Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge (2014) s01e05 Episode Script

Life in Motion

Previously on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Dude! One creature designer's work stood out.
- Ben.
- Thank you so much.
The creature designer eliminated tonight is Ivonne.
This week on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Ohhhh! Design and build a large-scale creature.
You're gonna use UV paint to bring it to life in the dark.
VoilĂ ! If Jake and Lex can't get this thing finished, I'm going to be crying.
[Bleep.]
Damn mannequin.
[Bleep.]
I'm having some scary thoughts about the wings.
They don't work.
My God, the puppeteer's here.
We're not ready yet.
Step You guys just bit off something that was too big to chew.
- Poor Ivonne.
- Yeah.
I feel bad that she isn't here.
I keep thinking that we're missing someone.
The motherly influence.
"Where's the other " Last week, Ivonne went home.
I'm really sad.
She is a very, very talented lady.
I really hope that one of us girls gets into the last three.
- Hi, guys.
- Hi.
- Hey.
- Come gather round.
- Morning, guys.
- How's it going? So, six of you are still in the running for a chance to work full-time right here at the Creature Shop.
That must be a pretty amazing feeling.
- Yeah, it is.
- Yeah? - Awesome.
- Pretty cool.
I was in the bottom last week.
It is very important for me to make a complete turnaround, because, if not, the judges are just going to want to pick me off.
I've got something really special to show you.
Watch this.
Come on in, guys.
That's awesome! - Very cool.
- Wow.
That's great.
I am completely in awe.
It's an amazing piece of artwork.
And you can actually see the two puppeteers, but it moves so beautifully, it's like an actual horse.
This is the mechanical unicorn horse from Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" ball world tour.
Isn't he amazing? - Yeah.
- Yeah, super cool.
He was created by the creature shop in collaboration with the House of Gaga.
And Lady Gaga herself was very involved in the designing and creating of her unicorn horse, and she was so happy with the final result that she sent him back here so that he can be here as inspiration for you in this week's challenge.
- Thank you, Lady Gaga.
- Yeah, thanks.
This week's brief: Design and build a large-scale creature that comes to life not so much by how it looks, but by how it moves.
We want your creatures to have real presence, and although we may be seeing the performers, we want to really believe your creatures are alive.
So, this week, guys, you're going to be working in pairs.
They are chosen at random, and they are Lex and Jake.
Our next pair is Ben and Melissa, and that means that, Russ and Robert, you're our last pair.
- Woot.
- So you can join your partners.
You may be working in pairs, but the judges will be critiquing you as individuals.
One of our performers will be joining each of your teams So you'll all be performing.
You get to consult your puppeteer before you start your design, and you also get a technical rehearsal right here at the shop before you have to move on to the soundstage for the screen test.
Very cool.
This week, your creature shop master is John Criswell.
One more piece of news.
You're going to use UV paint to bring it to life in the dark.
So our puppeteers disappear wearing black.
Absolutely.
So we're going to set up a fully black rehearsal space for you.
VoilĂ ! And the screen test will be in three days' time.
To be able to make something that large in this amount of time, definitely going to be a challenge on all fronts.
We can't wait to see what you guys come up with, and we'll see you then.
- Good luck.
- Good luck, guys.
Thank you.
Okay, guys, go to your tables, and your puppeteers will meet you there.
This is definitely up my alley, and I have an idea.
If you don't, then I'll show you what I got, 'cause I think it'll work really well.
And it could be a reptile.
It could be anything.
Yeah.
Yeah, for sure.
There's so many different things you could do.
I've been really looking forward to working with both of you.
One thing that's really cool about this week is that we get to meet with our performer before we make anything.
That's huge! My specialty is in suits.
Okay, cool.
I'll show you a quick sketch.
What you thinking, boy? It's kind of bird-like, you know? - Okay.
- When you think bird, you have all these really long, thin appendages spindly bird legs, and the wings, and the nice bird neck.
You just get wonderful passive movement, and it's going to be awesome.
- I'd like to be - Really? - All right.
- If that's all right.
- Cool.
- I'll do the head then.
Look, we're at 7 feet already.
I can have my hand inside the head.
The thing about that horse that works so beautifully is that the knees cannot bend the wrong way.
It's got stops.
It's got limits.
It did what it needed to do to sell the life, - and then it stopped.
