S13.E03: Aztec Aliens 2018.06.19

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

The artists create ancient aliens that could have been the inspiration for Aztec gods.

[LittleIggy]

I agree that Matt’s sculpt was good, but the aqua color didn’t say “Aztec” to me. Most of the aliens were pretty mediocre, IMO.

[Taeolas]

I disagreed with the choices. Especially Kelly's Quezequatal; I liked her blue snakey god over generic Gorn dude. 

The brassy/golden sun god I liked more than the body painted guy; though the painted eye dude was good enough for a top look.

Matt's aquatic dude was good. It looked alien and mezoamerican as well. Probably my own top 2. And the bottom 2 were not bottom for me; at worse they were middle of the pack.

Most of them I was indifferent about, either both at the bottom or both on top. 

[Frozendiva]

I also was pretty indifferent at the aliens. I'd have been happy with either of the top 2 winning.

Of course, some of the Facetestants don't follow the challenge. Whimsical is not something they know about much. Aztec gods take a bit of a history lesson or looking online at artifacts, reading the legends/stories, etc. No time for that. Just pick a couple of details and create.... something.

I tend to not get too invested in the winners until it's down to the last 6 or so.

[Maelstrom]

Interesting challenge tonight - certainly a welcome change from monsters and gore.

I’m a bit of a mythology nerd myself, and don’t necessarily agree with the descriptions the show gave to some of the deities, but I digress. I did like Matt and Damien’s makeups (beautiful paint jobs on both) and though Walter’s feathered serpent wasn’t the most creative take on the idea it was well executed. That’s cool Damien was able to redeem his previous alien makeup.

Kelly continues to irk, and her punk rock bounty hunter didn’t work for me in concept or execution. Can she go away next week, please?! I disagree with the judges about Graham’s feathered sun god, I thought it was pretty cool. Once again there’s a bit of a disparity between what the contestants are told when Mackenzie lays out the challenge parameters and what the judges are looking for. Frustrating.

Agree most of the other makeups were pretty meh. I think I’ve already forgotten them.

Was that the most useless preview ever or is it just me? I’m guessing it’s some sort of horror challenge? Oh joy. Just what this show needs more of.

[Frozendiva]

I wouldn't mind a Beauty and the Beast or other Disney challenge - bring an item in the enchanted castle to life Probably should be on the FaceOff ideas/suggestions thread.

[mjc570]

1 hour ago, LittleIggy said:

I agree that Matt’s sculpt was good, but the aqua color didn’t say “Aztec” to me.

I agree with this, maybe its my tv set (yeah, I'm old school), but I thought it was too green, like jade, and needed a bit of blue to make it more turquoise which to me would be more in keeping with the mezoamerica idea.

There were some hits, and some really awful misses.  (yes, Kelly, I'm talking about you, sorry).    I agree that Damian deserved the win; I thought it hit all of the challenge requirements and showed a lot of skill.  I especially liked the eyes and the color scheme.

I was really conscious this week of which models were working it, and which ones were more static.  I guess that's a choice of the contestants, but it seemed really noticeable.

[mlp]

I'm sorry the women are doing so poorly but Kelly and Mel need to go.  They're weren't anything approaching all-stars to begin with and they don't seem to have improved since we saw them last.  

I'm inclined to like Matt.  He seems quietly intellectual and does good work but, omigosh, he must use Glenn's hair stylist.  I guess he doesn't own a mirror.  

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clip:

[Monty9]

maelstrom

Quote

I disagree with the judges about Graham’s feathered sun god,

Totally, totally agree with you. I thought it looked great. I also thought that while Damien's paint job was amazing and it was an interesting piece of art, I tend to like things that convince me "Ok, that's totally a living creature standing there." But the head was way too 50's cheap alien looking rather than classic or however Glenn described it. Plus I am still confused what is the difference between a makeup vs. a mask/big rubber head.

[Lugal]

That was a cool idea, since I'm an Aztec mythology nerd anyway I was into this, but it seems like a lot of them missed the mark.

