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| Hey, hey the gang's all here - all photos courtesy Syfy. |
Woo hoo! We did it! The Season Eight finale! Through whimsy and mold and fabrication challenges we've whittled our way to the final three: Darla, Emily, and Logan. The big twist? The final challenge will be so huge, so immense, so breakdown-inducing, that all of the eliminated contestants have been brought back to assist (loser gets Gregory.) Who will take home the grand prize and renown until next season? Which coach will earn the title of 'Most Supreme "Face Off" Artist of All Time?' Everyone ready? Let's do this.
No rest for the creative as the final three are thrown right into the final challenge. But first, pick your teams!
Darla - Rob, Anthony, Stephanie, Daniel
Emily - Adam, Jamie, Kelly, Regina
Logan - Julian. Ben, Alan, Gregory
Darla picked her team based on specific skill sets, Emily went for her friends and Logan is clearly afraid of working with women. We'll find out which strategy works the best, won't we?
Each team will create four characters. That's all I'm telling you so sleep well. All right Mackenzie, what types of characters? I'm so glad you asked! You will be creating a team of four characters to fight bad guys to star in a new film franchise of a specific genre. NBD.
Genre
Emily - Post apocalyptic
Logan - Sci Fi
Darla - Fantasy
Now, come up with your movie title by throwing a bunch of words up in the air and using whatever falls outside the circle. Got it?
Darla - The Spirits of Eden
Emily - Paradise Reckoning
Logan- The Fortress
As if that's not enough, the characters will be on display for the public at Universal Studios to vote on before the judges final decision. Good luck you guys.
Design
Logan - Test animals become sentient and take over a space ship featuring a Punk Skunk Mechanic and Chief Weapons Officer Hammerhead.
Darla - The four elements (earth, wind, fire, water) bind together to save the Garden of Eden from demons. Except that damn snake. He can die in a fire.
Emily - Basically it boiled down to the post-apocalyptic Wizard of Oz where they were trying to protect the one pure human baby. Sure, we'll go with that.
Laura isn't lovig Darla's concept and oh noes! Tension. Darla creates beautiful things but Laura isn't convinced this will put her over the top in the finale. They modify the initial design a bit so whew! Mr. Westmore gives solid advice and if y'all don't listen to him by now, I can't be held responsible for what happens next.
Onto team molding which is like team bonding but more messy.
Day 2
Logan's main concern is that the sculpts are all cohesive and fortunately Ben does not go off the rails. All three finalists really appear to be solid team leaders in making sure the right work gets done.
Day 3
Darla's still working on fabrication and refining the fire element sculpt and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous for her. Emily's work on the Glass Man isn't coming together like she envisioned but if there is anything she's good at, it's finding a way to bring an idea to fruition. Logan's feeling good about the pace of his team but there's a lot of fabrication left to do. Good thing Julian got all that practice last challenge. Uh oh, Gregory is spending way too much time on the armadillo armor. Ah, time management. The great equalizer.
Application Day
Rayce gives Logan pointers on managing his team and assigning who does what. Darla is painting but knows that ultimate responsibility of the characters' presentation is hers. Emily's youth is showing as she gives her nerves an outlet by micromanaging Adam. And just like that, it's time for...
Last Looks
Emily stresses, Logan fixates on the skunk tail and Darla finishes her amazing fire makeup with flames, on the sides of her face.... (My sincere apologies to the late Madeline Kahn for that.)
It's magic time y'all! The public has been invited to come in and see the characters in a movie-type setting alongside the judges and Mr. Westmore.
Paradise Reckoning - Mad Max meets Big Fish. Some really cool things were happening here but as a cohesive grouping, I wasn't loving it.
Paradise Reckoning - Mad Max meets Big Fish. Some really cool things were happening here but as a cohesive grouping, I wasn't loving it.
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| Emily's 'Paradise Reckoning |
The Spirits of Eden - Malificent versus Freaky Fusion. True to her skill set, Darla sent out beautiful, detailed, ethereal forms. They seemed to be out of a live-action Hayao Miyazaki film.
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| Darla's 'The Spirits of Eden' |
The Fortress - Chip and Dale's Rescue Rangers: Where are they now? Fun forms but a little too "Guardians of the Galaxy" Lite for my taste.
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| Logan's 'The Fortress' |
And now, the moment of truth!
Logan - The judges really liked how his grouping of characters was extraordinarily cohesive (huh, shows how much I know) and that Logan put his own touch on each character. Neville observed that these were characters actors would want to inhabit so high praise indeed.
Emily - The judges lauded her for amazing paint job all of her characters had. Most impressive was the silicone and plastic on the chest of the lead character that really looked like a broken windshield. This young lady will go far in her career.
Darla - Neville said she nailed the genre of fantasy and they all loved the high resolution of detail on the Earth element. But the favorite piece had to be the sculpted bodice and horns on the Wind element that really conveyed a musical instrument and that all of the prosthetics melded so well into the faces.
For what it's worth judges, the public chose Darla's 'The Spirits of Eden' if you care to factor that into your decision. I admit, that surprised me, I thought for sure they'd choose 'The Fortress.' Take that, Hollywood, it's not all talking animals and big as-plosions.
It's time so drum-roll please.....
It's time so drum-roll please.....
Winner
Darla
Super-Winner and two-time "Face Off" Champion of the World
Darla
Super-Winner and two-time "Face Off" Champion of the World
Laura
All three finalists were incredibly talented and all have great futures in the make-up industry so there were no 'losers' in this competition! That's all folks; thanks for playing along this season and be sure to tune into Syfy this July for Season Nine with all the requisite crazy hair and affected style. Maybe this time they'll practice some of the techniques before the actual show?