- Very true.
Whether you make a real animal or a mythological animal Could do a tyrannosaurus-y kind of thing, you know? We're doing a big reptile-like lizard creature.
Kind of basing it on the komodo dragon, so they've got this movable neck and the tail whipping.
Run back and do a special on the tail, where it curls up, and then you let go of it again.
And then you leave it, and it moves by itself, 'cause it's based on the hips.
So your challenge this week is all about movement.
Yes.
How well can you shake your thing? Well, you just saw me shake it in the back of a horse, so pretty well.
And for me, as a performer, I like things as light and flexible as possible.
I mean, I would think about sort of iconic movements.
- Something like a bird.
- Yeah.
That was the first thing that really came to my mind.
We're going with a bird because, I think, by having two legs, and really getting a lot of the motion out of the neck, we'll save a lot on time and we'll get a more believable performance out of the creature.
I think they're doing a bird.
I just heard them.
We'll just do a better one.
You know? That's it.
I don't care what anybody else is doing.
We've already got this in our head, so let's just do this.
- Okay.
- See you in three days.
- Thank you very much.
- See you guys later.
- It's going to be amazing.
- I'm really excited.
Bye, guys.
It'll be more of a low-lying thing.
We could have that big tail.
Lex and I are creating a creature that is part lizard and part dinosaur.
We're going to create the head and the feet out of polyfoam, the spine out of PVC pipe, and fabric to cover the entire body, over top of L200 shapes.
This is definitely out of my comfort zone.
Yes.
Neither Jake nor I are foam fabricators, so that does put us at a bit of a disadvantage.
I kind of have a clue how it's done, but I'm really going to have to push it to get a win this week.
I really want Drew on the head.
Yeah.
We still need somebody to hold up - the entire length of the body.
- Me.
So you'd be in the body? Say this is me, and then I've got the backpack on, so that I'm walking around, and then I just grab the wing sticks and I start doing this, you know? Our creature is kind of like an ostrich.
Robert is focusing on the head.
And I'm focusing on the body and the legs, and I'm also constructing the harness to counter-balance the bird, so that when I move, the slightest amount of movement is going to cause a spring action, so the bird is going to actually have a lot of lift.
It's Lady Caw-caw! - Lady Caw-caw! - Caw-caw! I decided to sculpt on this project, not only because it's my strong point, but because it would take me just as long, if not longer, to create the shape in L200 foam, because it's not my specialty.
- Is that whole thing clay? - Yeah.
This week, we're going to be judged on the movement of our creature.
There's no detail that's needed or required, and sculpting is the kind of thing where you only really need it if you want to have detail.
Jake might be wasting his time.
All right, I'm starting the mold.
How's it going? - Um - Things seem to be working out? - I think so.
- Cool.
Here's the body pod, and then the tail's like Yeah.
- Tapers down to here.
- All right.
This week, I'm responsible for all the moving parts you see.
I'm making the legs.
I'm going to make a head that has a cable inside so that I can move the mouth.
Melissa's going to be fabricating a lot that goes around all the parts that I'm making.
- We have a feather, a feather, a feather.
- Yes.
- Yeah.
- Need to figure out a way to really attach them well to that sleeve.
We could probably drill, actually, little holes doot, doot, doot Like three holes, and then just stitch them to it? Yeah.
I guess so.
I'm just saying, like, it makes it a lot harder to maneuver out.
If we do elastic or spandex, you know, stretch it to its maximum on the table or whatever, and then we pin I like your idea, but it's just so complicated.
Yeah.
The thing that sucks about this pairing between Ben and I is, he likes to be in control of the situation.
I'm trying to think, though, how ostriches' feet are, 'cause I don't think it's two toes in the front.
No, there are three But we're not making an ostrich.
I am not being heard on my team, and it's hard because you're working as a team but still judged individually.
Are we just going to hinge it on the knuckles? Just the one joint to bend? It might be just the flat foot that comes down as we walk.
It's not a true collaboration with Ben.
It is not going to bode well for me when it comes to judgment.
Coming up on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge I mean, it kind of looks like a dryer hose.
You're staying in your comfort zone.
This is a little dead.
We're talking about changing a lot of things, as long as it will not change later.
So the creature brief this week is to create a large character and to really focus on the movement as opposed to the details of the character.
