Due to ALA Conference traveling, I was unable to get this recap & review posted but it’s here now! So let’s dive in…
In this episode, each shop had to choose a hive insect to inspire the creation of three alien makeups; a queen, worker, and drone. Jill volunteered to be the Foreman for the week for Shop Twisted Six Effects. They got first pick on the insects and chose wasps as their inspiration. Nelson was nominated to be the Foreman for the week for Ethereal Effects and they chose termites, which, on a first guess, seems like it would be the more challenging insect to choose. In addition, each shop had to create a hatching prop egg. So that’s three makeups AND a prop. They definitely had their work cut out for them this week, that’s for sure.
In the lab, Jill was shook while receiving mentor, Michael Westmore’s notes. Especially as the Foreman for the week, the pressure was on, not just on her creation, but all of the creations of Twisted Six Effects. Meanwhile, over on Ethereal Effects, Suzanne was not in the mood for micro-management, which is completely understandable. But since people don’t know “her process,” maybe, oh, I don’t know, tell them what she’s doing instead of waiting until the final result, so that they can choose to trust what leads up to the final result rather than having blind faith? Because her work reflects the whole team, so they all have a right to know what’s happening. Also, they’re competing as a team so she needs to work on her collaboration skills.
On the reveal stage, judges, Glenn Hetrick and Neville Page were on sight while Ve Neill was away on set working elsewhere. So the artists were instead met by guest judge, 4-time Emmy award winning makeup artist, Eryn Krueger Mekash (“American Horror Story”).
Ethereal Effects did a wonderful job with their termite alien queen, worker, and drone creations. It was cohesive and colorful and really impressive. Even though the queen didn’t quite pull off its look (I totally get this as a creative, it’s epic in your mind but the execution is always tough), I loved that they went for an androgynous queen. That was a bold move that didn’t pay off as well as it could have, but the move made here was noticed and says a lot about what they’re willing to do as a team.
Twisted Six Effects, on the other hand, didn’t do it for me with their wasp alien worker and drone. The queen was great but I wanted it to be even more feminine on the face. That said, it was still easily the best look of the three. The drone was okay but as the judges pointed out, the color palette was weak. This could have been a super epic makeup and it was nowhere near close to it. And I didn’t even notice until the judges pointed it out, but they basically didn’t do anything with the hands. For shame. My least favorite creation from this team was the worker and the hatched egg. I don’t even think a rare second chance situation could have saved this one.
The judges gave the top looks to Ethereal Effects (better have!) with Faina taking the individual win. The bottom looks went to Twisted Six Effects with Philip, Alan, and Jill in the hot seat. Ultimately, Alan was eliminated which was very disappointing because I did not see that coming and I wanted to see more from him but he’s still in the business so, I’m sure this won’t be the last we see from him. But that’s two down for Twisted Six Effects, so it’s not looking good for this shop. They need to get whipped into shape if anyone from their team is going to represent later down the line in the finale. What do you think?
Total Eliminations:
Eliminated This Week: Alan
Twisted Six Effects: Laura, Alan, KC, Nick, Jill, and Philip
Ethereal Effects: Andrew, Faina, Kierstin, Joseph, Nelson, and Suzanne