So, while trolling reddit messageboard discussions on this show (as one does) I stumbled upon this gem of a comment, and it pretty much nailed everything I loved about boardgameman last week:
This. Every word of it.
And since I really adore the models, I want to believe that choice was a conscious choice of the designers and not just a crappy model giving zero fucks.
Anyway, last week Mel won, and Jennifer went home. Everyone remember? Excellent, then let’s start the show.
We open with the designers approaching some pseudo ruins outside. I always love seeing the pasty unathletic artistic types forced to hike a barren landscapes (to be fair my face would be bright red and drenched in sweat from the mere presence of the sun and 2 seconds outdoors).
Quick! Everyone stand in the shade cast by Johnny’s shadow!
McKenzie’s guest this week is David Peterson, a conlanger (constructor of languages) who worked on Game of Thrones, Defiance and Dominion. Super nerdy interlude – in college I was a linguistics minor for a few semesters and am SUPER into how languages are formed and influenced, so I am hardcore geeking out. Although, controversial viewpoint, I think Elvish in Lord of the Rings is kind of overrated. Yeah, I said it, come at me bro – nerd gauntlet THROWN.
Anyway, David won a competition to make the Dothraki language for Game of Thrones, which is super cool in general (the idea of making it a competition is kind of fun on their part, and a brilliant way to get free labour – I’m glad they wound up hiring him and paying him). The challenge this week is to create a member of a long-lost race based off a set of artifacts and a corresponding language created by David. Oooooh so it’s kind of like the weird sound challenge last season, which I loved so I’m ok with the slight redundancy. (Is it wrong I’m hoping they’ll make the poor models learn speeches in their respective languages? It would give me so much joy to watch Megan giddily deliver a monologue…)
This week rather than having the pairings be predetermined, everyone gets to pick teams.
Methinks Katie does NOT like the social awkwardness of glancing around desperately hoping to make eye contact with a potential teammate
Teams are:
Kaleb & Mel
Rob & Walter
Melissa & Katie
Robert & Johnny
Yvonna & Anna
Njoroge & Ant
Each language will have pheonetic clues to help drive the direction of the design. That seems a little loaded and difficult to judge on, but fine. Also, I’m a little bit annoyed because the languages are also delivered in the form of audio files, and I kind of think the tone/gender of the voice actor can make a HUGE DIFFERENCE in how you interpret a language. I wish there was more room for interpretation or ability to work with David to determine possible tonal variations that don’t change the meaning to offer more flexibility. Also I’m curious if the designers get a translation of what is being said in the language. Is it ‘Where is the bathroom’ and ‘the cheese is old and moldy’?
Relevant conversation starters in any language…
Also is it wrong I want Robert to bust out and claim that all of the languages are actually just dialects of German and he understands them all clearly? Speaking of Robert, he is continuing his trend of giving me a weekly visual designed to haunt my dreams. This weeks winner:
Never change Robert.
I would like the note the voice actor actually does have a very stoic delivery (is it David’s voice?) so everyone is interpreting that tone as militant which is kind of amusing. Sooo we’ll be getting 6 variations on Klingon warriers this week, awesome.
No, wait, there’s a female voice artist in there so I guess now so I guess I spoke too soon.
Everyone starts sculpting and the Westmore’s arrive for a walkthrough. They tell Njoroge & Ant their concept is too cartoony (it is) and tells them to rethink. Otherwise not much drama ensues. Ant & Njoroge resculpt the eyes and part of the face to make it less cartoony. I still think the giant snake head design is a little bit literal and clichéd to start with so I’m worried for them.
End of Day 1, Start of Day 2. Ant & Njoroge are happy with their new direction. Walter and Rob make foot sculpts. Robert announces after boardgameman this week his design is octoman (sushi to his friend). It’s so…. Very German humor. I love it.
The only drama of note is that Johnny has technical issues getting his cast made and getting his tentacles to work properly.
End of Day 2, start of Day 3. Johnny and Robert continue have a lot of tentacle drama. They try to run them in polyfoam but it fails and they have no tentacles to take to the runway. That’s probably one of the biggest actual catastrophes I can remember seeing on the show, that sucks hard. Time runs out and we’re off to last looks.
Last looks is rough for everyone. Robert & Jason are racing to get anything on their model. Njoroge & Rob are struggling against their cartoony undertones that keep popping up. It’s hard to watch, time runs out and we’re off to the runway.
The judges this week are Glenn, Ve, Neville and David the language creator. With that, it’s time to start the runway. Ok, production note, the models DO deliver their lines in the language on the runway, which is pretty badass. No verdict from David if they nailed the delivery.