Matt's Tlaloc was well done, but I would have incorporated the google eyes and headdress into some kind of cool helmet rather than just making a big alien head.  I also liked Graham's feathered sun god, but Damien deserved the win for that paint job.

Walter's Quetzalcoatl was well done, even if it wasn't the most creative idea.  But it was better than Kelly's, which looked like it belonged in some 80's b-movie, except the face looked crooked.  Also Quetzalcoatl was the one god that human sacrifices were never made to, so her idea of a galactic bounty hunter who loves the violence of Aztec culture seemed even dumber.

The Tezcatlipocas were kind of middle of the road, I wish they would have incorporated some kind of jaguar motifs or obsidian (I know Michael Westmore said not to because it's be too dark, but maybe as accents or something) just to connect it to the god better.  Also Tezcatlipoca was not a war god, but more of a night god of sorcery.

Also I have to give props to Mackenzie for pronouncing the Nahuatl god names pretty well.

[HurricaneVal]

15 hours ago, Taeolas said:

I disagreed with the choices. Especially Kelly's Quezequatal; I liked her blue snakey god over generic Gorn dude.

Me too.  I thought generic Gorn dude was extremely...generic.  Well done, no question that was a very good makeup, but I thought it was boring.

Kelly's backstory sucked.  Her alien looked really good, but her backstory was a little too reminiscent of Guardians of the Galaxy fanfic for my taste.  Her alien actually looked like something from Avatar, which has it's own problematic derivative origins, so it does look like she was inspired by the Navi of Pandora.  But at least that was more original than the green lizard skinned toothy komodo dinosaur dragon alien that we've seen in cheesy B-movies and SciFi TV shows since the '50s.

[Cotypubby]

I thought the first one with the pointy teeth was really good, much better than Matt’s blue one. But according to Glenn, it didn’t look like an alien. 

Really?

Tell me Glenn, what an alien should look like. It certainly didn’t look like anything on Earth. 

[Mabinogia]

12 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

I thought the first one with the pointy teeth was really good, much better than Matt’s blue one. But according to Glenn, it didn’t look like an alien. 

Really?

Tell me Glenn, what an alien should look like. It certainly didn’t look like anything on Earth. 

Considering "alien" is anything not of this earth, and the universe is pretty vast, there really isn't a standared "look" for aliens. Anything that isn't a being we already know of here on earth would qualify. I hate when really great work is overlooked because it didn't fit the judges' narrow view of what should have been done for the challenge.

[qtpye]

12 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

I thought the first one with the pointy teeth was really good, much better than Matt’s blue one. But according to Glenn, it didn’t look like an alien. 

Really?

Tell me Glenn, what an alien should look like. It certainly didn’t look like anything on Earth. 

 

28 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

Considering "alien" is anything not of this earth, and the universe is pretty vast, there really isn't a standared "look" for aliens. Anything that isn't a being we already know of here on earth would qualify. I hate when really great work is overlooked because it didn't fit the judges' narrow view of what should have been done for the challenge.

Exactly, many creatures that live deep in our oceans where there is no sunlight would look quite "alien" even if they are of this earth. I once saw an illustration of how life would have looked if it evolved on Jupiter (complete with male/female genders) and it was nothing like the big-eyed slender biped alien that is always seen in pop culture. This episode felt more like it came down to the judge's biases than who did a better make up.

Totally, off topic, but I kind of love the way that Matt dresses up for the final judging. He looks like Rasputin going to a job interview.

[Red Bridey]

I don't understand why they have to come up with back stories for their aliens.  That's not the job of the "makeup" artist, is it?  Intergallactic bounty hunter??? Seriously?  Just come up with a makeup that meets the parameters of the challenge.  I don't need to hear a screenplay!  Also, fewer cowls and masks and more...makeup.  Please! 

[seacliffsal]

19 hours ago, Cotypubby said:

I thought the first one with the pointy teeth was really good, much better than Matt’s blue one. But according to Glenn, it didn’t look like an alien. 

Really?

Tell me Glenn, what an alien should look like. It certainly didn’t look like anything on Earth. 

