. 

[Richness]

So, Face Off Melee? (Cosplay Off?) OooooK. Unfortunately, I was somewhat disappointed with the first episode. Even if these are all Face Off veterans, I don't remember Jasmine or George. I probably wouldn't have remembered Faina if it wasn't for her having just finished regular Face Off. Unfortunately, all new characters in every episode really isn't going to allow me to get invested in any of the contestants. Roy was a favorite from his multiple seasons of Face Off, but I just couldn't generate any enthusiasm for him either.

 

I was somewhat surprised Faina went out first. Her unifying make-up work saved her team a couple of times on Face Off, so I though she would have done better on this make-up focused challenge. Oh well. I thought Roy should have went home for his Shrek-ish goblin. When he somehow fished out a vaginal Magi-Karp out of that padded room picture, I thought for sure they were keeping him around so they can award the whole enchilada to him.

 

Therefore, I was even more surprised that Roy didn't win. I liked Jasmine's "Borg" better mainly for the water tubes, though the gear bling on the temple was superfluous. I just didn't think they'd let her, a relative unknown, win over him, a multi-season fan favorite. Wow.

 

One of the biggest complaints about Face Off is that they never seem to have enough time to finish their work the way they want to. This competition will exasperate that further. I'm not sure how much quality we're going to get as a result, especially if they're filming this all over one day. I'll probably give this a full season at least.

[Nutjob]

Mackenzie needs to lay off the botox or surgery or whatever it is she's doing. She's starting to get duck lips, and it's very unfortunate for such an attractive woman.

 

I liked this overall, and it's nice to see some familiar faces come back in a slightly different setting. I know I saw Tate in a preview, so I'm especially looking forward to that episode!

[Monty]

I wonder if Michael Westmore could be convinced to come be a judge for an episode.

[starri]

On 8/25/2017 at 1:42 AM, Monty said:

I wonder if Michael Westmore could be convinced to come be a judge for an episode.

I think they're supposed to have rotating judges, so I certainly hope so.

Also, Lois.

I can't understand how Roy managed to lose the final challenge, which specifically seemed to be designed for him to win.

[enoughcats]

On 8/25/2017 at 1:42 AM, Monty said:

I wonder if Michael Westmore could be convinced to come be a judge for an episode.

Didn't they say that Mr. Westmore created the Borg?  Would having him judge this one be too hard because he put his mind into their creation, rather than two hours?

Mr. Westmore's history making the visual Star Trek universe

Edited August 27, 2017 by enoughcats

[starri]

If there was an alien on Star Trek between TNG and Enterprise, it was his. 

And now the reigns have been passed to Glenn and Neville. 

[DixonVixen2359]

I am really digging this new twist on Face Off. So nice to see Roy again, he is one of my all time favorite contestants. Such a gentleman and very talented. I am probably biased, but I think he deserved the win.  I was bummed when Foxy and Company disappeared after the pilot episode, but glad to see he is doing quite well for himself career wise. 

Did my eyes deceive me or did I see the oh so adorable Tate in a clip from an upcoming episode? He is such a hunk... Swoon!

[LadyMustang65]

We really enjoyed this show.  Love seeing them have to work fast and come up with multiple looks.  It's truly a challenge.  I agree with whoever said that if Roy had had enough time to paint the helmet on his Borg, he would have won.  We really liked that look . . . except for the helmet.  The rest of that creation was outstanding.  I didn't realize until we started watching that the show was using Face Off alumni.  Awesome!!!

[call me ishmael]

4 hours ago, LadyMustang65 said:

We really enjoyed this show.  Love seeing them have to work fast and come up with multiple looks.  It's truly a challenge.  I agree with whoever said that if Roy had had enough time to paint the helmet on his Borg, he would have won.  We really liked that look . . . except for the helmet.  The rest of that creation was outstanding.  I didn't realize until we started watching that the show was using Face Off alumni.  Awesome!!!

I think that is right about the helmet.  Either he needed time to pain it or should have used a similar material to the rest of the body.  But really it was just a mistake.  He would have been better off finding some other way to make the borg look like his head had been shaved off.

I had somewhat mixed feelings about this to be honest.  I like that it is a one-off thing and it was fun to see older contestants.  But it was so rushed that it really seemed more like who could plaster stuff together quickly than any of the actual demonstration of talent that you usually get.  I suppose as someone said that it was like chopped.  But with chopped they are asking them to do in 30 minutes what they might like to have 2 hours for.  Here is is in two hours what they should have two days.

[LadyMustang65]

16 hours ago, call me ishmael said:

I had somewhat mixed feelings about this to be honest.  I like that it is a one-off thing and it was fun to see older contestants.  But it was so rushed that it really seemed more like who could plaster stuff together quickly than any of the actual demonstration of talent that you usually get.  I suppose as someone said that it was like chopped.  But with chopped they are asking them to do in 30 minutes what they might like to have 2 hours for.  Here is is in two hours what they should have two days.

I kind of have to disagree a bit.  I think the whole point is to see what they can do with what's at hand.  They would need two days if they were sculpting and molding and fabricating everything themselves.  Here they have to use (mostly anyway) prosthetics that are supplied.  So the challenge is to take what's available and make something out of that rather than starting from scratch.  It seems similar to the spotlight challenges that they used to do on the show where they had 2 hours to create a look.  Maybe the 2-hour window is a bit too tight, though.  Had they had 3 hours per challenge, the finished creations could have been much more polished.  But I have to admit I am absolutely amazed at seeing what they can do and how they do it so quickly.  I could not believe Roy had an actual decent paint job on his first creation.  Unreal how fast and how well he did that. 

[call me ishmael]

1 hour ago, LadyMustang65 said:

I kind of have to disagree a bit.  I think the whole point is to see what they can do with what's at hand.  They would need two days if they were sculpting and molding and fabricating everything themselves.  Here they have to use (mostly anyway) prosthetics that are supplied.  So the challenge is to take what's available and make something out of that rather than starting from scratch.  It seems similar to the spotlight challenges that they used to do on the show where they had 2 hours to create a look.  Maybe the 2-hour window is a bit too tight, though.  Had they had 3 hours per challenge, the finished creations could have been much more polished.  But I have to admit I am absolutely amazed at seeing what they can do and how they do it so quickly.  I could not believe Roy had an actual decent paint job on his first creation.  Unreal how fast and how well he did that. 

Yes those are points well taken.  I think that for me one of the things I always liked about face off was the way it seemed to simulate what they would be doing in real life.  These seemed more like face off meets macgyver.  But I do think that you are right about the spotlights.  I had forgotten about those and they were pretty neat.

[LadyMustang65]

18 minutes ago, call me ishmael said:

face off meets macgyver.  

Okay, now I want to see this show.  Contestants - you have 2 hours to create a character using duct tape, a paper clip, and 2 straws.  Go!