And it will be performed in black light.
Right now, I'm confident in what we're doing.
I've done things like this before.
Controlling the way the legs are going to be puppeteered, there's a cable, that comes from the inside of the knee on the bird that limits how far down the foot can go, so that when the foot comes up, it comes down.
Loose cable, -Tight, loose.
The closer your hand gets to this, the better control you have.
Totally, but there's two of them, and with the dowel, it gets kind of heavy.
It was the lightest thing.
I mean, what else do you want to use? Well, isn't even the PVC lighter? Not that much.
The biggest challenge for me in working with Melissa is just communication.
You know, I say, "here's an idea," and she either doesn't get it or doesn't think it'll work, when I've done it and I know it'll work.
And I'm going to start working on the head.
I'm going to go continue my efforts on the neck.
It's a big job, but it's super-duper important.
- Yeah.
- Hey, guys, one hour left! I'm definitely a little bit stressed about the challenge.
This is a creature that does not have to have finishing details, and I'm a detail-oriented person, so having all that stripped away is kind of tough.
See the floating? I've taken one of the backpacks that are provided and built a PVC structure around it.
I'm the weight on the end, and it's going to spring with that PVC in the front holding the bird up, and we're really amazed how much grace it actually has.
Time, ladies and gentlemen! Time to go home.
One foot following the other, they call it walking.
- Out we go.
- Wait! Yay, everything's the same.
Day two.
Woot, woot.
So it's the morning of day two.
My focus today is to construct and prep the wings.
I really want to finish the bird head today and start fabricating some feathers to put on the neck and the body.
And then, hopefully, tomorrow morning, we'll be able to get right into the black light room and start painting it and working out all the kinks.
Dude, very cool.
- Hey, Lex.
- That looks great! - Got it.
- I love Jake to bits, and he's very, very capable and very, very good at everything he does, but he was working on kind of sculpting head and feet, so I've been doing, like, all the foam work on my own.
I know how to cut foam and glue foam, but I've never done big foam construction like this, so it's just time, basically, is the worry.
That actually works out really nicely.
That looks bomb.
I completely fabricated the neck, and I covered it.
I did a lot of sewing and a lot of really good construction.
Pretend you're going under a wing.
This thing moves properly.
Like, it has personality.
We have two birds in the competition, and they're going to be judged by whose moves more realistically.
There's no need to whittle this down to who's got the better bird, it's three teams competing, and I'm going to be the best one.
That's the goal.
Yay! Fun times.
- Robert, Russ.
- Hey! Hello, gentlemen.
How are you guys doing? - Doing good.
- So what do we got going? Got a bird.
- Started working on the mouth.
- Wow.
Show him the blink.
I do it with my teeth, but That's fantastic.
The puppeteer said he really would want his hand in it, - so that way you can - Sure.
Wow.
I'm putting together the legs without adding too much detail, because you know, we're talking about a movement challenge.
Make sure that you're on the right track as far as your movement goes, because that's what you're being judged on.
- Yeah.
- So, as soon as you can, really utilize this black light space, and I hope you are going to airbrush your black light - Yeah.
- As opposed to brush it on.
Because, you know, as soon as you brush it on, it kind of starts looking a little carnival.
All right, I wish you guys all the luck and of course, I'll be around.
- All righty.
- Thank you.
- Welcome to our bird creature.
- Bird creature.
- Another bird creature.
- Another bird creature? We had this idea, and we were going with it before we even knew they were doing that.
Exactly.
We already had structures built.
So this is all just a passive kind of coil neck, you know, it's just going to be really ligweig.
And then his arms are the wings of the creature, and there'll be moments where he can just really spread them out.
I'm a little concerned about this neck.
What's your concerns on the neck? I mean, it kind of looks like a dryer hose with some black fabric on it.
Well, there's going to be covering.
There's going to be a good amount of feathers kind of pluming off of the neck here - Yeah.
- And here as well.
Okay.
So you're halfway through the build.
What are you most worried about at this point? I'm just trying to get the wings made.
It's a pretty simple thing.
I've done it before.
I've done mechanical flapping wings.
I've done wings that open and close.
And they're always very challenging, so keep that in mind.
Well, everybody else is doing these nice, flighty kind of creatures.
- Yeah, birds.
- Yeah.
We're doing a big, hulking, slow reptile.
