My observations of Face Off Season 2 Episode 1 as a previous employee of Matt Valentine.
I worked in a haunted house in Austin, Tx with Matt Valentine for 4 years. I felt really blessed to observe his talent and method repeatedly, he has always inspired me to go bigger and more stylized with my designs. It was so exciting to see he was going to be on this season’s Face Off so of course I am not going to miss a moment.
I was disappointed they didn’t show much of his first character, but I knew it was a quick demo and with so many characters they couldn’t show off too much.
When they announced that the next challenge was to be a Wizard of Oz theme, I knew Matt would be the strongest in the scarecrow, he does amazing emaciation work. Next they started throwing around sketches and was stoked to see Matt’s sketch of the scarecrow in full Mr Valentine form. Next he moved to sculpting, one of the parts of his method I have always admired in him, a full prosthetic mask for the scarecrow with an unhinged jaw, pulled fiercely to the collar bone and a cone head balancing the elongated jaw.
Unfortunately, mid sculpt, someone told him that he should have a jaw piece that was movable… I was utterly aghast with that idea! A mobile jaw in a mask is amazing when it is used for a character meant to speak, and you do not give a speaking role to a character unless it is played by a strong actor, a full prosthetic as Matt originally envisioned really just speaks for itself, it is also one of the things he excels at.
Of course he still created an amazingly strong cohesive character, but I am terribly disappointed that the judges did not get to see all of what Matt is capable of… though I am glad they got to see his original sketch, leaving them intrigued about what he has in store.
I worry that the environment of working with the group the way he had to this episode is going to be something he is going to have to step up. Matt is a genius, the art that flies out of his head really… well to be quite honest… disturbs the shit out of me. In this line of work, I can not think of a better compliment. Unfortunately when ever I have seen him work with a group it was a very small group, with people who were al very much on the same page, of the same style, and focusing on the same style goal… so he didn’t have to stand up for his design or explain to too many people what needed to get done. He would just do it himself and it was spectacular.
Watching the short teasers for the rest of the season I could see litte pieces of Matt’s style even in brief glimpses and am thrilled to see his aquatic character design! Having shot a movie where he played an aquatic character role; he has a good grasp on what that design needs. He is getting a lot of face time on screen, so we know the producers are already he is a fan favorite… keep an eye on this guy, I will be, any chance I get to learn from him is one I wouldn’t miss.
TL;DR: Matt Valentine is mind blowingly talented and I can not wait for the world to see what he capable of
kaledo-art
izzy806
dailybridgerton
