A few weeks ago, while Mark and I were watching some shows on demand, they kept showing promos for Face Off on Syfy. Usually, promos shown during on demand shows are for terrible shows no one wants to watch. I can't tell you how many times I saw the trailer for the Sitter through the On Demand service. Suddenly, we were inundated with previews for the second season of Face Off. I found this funny as I had not heard of the first season of Face Off. That could be because I avoid the Syfy channel since they changed from being called the SciFi channel. It was a silly change.
After finishing whatever shows we had been watching, we started looking for season one of Face Off. I like shows that detail pretty much anything having to do with cinema, so it was right up my alley. Mark likes make-up, so it was good for him too. Eventually, we discovered that Syfy's website has the first season streaming for free. Today, they also ran a marathon. We had watched the previous episodes on their website but caught the season finale today.
The show is set up as a competition. They bring in twelve special effects artists to compete via challenges, with one person eliminated per episode. The different challenges force the artists to exhibit various skills one needs to be a special effects make up wizard. There are some group challenges thrown in for variety.
Most reality shows seem to keep the jerk around for the duration to increase drama and tension. I've watched many a show where I didn't feel the winner deserved it. Luckily, with this show, they didn't seem to pull any of those cheap tricks. You felt as if the contestants were actually being judged on their worth, not their ability to generate interest in the show. This may be due to it being the first season, as there are many reality competition shows that stoop to those cheap tricks in latter seasons to keep ratings up as interest wanes. The quality of the show and the manner in which it is presented sometimes seems a little amateurish, but the products the artists create never have that problem. Well, one of the contestants does, but I don't like to name names or point fingers.
If you have some time, spend it watching Face Off. It is a very interesting show that allows you to see how they create the make up effects for movies and television. You will see some genuine talent. If you watch it quickly enough, you can even catch the second season. It started today.
(Moved from FB - January 11, 2012)
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