'Face Off' Recap: 'Sounding Off'

All photos courtesy Syfy
BY DAWN FEAKES

Last week the very concept of 'whimsy' tripped the contestants up and Daniel was eliminated leaving Team Anthony down to three. Darla, Emily, and Logan are the early ones to beat but will the lab come alive with the sound of make up? Let's do this.

Foundation Challenge
It's time for the "Face Off" Olympics. First event  - makeup relay race. Divided into teams of three, each artist gets 20 minutes with the model to design the makeup based on the claws but at each hand-off, a new prosthetic must be incorporated into the design. Oh, and they have to do the blind as there's no communication allowed among the team members. No big deal, only immunity in the Spotlight Challenge is at stake here. The special guest judge is Jill Wagner from 'Teen Wolf' and she's looking for detailing around the mouth.

Orange -  Ben/Darla/Emily - They get the Freddy Krueger-esque claws. Their design had some cool cracking but was somewhat lacking in originality.
Purple -  Anthony/Julian/Regina - They went with an Egyptian cat goddess which was gorgeous but the blending needed to be better.
Green -  Logan/Stephanie/Jamie  - Their claws were more mechanical and created a victim of a toy factory explosion.
Blue - Kelly/Adam/Rob  - Their claws were like ice and so created an intergalactic ice queen. The coloring was fantastic and the whole piece was very cohesive.

Winner - Adam. The blue wig he chose for the character was the difference maker and I'm thinking that Jill may have been hitting the bottle a bit hard because a wig earned him immunity?!

Spotlight Challenge
Twist! Rayce has to leave for a bit but no matter, RJ is here to keep things moving along and pinch coach the team. Their challenge is to break into teams of two and create a creature based on a unique sound effect developed specially for them by sound designer Eric Aadahl. His advice is to find the personality and environment in the genre and let that inform your creation. Let's see how many actually listen.

Design Phase
Regina/Adam - Their sound has vocalizations so they immediately think metallic/alien. Regina's at a major disadvantage here because Adam has immunity and can take big risks without fear of consequences if they don't pan out.
Rob/Logan - Their sound is a rumbly-roaring, like a T. rex with a cold. Man I would love to see that scuplt.
Jamie/Emily - They are working with a clicking, rustling water sound which makes them think of a dinosaur-bird creature that defends itself with quills. Can it go up against the sick T. rex?
Anthony/Darla - They end up with  a terrifying demon ghost banshee sound so naturally the thing to do here is to make actual hell.
Stephanie/Kelly - Theirs is a distinct ticking but rather than going clock, they develop an elaborate story about the clock-maker's wife being immortalized as a wind up doll after she died.
Ben/Julian - They got heavy breathing but thankfully discounted '50 Shades of Death' as a workable prototype. They're struggling though so being sculpting without a real idea. This will either be brilliant or end very, very badly.

Sculpting
Anthony and Laura worry about Ben and Julian as after two hours they are still concept-less until Anthony steps in with the suggestion of a demon executioner who wears the faces of people he kills. So, Death then. Also struggling are Adam and Regina by which I mean Regina who really, really, REALLY doesn't want to do a robot as fabrication isn't her strongest area though that would make the most sense. Adam gives her the reins and so begins the quest for an alien super soldier. Captain Uranus perhaps? (I'll see myself out.)

Application Day
Minimal drama and no cracked molds but no visit from Mr. Westmore. We are all bereft. Actually, everything is looking really good so the finished looks should be a lot of fun.

Last Looks
Julian and Ben have some prosthetic issues and I lose the battle against giggling. Rob and Logan's creation is looking a bit muddled and they are just grateful for their model's height which might hide some of the rougher spots. Uh guys? Have you met Glenn?

Reveal Stage
Anthony/Darla - Belly Dancing Crypt-Keeper
Logan/Rob - Constipated Swamp Thing
Stephanie/Kelly - Dancing clock work doll which is hella cool
Julian/Ben - Devil Goat Samurai
Adam/Regina - Mars Attacks Rocketeer
Jamie/Emily - Tribal Bird Woman

Safe
Emily, Jamie, Logan, Rob
I thought that Emily and Jamie should have been a top look with their Dino-bird.

Top Looks
Stephanie/Kelly - They could not have done a better job incorporating their sound and the back story was perfect.


Julian/Ben - They had great sculpting and proportions and did a good job blending the colors to sell the character. I'm sure their matching shirts didn't hurt either.



Bottom Looks
Adam/Regina - It was not a very successful make-up and the face sculpt looked like an old man without teeth.
Darla/Anthony - The whole concept was directionless and didn't leave enough time to color it. The facial structure was too big for the size of the face and body and it came across as a bit silly.;

The coaches went to bat for those on the chopping block with Laura pleading for Darla, Rayce defending Regina and RJ reminding everyone about Anthony's clever ideas with the silly chest sculpt.

Winner - Stephanie

Eliminated - Regina

Team Rayce lost its first member while Team Laura racked up another win in back-to-back weeks.

Next week on "Face Off" the contestants face a mythical challenge: trolls. Just...don't feed them. Tune in to Syfy on February 17 at 9 p.m. ET for 'Troll Bridge.'