I notice there's a polyfoam and latex head here.
Yes.
Why this week another sculpture? Especially when it's all about movement? Well, I figure, play to my strengths, and I can make a cooler head this way in just the same amount of time that I could in the L200.
You're staying in your comfort zone, and this lady is kind of taking on the brunt of it all.
I do feel that I took on a lot more of the body work than Jake did.
The good part about that is that it's all about movement, and a lot of that's in the body, so if I can really kick that out and make it work well, then that's going to be good points for me.
I don't want to see neither one of you guys going home.
- Come on.
- Sounds good.
Okay.
That's the plan.
- Thank you so much.
Talk to you soon.
- Good luck, guys.
See you.
Bye.
Problem 100% solved.
- You don't see anything.
- Good.
- I like this for this.
- Yeah? Let's use it for the back too.
And when you pat it on the back, you can go all the way up - to the end of the music wire.
- Cool.
We should definitely get his legs going.
Let's get those measurements and trace them on a piece of PVC pipe.
The legs are fabricated PVC, L200 so it pushes me to work on those and to make them really cool, because they are pretty far out of my comfort zone.
Damn weak-ass [bleep.]
.
Damn mannequin.
[Bleep.]
.
I was using this extended pole from the back support to kind of get some bounce out of our creature.
And then I went to a boom pole to get the same use but a little more flexibility, but this backpack is becoming the bane of my existence.
[Bleep.]
This is the wing.
It'll be big.
Ben has an idea of how he wants to do the wings.
I think it's way too complicated.
We have got to simplify the joints in order to make it work.
One hour, guys! Don't panic.
Just let me panic.
What is this for? The - Slot for the neck.
- Yeah.
We've got so much to do.
We have to connect the front and back body parts.
We've got to make a tail and get really good movement on that.
We've got to get the legs made, connected.
Got to have the neck made and anchored into the head.
The challenge is all about movement, and right now, we've got bits, so Yes, very true.
So do we even need to put fabric underneath - if we're doing that? - No.
No.
We don't need this anymore because we have a way to do the feathers that's going to be more efficient.
Well, you suggested covering the whole body with that fabric.
Yeah.
Just let me know what we need to do now.
'Cause this is team Ben, and Melissa's just a player.
We're talking about changing a lot of things, and we can now, as long as it will not change later.
30 minutes, everybody! Dude, look at this! I've never painted in this stuff before.
- This is fun.
- Very neat.
That's coming together really nicely, guys.
Um, well, it's got some bits on it.
If Jake and Lex can't get this thing finished, I'm going to be crying for them.
I don't want to lose either one of them, because they are strong competitors.
What happens if you just kind of lower him? Does the thing take on his weight? Coming up on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge - It's a mix-up for me.
- It killed it.
I think I would have put something over the head.
You guys just bit off something that was too big to chew.
Our creature brief this week is to make a giant, theatrical-style puppet.
What happens if you just kind of lower him? Does the thing take on his weight? I've never done stuff with PVC pipe before.
I've never done jointing.
It's so easy for this stuff to rip out.
There's got to be a really good join to attach these things.
Well, time's a bit of a worry.
We'll figure out a way to make it work.
Neither Russ nor I have worked with plastazote before.
After he cut out some pieces, I used them for the feathers on my neck.
Feathers everywhere.
Okay, everybody, it's time.
We're done! Welcome back to Birdtown.
- Lord, so much to do.
- Yes.
Let's just get it done.
Today's the last day of our build, and I have to jump right away on getting the wings feathered so that when our puppeteer gets here, we have the whole creature put together.
Okay, I feel like we should just start gluing these down to the wing to see how many it takes.
We are going to be cutting out strips of feathers for the whole morning.
I think Ben kind of sensed my change in demeanor.
I was very short with things, which I'm normally not.
I guess this is fine.
This thing's actually become a lot of fun to work on.
In this week's challenge, we have a practice area in the shop, and it's actually set up with a black light.
Super helpful to have that.
We're able to see what our paint looks like under the black lights.
Scrambled eggs! Russ has the idea to have a nice nest with some eggs, so he paints them all up, and they actually look pretty good in the black light.
They really pop.
Can you hold the rod tight on there, - and I'll lift a little bit? - Yeah.
My God, the puppeteer's here.
