SyFy’s “Face Off” Makes Me Rethink My Career Choice

From a very early age I’ve had a fascination with movies and TV shows. Not only the shows themselves but the technical aspects of how they are made. And since I lean towards sci-fi and fantasy genres, these things typically include special effects and make up.

Back in my day, there wasn’t an internet to read up on how stuff was done. There weren’t DVD’s with featurettes and “making of” documentaries.  In short, this information wasn’t always the easiest to find.

Most of it came from movie books, if you could find them. I have a really cool Star Wars one that I remember getting from one of those school book things. I also remember studying all of the behind-the-scenes trading cards looking for clues on how things were done.

Which brings me to today’s subject, SyFy’s “Face Off.” No, it’s not  a remake of the Nicolas Cage film. It’s a new reality series for make up artists. A show that combines my love for reality TV and movie making magic? You bet I’m watching.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by the level of talent on this show. I really wasn’t expecting that. It seems like most reality shows want to just grab people off the street and thrust them into some kind of activity out of their comfort zone. “Hey Granny, you want to be on Cooking with the Stars?”

This show however, hasn’t seemed to have done that. The folks on it seem to have a basic level of competency. I’m not saying they are equal, but they all have some skill. I think there a a couple of front runners, but I’m not going to say at this point.

The other thing is the challenges really do seem to be designed to test the contestants at their craft. There’s a wide array of things special effects make up is used for such as aging, gender swapping, aliens, disguises, etc. And the show seems to be pushing in to all of those areas.

And this is what got me to thinking. If a show like this would have been on when I was younger, I think I might have pushed harder to try to get into special effects. Don’t get me wrong, I love what I do. But if I’d have been able to see there were more people out there with interests like mine, it would have been a real inspiration.

Also understand, this is a reality show. There’s some cattiness and drama, but hey that makes good TV.

So if you’ve ever wanted to pull back the veil and see how your favorite actors are transformed into some more or less than human on the screen, check the show out.

For more information on Face Off: http://www.syfy.com/faceoff/

Engineernerd Score: 4 out of 5 silicone zombies

Tags: Face Off, Make Up, Special Effects, SyFy

Category: Featured, Media Reviews, On TV