Two of the top three looks this week in the art movement makeup challenge, from Laura (left) and Laney (right).
On Tuesday’s episode of “Face Off,” contestants reinvented the Mistress of the Dark and a little history of the arts, putting their own spin on art movements from Cubism to Expressionism. Once again, a couple of familiar faces came out on top, but another veteran reminded us that even though he didn’t make top looks, he’s still a contender: Many fans thought he should have been in the top three this week. And another newbie bit the dust, leaving only two standing. One of which, made top looks again.
Do we have an upset in the making?
The episode kicked off with the foundation challenge with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Makeup artists were tasked with creating a new horror hostess, with Elvira serving as judge and inspiration. They also got a professional hairstylist to help out with the transformations.
Top looks for the challenge were Tate’s scary nurse, and Roy’s “cousin” to Elvira, Elmira. But in the end, Roy came out on top again, earning a huge makeup kit from Krylon and immunity for this week. The guy is on a roll, y’all.
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, with host McKenzie Westmore.
Alana had been taken to task last week for her similar sculpts in some of her past makeups, so this week she stretched herself and took Constructivism, thinking that she would be able to really relate to it as she had a history with construction and architecture. But after the fact, she realized that she didn’t understand the concept behind that particular art movement, and was drawing a total blank as to what to do for her make up this week.
Veteran Frank also chose Constructivism, and created a makeup that not only reflected the art movement but also symbolized the downfall of iron and the rise of plastics. Talk about going beyond the basic concept of the challenge, and really understanding it.
Frank’s makeup served as a metaphor for the fall of iron and the rise of plastics.
On the other hand, Tate chose Surrealism, and it became apparent he maybe didn’t understand his art movement quite so much. Don’t get me wrong, his makeup was elaborate and cool-looking, but didn’t quite fit the assignment, which came back to bite him in the butt later.
Speaking of problems for Tate, he found himself in a real bind this week, when trying to work with his 300-pound mold, he dropped it on his hand, creating a bloody mess. A real bloody mess, not the special-effects variety. It was apparent he needed to be seen in the hospital, so he had to leave the set and go to the emergency room to have his hand looked at, losing three hours of time in the workshop.
But did you see Tate fretting over getting things done and in panic mode? Oh, hell no. Not only did he not panic, but he still got an insane amount of work done, 13 stitches later. And no, it wasn’t due to the magic elves, but due to staying calm, and more importantly, getting a little help from his friends.
Tate managed to do this despite three hours in the ER getting stitches to his hand, and having only minimal use of it once he got back. Dude, you are one insane motherf***er.You see, that’s the thing about this show that separates it from any other reality shows you’ve ever watched on TV. These contestants care enough about their art and the people with them on the show that they do not engage in cutthroat tactics, stupid drama, and sabotage. They even help each other out all the time in small ways, most commonly with opening up molds and so forth.
Tate has always been one of the biggest helpers in the workroom, and now, even though he is one of the front winners to win this competition, everyone joined in to do some of the basic work that needed to be done while he was gone at the hospital. They cleaned out his mold and put in the first layer of latex, so he would still have a chance of getting this project done when he came back from the hospital.
As awesome as it is to watch the process of special-effects makeup, this is what really makes the show stand out from anything else on TV. It’s downright criminal that this show was not nominated for an Emmy in reality series. And it damn well should have won, on both the quality of the competition itself, and the quality of the people involved.
Okay, I think I can get off my soapbox now, but that had to be said. Or typed, as it were.
Anyway, while Tate was getting help from other contestants, Miranda was struggling with her tremendous lack of confidence in her concept on her Cubist makeup and felt she was going completely in the wrong direction. She has struggled for several episodes due to a lack of confidence in her work after a couple of early wins, but now falling to the middle of the pack.
When these looks are deemed “safe” (middle of the pack), you know shit just got real. Roy’s on the left, and Frank’s on the right.
Alana was crying for help from adviser Michael Westmore ASAP, as she ended up spending three hours trying to come up with a clear concept. But despite Alana’s struggles with this challenge, she found herself safe this week along with Roy and Frank, meaning they were neither the top three nor the bottom three looks.