We're not ready yet.
But I'm going to put as much together as I can just so we have something to work with.
Is it light enough? Yeah.
It's really light.
It's great.
We got our nest over here, is what he's going to be kind of perched on - when the curtain comes up.
- Love it.
What you see here is the basic shape.
We haven't gotten any coverings on it yet.
Our professional puppeteer's here, and we're not ready yet.
I think it's time to try it all on, yeah? - Let's do it.
- Let's take it in.
I can't wait.
And stop.
Go down, look for something.
Here's my feeling about the wings.
This is a little dead right here.
Yep.
So we have to change our wings.
They don't work.
They don't perform well.
I'm having some scary thoughts about the wings.
It's a little sad because we didn't get any paint on the creature yet, and I really wanted to see what it looked like in the black light, but we're just not at that stage.
So for now, I'm just going to let him dangle.
We're not going to worry about it.
And step, step, step, settle.
The thing I'm concerned about is getting what our action is.
Our puppeteer really goes over with me how to make the feet land when they walk.
I'm having a little trouble with it.
After we get everything finished, I think we're going to go back in and really get the walking down pat, 'cause that's really what sells it.
Is somebody getting the babies, or are we just [Bleep.]
the babies.
- You are heartless, Russ.
- I know.
That's how I roll.
Sweet mother of pearl.
We scrapped the wings.
Melissa and I, we're both sitting there like, "what do we want to do?" Okay.
So that it can fold in on itself, - and he can close - The inside of it.
- Yes, just the inside.
- Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
I learned that the trick with Ben is less words and more detailed drawings.
This is all moving on its own, and he can collapse on himself.
Okay.
-that's good.
Ben gives me kudos.
Like, he's happy with my design.
Yay! It's a good idea.
Happy dance.
I can finish this up if you want to start - getting fabric ready.
- Okay.
We're going to use a lot of fabric on our creature to create a nice, organic skin texture.
- This needs to go over the top.
- Over the top.
We're down to about the last four hours, so we got to get all the fabric on, we got to get it airbrushed.
Loads to do.
I mean, we're supposed to have a finished creature at the end, but if we can get it moving, great.
- That would be better.
- Yes, I agree.
We still have to finish painting.
I personally do not like airbrushes.
I think you get a much richer color from hand brushing.
But when it's in the black light, I think it'll look a lot better than hand brushing, so in this particular case, airbrushing's the way to go.
Yes, very cool.
I love it.
Simple is beautiful.
Good job.
I was definitely overcomplicating the wings.
It's okay.
That's actually really [bleep.]
cool.
Lex and Jake's creature, I'm rooting for them.
They have some big ideas, and I hope they get them across.
It's the end of the day, and there's still so much to do, and there's just not enough time to get it all done.
So now we have to pick and choose what is priority.
Okay, everybody.
One hour to go! One hour, and then we're done! The other two teams have a very dark base for their creatures.
Ours is all white, so we're going to be very, very careful when we go in with the actual paint and just do it sparingly to accent certain parts.
You guys should win just for sheer size.
That's what she said.
I'm going to take the risk that it doesn't look really pretty when the lights come up if it looks really amazing when the lights are down.
Okay, guys.
Time's up, tools down.
We'll see you tomorrow at the screen test.
Lex and I have a finished puppet.
We just hope the judges think it's as cool as we do.
Creature designers, welcome back to the Henson soundstage.
This week's creature brief was to design and build a believable creature not just based on how it looks, but how it moves.
We asked you to paint your creatures with UV paint to highlight their movement on our black light set.
Let's meet the judges.
First, a designer and director whose creatures appeared in Return of the Jedi and Gremlins, Kirk Thatcher.
Hi, guys.
Next, a creature fabricator whose movie credits include Jurassic Park and Batman Returns, Beth hathaway.
Whoo! And, of course, chairman of the Henson Company and our head judge, Brian Henson.
Whoo! Now remember, guys, even though you worked in pairs, you will be critiqued individually.
The judges are looking at how you convey realism through the movement of your creature.
Robert and Russ, you're up first, so you can join your professional puppeteer.
The rest of you can take a seat.
Stand by.
Screen test, Robert and Russ.
Action, black light.
Action, creature.
We're onstage, actually performing the creature.
We have black hoods over our heads.
