Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge (2014) s01e08 Episode Script
Tavern At The Crossroads
1 Previously on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge It's time to find out who has earned their place in the grand finale.
Ben.
Robert.
Melissa.
Jake, thank you so much for being a part of this.
Thank you guys so much for the opportunity.
This week on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Here's the final creature brief.
All three of your creatures have to interact with each other.
Hey.
There's every single person who got eliminated.
It looks awesome.
The goal here is to get top.
Nothing else matters.
There's only one spot to win, so it's a lot of pressure.
It's not doing its full thing.
This is so nerve-racking.
There's so much riding on this.
Tonight's screen test will decide who wins the job at Jim Henson Creature Shop.
Good-bye.
I think the eyes are beautiful.
I take that, put it in a movie.
That was an impressive entrance.
The winner of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge is Walking onto The Henson lot for the last creature brief, it's a rush of different kinds of emotions.
And I'm ready for whatever challenge is coming.
- Hello, creature designers.
- Hi.
The three of you have made it to the grand finale.
It's exciting.
I-I did not think, after the first challenge, that I would be here.
I went from being on bottom to the top three.
The three of you are about to start the final creature brief.
Brian is in his office, and he wants to see each of you one-on-one.
What? Melissa, you got to go first.
I have to go have a little meeting with, um, Brian Henson.
No big deal.
He could be my future boss.
Good morning, Melissa.
- Good morning.
- Come in.
- Thank you.
- Here, have a seat.
Just wanted to catch up with you.
Sure.
And maybe offer you a little bit of advice.
One of the strengths that I have noticed is you seem to be pretty unflappable.
And on this particular challenge, we're going to be providing you a team of creature shop personnel that you can manage.
I want you to try to get the most out of everybody that's working with you.
Your work has been extremely impressive.
Thank you.
As you approach working with a team, I want you to make sure that you delegate your workload.
If what happens is you do the Ben show - Yeah.
- And Ben does everything - Yeah.
- You won't win.
Your creatures are beautiful, but they they tend to be on the gentler side.
And I want you to have stronger presence.
Let's really feel the emotion of that creature.
Brian really goes over what I've been strong at, and what I've been weak at.
He has a lot of encouraging words to say.
Here's the final creature brief: Each of you have to design and build your own original creature, a fantasy being.
A traveler that meets two other travelers at a mysterious tavern where their roads cross.
When all three are in the tavern, they're going to tell the other two the story of where they come from, their species, and the journey that they're on.
That means, for the first time, all three of your creatures have to interact with each other.
- That's awesome.
- Cool.
- That is so cool.
- Okay? And as this is the final brief, there are, of course, a lot of additional elements.
You have to design and build your own prop, and the story of that prop has to be incorporated into your traveler's story.
But here's the really tough part.
I've got something cool to show you.
All right, this is your tavern.
Awesome.
Your traveler needs to come in, full figure, hiding the performer inside the creature, and then sit down behind the bar.
Once they're sitting, we will cut cameras, you can go in and reset your creature so that you can perform the creature in the best way possible.
Once your creature is sitting, that's where they will tell each other their stories.
And as with any good finale, of course there's a twist.
There's all these elements.
It's crazy.
And they all have to come together right now.
Your creature will have to perform some sort of special effect.
Whether it's spitting, or vomiting, or breathing.
Whatever you think will be most impactful for your creature.
We want to really show us what you can achieve, okay? You've got only three days.
There's so much up in the air.
I don't know who my team is.
I don't know what kind of creature I want to make.
Each of you will be randomly assigned one of our three creature shop masters.
Good luck, guys.
Congratulations.
You're in the finale.
- Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
Now, get to work.
Oh, man.
Hey.
Hey, guys.
Walk into The Creature Shop, and "lookie, lookie.
" There's every single person who got eliminated.
- Melissa.
- Robert.
Ben.
What's up, buddy? Oh, so glad that you're still here.
I'm so glad you guys are on my team.