I so agree with you.  When Glenn said this didn't look like an alien I was really surprised as it showed that Glenn is relying on alien tropes rather than being open to new species of aliens.  I thought his comment showed a lack of imagination which I don't associate with any of the judges.  I like the judges and think they are awesome (especially when compared with judges on other competition shows), but thought his comment and perspective was a bit of a misstep.  

[Maelstrom]

7 hours ago, qtpye said:

He looks like Rasputin going to a job interview.

Ha! That is awesome. Thank you for that ;)

[mlp]

1 hour ago, Maelstrom said:

9 hours ago, qtpye said:

He looks like Rasputin going to a job interview.

Ha! That is awesome. Thank you for that ;)

I thought so too.  The perfect description in 9 words.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Clip:

[LoneHaranguer]

On 6/21/2018 at 12:53 PM, Red Bridey said:

I don't understand why they have to come up with back stories for their aliens.  That's not the job of the "makeup" artist, is it? 

It can be if the writers aren't sure what they need, and the judges need to know if the artists can create something that fits a particular story. It's usually pretty obvious if a contestant made a hash of things and is hoping to explain it away with the right backstory.

[LadyMustang65]

We were way out of touch with the judges this week . . . more so than usual.  This was the first week we really liked some of the makeups, but naturally the ones we liked, the judges panned.  <sigh>  

In the first pairing, we much preferred the first one to the one that the judges said won that pair.  That blue just didn't appeal to us at all.  We loved the bounty hunter , . . not the backstory but the actual look itself.  It was very cool looking with the 'mask' on, and it was beautiful when she took it off.  Since I know nothing about the Aztecs really, I couldn't tell whether it fit the challenge or not, but honestly I thought that was just a gorgeous make up and probably the one I've liked the most all season.  I really disliked the winner.  I did not like the colors - it seemed very garish to me, and that kind of bug-eyed look was just not appealing at all.  And the bronze-ish one with the feathers in the headdress that the judges disliked so much was another one that I really liked.  And I also thought's Mel's (I think it was hers with the flowers?) was just gorgeous.  As my dad would say, "To each his own!"

[Quilt Fairy]

All of these contestants (and for the last several seasons, really) manage to skew everything to "monster/horror" if they get a chance.  I think that's where Glen was going with his comment.  Meeting the parameters of the challenge is one of the things the judges use to judge.  It can't be ignored. That being said, a good makeup that misses the parameters may not win, but I think it will always stay over a really bad makeup within the parameters.

This season I find that I tune in to hear the challenge and then FF to the reveal.  I don't know if I'm not interested in the show anymore or it's just that I don't find any of these contestants remotely interesting or talented.  Certainly not up to the standards of earlier seasons. 

[Lugal]

On 6/21/2018 at 9:53 AM, Red Bridey said:

I don't understand why they have to come up with back stories for their aliens.  That's not the job of the "makeup" artist, is it?

There has always been a certain amount of concept design on the show. (while on most of their jobs until they've worked their way up the ladder, it will usually be "run this mold" or "sculpt this to look like that")  A good makeup takes the backstory of the character into consideration.  For an aquatic alien would look different than a terrestrial one and so on. I like that the show requires a certain amount of creativity.  But a bad backstory like an intergalactic bounty hunter (seen that before) who likes gore and violence posing as a peaceful god, won't help anything.

[FlyingEgret]

Did Mel say she was the only one who hadn't won a battle?  This is just the 3rd episode, right?

[call me ishmael]

I agreed in general with the judging this time although I was surprised that they didn't have Walter as a top look.  But what I thought was annoying in the typical Face Off way was that they insisted that it was an Aztec challenge then decided it was a Meso-American so they could ignore that Aztec and Incan art and design are different.  I actually thought that Damien and Walter were the ones who thought the most about the Aztec baseline.

[enoughcats]

I didn't see a lot of Central American or any kind of influence.  

Cabbage head....earth mother both missed abysmally, as did bounty hunter.  What were they thinking?  I don't have the patience to listen to Kelly.  And I wish they'd let some of the guys do talking heads.  

When did McKenzie grow waist length hair?  It looks both heavy and way too warm for southern CA.

[ElectricBoogaloo]

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