The only thing that I'm really worried about is getting that one foot over the other one and not tripping on anything.
I'm actually performing the body of the creature.
I think Robert and I met the challenge head-on.
Cut.
Screen test, Ben and Melissa.
And action.
My.
I wanted to reveal our creature very slowly.
And then, as it kind of reveals itself, the movement comes through with it, and it really captivates the people who are watching.
I am performing our puppet's feet.
And the feet may not seem like "it's not so important," but the feet are the most difficult part of this puppet to perform.
Cut.
Screen test, Jake and Lex.
Action, curtain.
I'm trying to work in sync with our lead puppeteer, who's on the head, getting the body to move.
I'm not so happy with the legs.
The feet, I know they're not hitting the ground properly.
I'm operating the lower legs, as well as the tail.
I'm operating the tail by simply shaking my ass.
There may have been flaws about our creature, but as soon as that black light comes on and the paint lights up, he's a different creature entirely and, I think, fairly impressive.
Cut.
That concludes our screen test.
Let's talk to our designers.
Russ and Robert, can you tell us about your creature, please? In the spirit of the challenge, her name is Lady Caw-caw.
I constructed the body and mechanized the wings.
I built the neck and the head.
The eyes, are they lit from within, or are they actually just that's the black light? - It's the paint.
- Wow, 'cause they glow.
- I back-painted them.
- Yeah.
And I was gonna airbrush them and pupil in it, and I did a test with some gap tape, and it just killed it.
It was a good decision.
Especially when he narrows his eyes, you really get an intention.
What are the feathers made out of? We used a material called plastazote.
I took it, like, in a bandsaw and cut them really thin.
And then I took the heat gun and kind of curled them.
- Very nice.
- There was a lot of feathers.
We're sick of feathers.
Yeah, okay.
It's funny you were saying you're fed up with feathers.
Big Bird, on Sesame Street, every feather - is individually applied - Wow.
In order to make that body look that good.
- Wow.
- Whenever Big Bird travels, he has to get a first-class airline ticket, because we can't crush it at all.
So it goes in this big, big bag that's hung in first-class, over a first-class seat.
- My God.
- That's the only way he can travel.
Robert, you were saying when you put pupils on, it killed it.
Because generally speaking, we almost always will put pupils on eyes in order to give the character true focus.
I think you ended up with the right solution, but you did sacrifice a little bit of focus.
Overall, a very impressive job.
- Thank you.
- We wowed the judges.
There's no doubt in my mind that we're going to be on top this week.
- Good work, guys.
- Thank you.
Melissa and Ben, can you tell us about your creature, please? This is the Longneck Loon.
I made the head.
I made the leg mechanisms.
I did the neck, and then I came up with the concept for our wings.
These were our second set of wings.
I spent a lot of time on the wings initially, and the fabric that we chose for the wings was too thin.
So she came up with the idea for how they would work, and then I made them.
That is a great example of throw out what isn't working and get it finished in time for set, because what you did, even though it's simple It really met the challenge.
I love the neck.
I really like the way it moves.
If it were me, I think I would have put something over the head, 'cause you can see the puppeteer's head.
- We had burlap for - I searched desperately for a netting that did not glow under the black light.
I'm going to tell you a little trick that we use.
- Please.
- Anything that glows, that you wish didn't glow, one squirt of sun block and it won't glow.
Muppet Christmas Carol, we did a lot of puppeteer removal where we had the puppeteers wearing fluorescent green suits.
But in order to get the green to really read to camera, we would put black lights in.
But we needed to make sure that nothing else in the set or any of the costumes reacted to the black light.
- Wow.
- So we very quickly learned the trick of sun block.
Anything that glows, you just go and tsst! And it's gone.
- Where were you? - Yeah! Sorry.
I was surprised when the lights came up and I saw that the wings were as simple as they were.
And it was a last-minute save.
The last day, man.
Going into the screen test, I was a little nervous, but I knew that this week, it was the movement that mattered, and that's what I knew we had in the bag.
- Good work, guys.
- Aah! Lex and Jake, can you guys tell us the name of your creature and a bit about them, please? Okay, this guy's called Tiny.
Obviously.
I sculpted the head on the piece, as well as the feet.
I made all the basic body shapes.
I did the design for the tail.
Neither of us have ever done anything like this before.
So you just went all-in.