So my teammates are Russ and Ivonne.
They're really talented, so I'm really happy.
My new crew.
Hi.
Bring it in, bring it in.
So excited.
I'm so happy that you're still here.
Lex and Chaz are my team.
I would've handpicked Lex myself.
And we have Chaz.
Chaz got "x'ed-out" on the very first challenge, and I don't know what he can do.
- Dude.
- Yes.
- How's it goin'? - Hey.
I was particularly happy to see that I had Jake on my team, and Tina.
I know Tina gets a lot of flack, but I'm holding the reigns, and I can guide her artistic ability in a certain direction.
I think she'll knock it out.
So this week we have to create a head-to-toe creature.
This is a very sad character I'm creating.
Okay, so here's the idea.
He's the last of his species.
He has created these embryos, and he wants to give it to someone to raise.
I want to use my team's abilities to their best, and I know Jake is a great sculptor.
Sculpt two hands, left and right.
And I know that Tina was good at fabrications.
From the wrist up, this will be fabricated.
Fabricated body.
I know that I can knock out the eye mechanisms very quickly.
- Okay.
- Good.
You know, my mind's running at 1,000 miles an hour.
I'm very nervous.
The goal here is to get top.
Nothing else matters.
There's no safe.
There's no bottom.
There's only top.
- Sketch it.
- Let's go.
Sketch it, sketch it, sketch it.
My character's an older character.
He's kind of dirty, kind of tattered.
He's got this, like, matted fur.
So you want to start making a body pod.
I'm gonna be doing head sculpt, and I would love for you to start cutting out pieces on these.
This challenge is insane.
If I won this competition, like, holy smokes.
My dad would cry.
Really, he would be so insanely proud.
- There's nothing at stake here.
- What is the plan? I want a really tall creature.
Like, eight feet.
I want it to be a big presence on the stage.
This lost traveler, kind of scruffy, torn up clothes.
And for the prop, he's gonna have a crystal ball.
Maybe we could glue some hair on him.
You know, a nice pot belly.
Ivonne's probably the best fabricator out of anyone.
The first thing I'm gonna have her do is start constructing the body.
So I'm super excited about having her on my team.
I only worked with Russ for one challenge, but he knows what to do.
He can build stuff really fast.
So I'm hoping to use his skills the best way possible.
We've got to do a really far from human paint job on this guy.
Yeah, maybe even take his nostrils, and in my meeting with Brian, he tells me that it's not the Ben show.
But, you know, it's difficult for me to really trust people when I know that I could do it better.
But for how much work we have to do in three days, it can't be just me.
I have to use their abilities.
All right, let me work on this chin a bit.
- The only thing - this is what they had.
The closest thing we have is that.
I'm a little overwhelmed right now.
I know I'm gonna get a good product, and a good finish having Lex on my team.
But then, Chaz is a wildcard.
Is there a solvent for superglue? - Nope.
- Sandpaper.
Well, it's glued to you.
Oh.
Happy thoughts, everyone.
Guys, we got an hour left.
Just gonna start calling you captain, I think.
Winning this competition would be so amazing on so many levels.
I've looked up to The Henson company for years.
I think that working for them would be so fantastic, and I would learn so much.
I do have a roommate, and she happens to be my mom.
So this is such a great opportunity for me, because I want to have my own place, and be able to put out my own art.
It's things like that that will change my life.
That's time, guys.
We're done.
I got to stop sniffing chemicals.
It's day two of the challenge.
I'm really gonna focus on the sculpting of the head, the mechanization of the eyes.
Ivonne, she's already created this really awesome giant body.
Russ is working on the prop, and the mechanical hands.
This challenge, the final one, everything has to be perfect.
This could be my new job.
I could be doing this every day.
I wonder if these have a better attitude today.
Bust 'em out of here, and see if they're being restricted by something.
There's so much that has to be done, and like, there's, like, no time.
But I'm getting hung up a little bit with these eye mechs.
- Freaking out.
- They jump.
