MovieChat Forums > Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge (2014) Discussion > Far Better Than Face Off

Far Better Than Face Off

posted 10 years ago by Legendary_Badass
5 replies | jump to latest

I gave up on Face Off about a year ago. If you frequent that board you'll remember how that went down.

Face Off has been done to death. We have seen all that is possible in that formart, which throws individuals into a short time frame to produce very human makeup creatures. Each week it's, here's how to pour a mold as though we still don't get it.

Here we have MOVEMENT, ACTING, and a SET that need to be considered. It's actually FUN to watch the creatures come to life instead of being paraded down a runway. There is much more freedom to develop these creatures because they are specifically not supposed to look like people. It's not you have a elemental troll each week.

Unfortunately, like Face Off, this show is probably on 20 years too late. CGI dominates this field. Had this been on in the mid-90s maybe we would still have great puppets in today's films. I know when I was a kid it was puppet everything, and there were no complaints.

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[–] cliff-hartle 10 years ago

+1

Everything on face off looks like, and I think this is correct, pullover mask makeup (comment often made about Star Trek) . I still watch Face Off but things do look the same.

I liked in earlier seasons when the challenge was to do things like switch the gender of a couple or do makeup for your self that would fool your own family.

[–] ferraritr 10 years ago

I agree, but I'd like to add that there are still puppets in movies like "Where the Wild Things Are" which were made by the Jim Henson creature shop. Puppets are still being used in movies, but they are more advanced and often complimented by CGI. You're certainly not wrong that the industry is dominated by CGI, but I'd like to think there are still directors that would rather use quality puppets and maybe this show will inspire something.

[–] hidden_fear 10 years ago

agreed! i also gave up on face off.. i felt it was the same thing over and over again.. most often a horror style make up on a person.. where this they have more creativity that is not constricted by the shape of the human body where imagination can create amazing characters it also had a sense of whimsy to it

[–] Yorick_Brown 10 years ago

Unfortunately, like Face Off, this show is probably on 20 years too late. CGI dominates this field. Had this been on in the mid-90s maybe we would still have great puppets in today's films. I know when I was a kid it was puppet everything, and there were no complaints.

Yeah. The special effects in "Jurassic Park" and "Independence Day" and "Dante's Peak" are still amazing even today beacause miniature sets and puppets and actors in costume and make-up age really well on screen.

I blame the success of "The Matrix" (1999) for the CGI overkill we had in the 2000s before the technology was perfected.

But digital effects may have finally advanced enough to the point of utter realism.

"District 9" is the first CG-laden, f/x extravangaza that actually looks real as did Neil Blomkamp's follow-up "Elysium."

And Joseph Kosinski's two movies look absolutely incredible!

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[–] backwards_pi 10 years ago

I like the Judges on this show way more. They're just more down to earth. They'll go off and give cool little industry insights ("You know we did a similar thing back on Star Trek The Voyage Home...") and they don't do the stupid dramatic pauses and bait-and-switch compliment/insult thing that other judges do ("This is astounding. ...-ly bad. And by bad I mean good. And by good I mean if you're a first grader.")