Walter and Rob had a really kick-ass concept. They made a cat-man wearing the skins of a slain dog-man. That said… excecution-wise I’m a little bummed. The sculpt of the dog-man headpiece was SO COOL but it looks matt and fake under the lights. I wish they’d had time to lay some hair or get more detail into the paint job because it looks almost plastic, which is a shame because I really like the sculpt. The headpiece is also casting a HUGE shadow over the face sculpt, which is both a good and a bad thing. It hides a lot of the sins, but there are some good elements that aren’t showing up which is a bummer. I really like the sculpt and my issues again are with the paint job (except for the giant shiny black nose which I just hate in general, it’s weirdly proportioned, and doesn’t really work with the proportions of the rest of the face). I do like the foot molds, I think they worked well with the design. I would guess this will be in the safe zone tonight.
Yvonne & Anna did a very impressive job of making a Norm McDonald character. What, that wasn’t the challenge? Hrm. I’m actually impressed, they did a semi-old age makeup, but they made it alien enough to avoid the normal pitfalls of attempting old age makeup in the short turnaround time that is this show. I love the headdress, it’s frigging stunning and I’m shocked it’s not a fabricated piece since the paint job makes it look like it’s actually metal. This piece has a lot of technical know-how that went into the details, and it shows.
All I see….
Melissa and Katy’s design may be one of those creations that’s a matter of asthetic preference. To me, it looks like a REALLY BAD contouring makeup tutorial. The colors are muddy in places and did they try to paint her top lip off? Why is her bottom lip pink and her top lip flesh toned? SO MANY QUESTIONS. Again this may all be elements that they were trying to achieve, but I find it weird and off-putting and confusing. That said, there was a LOT of time featured in the workroom showing them making scars they were putting on the model’s back, and we don’t see them on the runway. Which is a disappointment, because I think they would add a lot more depth to the character and would probably sway my opinion.
Mel and Kaleb’s design is a disappointment from a distance. It’s a chartreuse blob. Up close however, it’s really stunning and special. I feel like Mel has a gift for taking cliché contepts and breathing new life into them. This could have been a generic snake-man, but it’s actually got a lot of anatomical choices I don’t recal seeing anywhere before. I’m curious what parts Mel did and what Kaleb did but they clearly worked really well together. Also I’m amused to see the scar across the eye after hearing Glenn bitch about how cliché that is week one…
Njoroge and Ant’s piece is… rough. A large part due to the fact that it is SO out of sync with what everyone else did this week. This looks like it would work in a 1960’s monster movie but that’s about it. I think the paint job and the mouth are the main problem. The eyes actually work better than bug-eyes usually work on this show, the paint job looks almost like a reflective sunglasses material which is neat, and they look cool from a distance. But the brightness and the lack of depth in the paint job are hard to get past. Oh and they chose a backdrop that makes it look even MORE like a bad character from the Godzilla universe, which certainly isn’t helping anything.
Considering the technical issues Robert and Johnny had at the last minute, I’m pleasantly surprised with how well this came out. It clearly would have benefitted from another hour of last looks, the paint around the eyes and mouth is rough. But overall, the form of the head, and the paint job in general Is actually pretty impressive given they were missing a key element. It’s certinly not great, but you can see hints of technical skill that went into it. Also the model sells it REALLY HARD yet again (same model as the clock last week, yes?)
The judges do their walkthrough. Walter & Rob and Melissa & Katie are safe. I fully agree for once, yay!
Robert and Johnny are up first to discuss their logic. Glenn says it feels like 2 different people glued their work together. That seems to be a running theme for both Johnny and Robert on their previous projects so that’s interesting and a valid note they should both work on. Ve says from a distance the beak reads as a black hole (Agreed). Neville says it looks silly. David says the beak wouldn’t work with the language. BURN.
Anna & Yvonne’s concept was a character who put on a headdress and became a god who uses his powers for evil. Glenn loves the concept and their creativity with what they had. David liked the choices they made that didn’t impede in their characters ability to speak.
Njoroge & Ant made giant features to increase the senses of their creature. Neville says the design doesn’t make anatomical sense. Ve says it doesn’t read as reptilian from a distance, and up close the paint job is flat and isn’t successful.
Mel & Kalebexplain their choices and Daviid has issues with the fangs since they would impede the language, but he doesn’t care since it looks cool. I hope Neville kicked him under the table for betraying his one role – arbiter of anatomy. Damnit David! Ve, Glenna and Neville think it’s an awesome design.
The judges deliberate, the winning team this week is… Yvonne & Anna. I’m a little surprised, I thought Mel and Kaleb were going to win, but I’m not… outraged. It was still a really nice design. Yvonne is named the official winner and it’s well deserved. Nice.
The person going home this week is… (not Robert, not Robert, not Robert………) Ant. Yeah I’m not super surprised, but he takes it in stride and says his goodbyes gracefully. Bye Ant!