They jump around, and they're not in the same spot always.
It's so important, because this is the last time the judges get to see me, and this has to wow them.
Coming up on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge I'm really trying to take Brian's advice, and it's hard for me.
There's only one spot to win.
There's so much riding on this.
It's win or die trying.
The eyes are beautiful.
That moment, I thought, "oh! Take that, put it in a movie.
" That was an impressive entrance.
Hot dang.
This really is anybody's game.
Our creature brief this week is to create a creature that will be walking into a tavern and sitting down and joining two other creatures that are all crossing paths.
It has to be a full body character, and we have to create one special effect, outside of the mechanization, to go with our character and with the story.
And they have to have their very own prop that helps to drive their storyline.
Add these guys right here.
- It's what comes with the kit.
- Nice.
I'd just put those in there.
This is a really difficult situation with these eye mechs, because Chaz, apparently, has done it differently, and I'm really skilled now at this specific set.
Hooray.
Problem solving.
- Well - go team.
Too not too soon, not too soon.
I have faith.
- The eyes work, yay.
Whoo-hoo.
Were you concerned about that? - Always.
- How many mechs have you made? It's always a concern.
Wish we had a rolling pin.
Would be awesome.
I could make one out of a wood dowel.
Yeah, cool.
I'm really trying to take Brian's advice, and it's hard for me.
He said, "don't make it the Ben show.
Use your team.
" So I'm, like, makin' Jake sculpt as much as he can.
Nice.
The embryo floating in the middle.
I love it.
My character is the last of his kind.
He has created an embryo that is his child, which he brings to this tavern.
And he must give it away, because if it grows up around him, it will catch the disease that causes it to be sterile.
Just shove some more epoxy into this fetus mouth.
Thing's so gross.
Looks awesome, dude.
- Just - Oh, God.
Why does that exist? Ben and his crew have a fetus lantern.
That's cute.
It's the most adorable thing I wish I never saw.
My creature is this kind of rough, seedy kind of guy from the forest.
His special prop is he's got basically the elixir of life, which Chaz is building.
- But this'll be right inside - Yeah, I love it.
So when he reaches for it, you can just, "nyah.
" Chaz gets a big a-plus from me.
Give me a high five.
Just do it.
My creature's prop is going to be a little chest, and inside is this crystal ball.
But for a special effect, we want to incorporate the special effect with the prop.
When we open up the chest, this dry ice, this kind of smoky fog effect kind of pours out, and it lights up with the glow of the ball.
Wow.
Cool.
You've got a friend.
- Who? - Ben.
Oh, he's wearing his? Yeah.
- God.
- Oh, hey.
What's up? Fancy seeing you here, man.
Yeah.
Ahh! Oh, look at his teeth.
Oh, and That is so great.
I've always wanted to do a-a little sneer.
I've never had the time to do it in any of the other challenges.
But I want to have something extra.
Well, Russ is really good at rigging sneezing.
What if we make him sneeze? And it'll really sell it.
'Cause he's coming in from the cold, and he can have, like, a hanky.
And he just wipes his nose, and that's the gag.
Sweet.
Now that I have a great team, I think I have the time to put this thing in.
Got ten minutes, guys.
- We did a lot today.
- Yeah.
We're in a good spot for tomorrow.
Hands are about ready.
Come in tomorrow, and foam.
I feel good about this, because when we have our master session tomorrow, like, we have stuff put together to show, you know? All right, everybody.
That's time.
Whoo! Today is the last day of the last challenge.
And we're here to finish an awesome creature, and kick some ass.
It wasn't until last night when I saw my fur go up, when I saw my structures go up, that I really felt good.
That I really felt like, "hot dang.
Like, this really is anybody's game.
" I'm super excited about tomorrow's screen test.
It's kind of bittersweet.
It'll be the last one, but it'll probably be the best one.
Did you hear what he said? Just make it look cool.
I wish we could trigger the switch for this light in his hand.
The less that we can complicate it, the better.