You were like, "I've never done this before.
Let's go huge!" - Exactly, yeah.
- This is real It's it's a mix-up for me.
I love that you went with open fabric 'cause you got that waddle.
On Jedi, the rancor pit monster was Originally, George wanted us to do it as a man in a suit.
- Okay.
- George Lucas! Did I drop something? And so we built this huge costume, and I ended up being the Guinea pig in the suit.
So it was really uncomfortable, but we had a lot of open skin in the neck.
It wasn't fabric, it was latex, but it was the same idea.
You get all that great movement, and I thought that was really smart.
What didn't work, for me, was the transition to the basically, the ribcage.
It looks like hanging fabric.
I've worked on my share of dinosaurs, and I have to say, I really like how he's light.
The tail is probably my favorite part.
It's very fluid.
I really like it.
As far as I can see, nobody's actually operating the tail.
It's just doing whatever it does.
Yeah, it's moving with the lower part of my body, so I feel dirty now.
Let's talk about the legs just a little bit.
There could have been quite a bit more attention put into making sure that the hips can't swing out too far.
Lex, the structure of the leg is basically your structure? It is a double-edged sword.
I mean, if the creature works out to be their favorite, then I'm in line for the win.
If we're the bottom look, it kind of puts me in the firing line.
Lex, the structure of the leg is basically your structure? We both made the legs, but I came up with the jointing system in there.
But when we connected it to the whole thing, something went a bit a little bit awry.
There are a lot of different ways to restrict movement - Yeah.
- And often, even in the big movies, you would see us, right at the last minute, getting string out, tying knees together - underneath the stomach - Right, right.
So that the knees can't splay out.
I mean, the key is restricting it so that it can only do what you want it to do.
Yeah, that's a great idea.
Thanks.
I'm feeling let down.
I know that our project could have been a lot cooler than it was.
But the fact that we had a finished product is nothing short of a miracle.
The judges know what they're talking about.
They're spot on All the things that I was worried about are the things they brought up, so I kind of know that this puts me in a bad place.
Great work, guys.
- Thank you.
- Thank you very much.
Congratulations, all of you.
Three very impressive creatures, and you did an amazing job bringing them to life.
The judges have a lot to discuss, so you can head over to the Henson screening room, and we'll call you back shortly.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Good work, guys.
- Thank you.
So pretend you're inside your suit right now, and I want to see what it looks like, you puppeteering your suit.
So I have the arms like this, and I was just going like this.
- That's some good range, Jake.
- Damn dude.
You got some you got some nice moves.
So, overall, I think those screen tests were really impressive, and the black light really worked to emphasize the movement of the creatures.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, I was surprised.
I'm always surprised in this, where people go.
So let's start with Russ and Robert's Lady Caw-caw.
I loved that bird.
- I did, I did.
- I did.
It had a lot of personality.
And even though it didn't have pupils I know it bothered you But it did have eye-blink.
And they also gave it not just an on/off, but you could subtly do that, and I think that was really smart.
I thought the movement was very convincing, except for the legs.
That was the only problem, I would say.
Yeah, it was just something floaty going on there.
The head was probably the most impressive part - Yes.
- Of the creature.
The animation was great.
The eyes were great.
The mouth.
The tongue.
That clucking, bouncing, was great, and, I thought, really gave it personality and life.
I really liked the feather on top.
I just thought it gave it character.
I just wish we could see it more under the black light.
Could have been a little hotter on that.
But, generally - It was great.
- A lovely creature.
We'll move on to the Longneck Loon, by Melissa and Ben.
So, all around, this was very impressive.
- Yeah.
- What really made it realistic was its movement, which is what the challenge was about.
Ben did that great head, and the great feet with those the foot locks were really impress and you really noticed.
It was so subtle because it made it look real.
Sometimes the things that you spend the most time on are kind of invisible because, well, that's how a leg works.
You don't realize how hard it is to do that.
- It was gorgeous.
- It looked nice.
It looked organic.
Melissa said she did the neck.
To me, the neck is the first thing you saw when they came out, and it was beautiful.
And the feathers, when the lights came on - I was shocked.
- And it was just foam? - Exactly.
- I was shocked.
- Yeah.
- I think we all were like That was like going to Disneyland and realizing Mr.
Toad is a cut-out or something.
