Too bad the producers of the new special effects makeup reality competition series “Face Off” didn’t come up with some special effects to fool us into thinking we were watching something really different.
But they didn’t — and, instead, they’ve ended up pitting a dozen very creative people against one another in a very tired format.
The premise here (do I really have to explain this format yet again?) is that 12 contestants who are already working in the special effects makeup industry share a cool living space while competing against one another in two weekly challenges.
The first challenge pits individuals against one another, with the winner gaining immunity for the next challenge. The next challenge is a team effort.
The judges — all very, very impressive, famous-in-their-field special effects makeup artists — are the usual mixture of smart, savvy and brutal.
What’s great here, though, is that if you are a movie fan in any way, shape or form, you will be entranced at how the makeup artists (deep emphasis on “artists”) go about creating the faces that live in film infamy.
I, for one, had no idea that special effects makeup artists are often brilliant sculptors who turn lumps of clay into magnificent sculptural masterpieces — of faces, hands, feet, and every other body part — to transform humans into creatures, from animal to alien.
Watching these people work is like being given an online course in the intricacies of this very artful craft.
On tonight’s challenge, the teams of two must create characters that are part-human/part-animal. Three real animals are brought in, and the teams must choose which one to create around — an ostrich, an elephant and a giant beetle.
What they create is quite amazing, and watching the creative process of the artists is very fascinating, to be sure.
But the competing makeup artists are supposedly competing for a “chance to launch their careers,” when, in fact, they already have. Some of them even own special effects makeup companies.
“Face Off” should have had a facelift before it was born. It could have been a great one.