My creature's special effect is blowing smoke.
He's gonna be smoking pipe, and actual smoke is gonna flow through his nostrils.
What we're trying to do is have Chaz rig up a pedal so that the main performer can just push down with his foot, and smoke just comes out of the nose.
It's coming out, but it's really small.
It all has to come together and be flawless.
This is the last time I get to show off what I can do.
If it's not being shown off in the best possible way, what do I have to show for it? Coming up on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Oh, my God.
This is so nerve-racking.
I think I've nailed it.
There's nothing else but getting top.
There's top, or there's nothing.
I want to win this so very badly.
The winner of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge is As far as the special effects go, I'm having problems with the smoke coming out of the nostrils.
Where it's not doing it's full thing.
Hopefully, Chaz can work out the kinks with the machine.
It's working.
It's super, super good.
There we go.
Then we can do it like this.
Beautiful.
Hi, Ben.
Hey, Robert.
- Hi.
- Hi.
This week, unlike other weeks, we have our own master.
This week, I have Julie.
I have Pete.
He is the creator director of The Creature Shop.
My very own master this week is John.
John's my master.
I know that you had an opportunity to meet with Brian.
- Yeah.
- How did that go? He told me to really use my team.
I think I've been doing that really well, actually.
I know that you have to have a special effect.
He has to give this away at the crossroads at the tavern, and because of that, he cries.
Oh, okay.
So these tubes hook up to here, and I have little tubes that make tear ducts.
- There you go.
- Good.
Based on an experience I had once with one of the Flintstones movies, make sure that your connections in your water system are really good.
Yes.
Because I've seen them not be good, and blow out the electronics.
- Yes.
- Good luck.
Thank you.
I can't wait to see it at the screen test, Ben.
- Me too.
- Rootin' for you.
He travels a lot with gypsies and witches.
Okay.
And so his prop is kind of like a crystal ball.
- Have you got the prop? - I do.
As we open up the box, all this dry ice will come out, and this thing will be inside, glowing.
You've got to do a prop and a special effect.
Right.
So that that's you you're doing both in one gag, are you? It will be one of our special effects.
- We also - you got another one? - He snarls.
- God, that's nice, yeah.
I want to make him sneeze, "ah-choo," you know? Damn, that's gonna be good, Robert.
I hope you have enough time just to pull in some hair here.
Like, punch the hair in, and just make this guy look just as beautiful as possible.
You've got a really strong character there.
And I do want to see you win.
It's a lot of pressure to have him be my team leader.
I have to win not only for myself, but I have to win for him, 'cause he runs the show.
You're good, and you have the talent to win, okay? I appreciate it.
Got a good future ahead of you.
You really can do it.
His special prop that helps drives story is this awesome bottle, this elixir bottle.
Wow.
Wow.
- Yeah.
- Very nice.
- Yeah.
- Three days.
Look at you.
Also, he actually has a pipe.
That is a wonderful touch as well.
- So our special effect - uh-huh.
Is he's gonna be having smoke come out of his nose.
Brilliant.
This guy's been working for Henson for, like, how long? If he's excited about it, that's, like, a really, really good sign.
What are you doing in the reset to get your character prepared for the close-up? We're going to take out a fake forearm, and the assistant is gonna slip in his arm into it - Uh-huh.
- So that he can interact.
Okay, 'cause you don't want that director waiting.
I think you might have enough time - to mechanize these eyebrows.
- Eyebrows.
I would love to see these eyebrows move.
Even if it's just two points.
All right, well, I'm gonna let you get back to it.
- Good luck with everything, and - thank you so much, sir.
- Good stuff.
- Thank you.
I'm running with John's idea, and I'm putting Chaz straight onto eyebrow mech.
- Oh, it could be done.
- Oh, yeah.
This could be the thing that really wins me this competition.
Our guy is looking dangerously human.
And I want to make sure the paint job brings him away from that.
So you're kind of making circles.
- It should be more of spotty.
