Shows that cater to the creative are difficult to come by. As far back as my memory stretches, there hadn’t been one aside from that of Bob Ross painting happy clouds on PBS. Not since the show Face Off debuted on Syfy in 2011 had their been another show that catered directly to creatives, demonstrating and teaching a variety of artistic skills and driving conceptual thinking into something tangible. I’m sorry but Project Runway doesn’t really count.
I remember my past co-worker Ben describing the show to me. A show about creating monsters and movie makeup. It sounded intriguing. I gave it a shot the next time I saw it on TV and was mesmerized by the concept. Ben had not done the shows description justice. It was everything i’d been searching for in a show. It indulged my artistic mind with minimal effort. How did it do that? Let me count the ways.
First off, its a contest reality show. Whether we admit it or not, we all eventually fall victim to one of them. Next up, each episode provides an engaging challenge. Each week the contestants are to create a creature based on a prompt. It has been anything from animal-human hybrids to Tim Burton inspired outcasts. The conceptual designs in the beginning stages of the challenge had already satisfied my hungry eyes, but that wasn’t it. They had to create their concepts by sculpting and fabricating their characters. Each artist brings unique approaches and enginuity to their work. On the final days of the challenge they apply their make-ups to their models and proceed to show off their creations to the judges. Having industry leaders like Glenn Hetrick, Ve Neill, Neville Page, and Michael Westmore critique teaches just us just as much about concept than as the contestants do.
To date, there have been over 1,000 unique individual creations spanning 9 seasons. Today, January 13th, 2016, the award winning show debuts its 10th season. I am nothing short of giddy to watch what spawns from this seasons artists. Face Off provides constant fuIf you are looking for a show that connects drama, art, innovation, great one-liners, and nail-biting eliminations, this is sure to be the show for you.
Tune in on Wednesdays at 9/8c on Syfy and catch Face Off’s 10th season.
If you go to syfy.com/faceoff you can watch all the previous seasons episodes for free as long as you long in with your cable provider.
Sketch Forward my friends!
Sketch Forward 