You realize, "that's just plywood.
" No, I mean, it really worked.
It's gorgeous, just beautiful, the way they looked and the way they read on camera.
I think some of Ben's choices at the front end really helped ensure success.
But when they tell me that the wings weren't working, and at the last minute, they had to come up with a plan, and that it was Melissa's plan, and then ended up being almost the most impactful part of the creature.
Without any backstory, knowing she designed those wings, I think, is amazing, 'cause I think that's such an amazing knowledge of what you can get away with, which is most of this business.
Let's move on to Lex and Jake, Tiny.
They went big.
I mean, I appreciate that.
Like, "we're going to make a dinosaur in three days.
" There were moments when I saw that, and I was like, "wow, that looks like a dinosaur from Avatar.
" - Yeah.
- The paint job and that skin texture blew me away.
I was like, "that's really clever.
" I don't think I would have thought of taking, basically, a wrinkly, furry texture and painting it, 'cause just on the black light I thought it looked amazing.
And the tail was beautiful.
- I love that tail.
- The tail was great.
It was very fluid.
It was nice.
That was my favorite part.
The tail was the most impressive, and it had all of that movement just by itself.
But then it just there were issues with the The legs were out of proportion, and the movement just totally distracted you from the overall design.
Why would you have the legs stick out kind of like a lego dinosaur or something? That's a tough nut to crack, having all four legs moving at once.
Lex was basically taking credit for the leg structure, which, to me, is the biggest problem.
- Jake sculpted the head.
- Yeah.
I'm a little concerned that they took all that time sculpting a head.
I don't know how long it took Jake to sculpt a head, but he sculpted a realistic dinosaur head while they didn't have a plan.
The concept was probably too ambitious.
Yeah, bit off a bit more than they could chew.
Okay, so we're all in agreement? - Yeah.
- All right.
- Let's get them back out.
- All right.
Okeydokey.
Creature designers, it's time to find out what the judges thought of your work, and one of you will be eliminated tonight.
Let's start with the winning team this week.
Overall, guys, good job.
This was a tough choice.
One creature particularly stood out, clearly benefiting from excellent teamwork.
That creature was designed by One creature particularly stood out.
The creature moved beautifully as well as looked beautiful, Clearly benefitting from excellent teamwork.
That creature was designed by Melissa and Ben.
Thank you.
Congratulations, Ben and Melissa, but before we announce which of you is the winner this week, let's find out who is safe and who will return to the Creature Shop for another week.
And that team is Russ and Robert.
- Thanks.
- Thank you.
- Excellent work, guys.
- Thank you.
Thank you very much, guys.
You can return to the screening room.
Thank you.
Melissa and Ben, let's find out who is the winner this week.
Clearly, your creature benefited from an excellent plan that was really well-executed, but we were particularly impressed with the story of how the wings came about, how it was a last-minute plan.
And in the end, the wings were quite possibly as impactful as anything else on your creature.
And for that reason, this week's winning designer is Melissa.
Thanks.
I am super excited that I finally won one.
Congratulations, Melissa, and of course to you, Ben.
You can return to the screening room.
It feels really, really cool to be in the final five.
Lex and Jake, the judges were least impressed with your creature, and one of you will be eliminated tonight.
Well, guys, you went in big, and in that sense, you created a very impressive creature, but ultimately, we felt like you had a concept that was too ambitious.
Jake, it appears to us that you probably spent quite a lot of time sculpting a head when this was a challenge about movement, and probably that time would have been better spent working on a plan and executing it.
Understandable.
Lex, although the tail moved really well, the movement of the legs was really so unrealistic that it completely undermined the believability of the creature.
And for those reasons, the eliminated creature designer is Lex.
Thank you, Jake.
That means you're safe and we'll see you again next week.
Thank you, guys.
Lex, we've been really impressed with your work.
I just think you guys just bit off something that was too big to chew.
Yeah, we saw everybody else doing little two-legged creatures, we wanted to be a bit different.
- thanks.
Good luck.
- Bye-bye.
- Thank you, guys.
- Bye-bye.
Obviously, very sad, you know? I really wanted to go for it and at least get in the final three.
This competition has been one of the most kind of crazy, stressful, but amazing kind of experiences of my life.
I mean, this is not like anything else I've ever done before.
It's been absolutely amazing.

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