- Gotcha.
The judges have told me in past challenges that my stuff looks really clean, so I really wanted to get it as dirty and grimy as I possibly could.
I just want it to look really aged.
Oh, you have the palate in? Tina, it makes me so happy that you are working on this project with me.
I think I'm gonna skip the palate.
He's got a lot going on, and we don't need to fuss with that.
I have such a problem with mouths.
- Unless we do.
- But we don't.
Okay.
Good.
- Ben's creature - it has a lot of personality.
It moves really well.
But the paintjob is, like, mint green.
There's no secondary colors that are added in, so it reads kind of flat.
Where's your head? I'm not exactly sure what the thought process is behind Robert's creature.
The head looks great, but it's basically a gorilla with a little bit of a "smushed" nose.
I'm not sure if he'll get dinged on that.
I'm not taking in the spray booth.
I'm gonna hot glue it, see how that works.
Melissa's creature is gonna be all furry apparently.
I really appreciate that she's using the talents of her teammates, having Lex, but she's putting a whole lot of trust into Lex's abilities.
- We got one hour, guys.
- Last challenge.
One hour.
Does he need anything else? I think he looks great.
Okay, guys.
Assistants, thank you so much, but now, it's time to say good-bye to your creature designers.
I'd like the finalists to take the last few minutes of today to prep their creations for the screen test.
- Bye.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Yay.
- This was awesome.
- Group group hug.
- Group hug, aww.
- Guys.
- All right.
- All right.
See you.
This is so nerve-racking.
There's so much riding on this.
It's win or die trying.
There's only one spot to win, so it's a lot of pressure, for sure.
I came here to take home the job, and take the money.
I came here to win.
- That's it, guys.
- We're done.
- We're done! - Whoo! , that's awesome.
- Hi, guys.
- Robert.
- How's it going? - What's happening? I'm very excited about this, guys.
- Me too.
- Screen test is today.
It's just it's crazy, you know? We're all trying to break it down for them in this short amount of time, and, you know, make the last screen test come to life.
So that's just permanently in there? - Yes.
- Fantastic.
- You don't have to worry about Yeah.
- I'll never drop it.
- He's Vlorkof.
- He's Russian.
Okay.
"Da.
" This character is really, really sad.
- That's why he's gonna cry.
- Hmm.
- Make it comfortable for you.
- Yeah.
That looks really good, Melissa.
Oh, my God.
- Hi, baby.
- Oh! Oh, my God.
I can't believe you guys are here.
Oh, I'm a total daddy's girl.
And my husband's in uniform.
The two guys who love me most in this entire universe, like, just there for me.
It was just lot of years and time and effort into this day.
I know you guys have always been there to support me.
- So - Always will be.
For them to be here, and to see how far I've come, I was just so happy for them to be there, and to share this incredible moment with me.
I can't believe it.
Give you some love and support.
I can't believe it.
My mom and my girlfriend come out, and I'm completely blown away.
I mean, I've never been so surprised.
That also added onto the pressure, because now my loved ones are in the audience.
Creature designers, welcome back to The Henson soundstage for the last time.
Tonight's screen test will decide who wins the cash prize, and the job at the Jim Henson creature shop, worth a combined value of $100,000.
This week, your creature brief was to create and build a fantasy creature that visits a tavern at a mystical crossroads.
We asked you to design a prop, a special effect, and a story about your creature.
As you only had three days for this build, you each welcomed back two previously eliminated creature designers to assist you.
They will be joined by professional puppeteers to bring your creatures to life at the screen test.
Let's meet our judges.
First, a creature designer and director whose credits include Star Wars to Star Trek, Dinosaurs to Muppets, Kirk Thatcher.
Next, a creature fabricator whose big screen blockbusters include Jurassic Park, Batman Returns, Terminator 2, and The Chronicles of Narnia, Beth Hathaway.
And of course, who else but the chairman of The Henson company and our head judge, Brian Henson.
Maestro.
In the audience tonight, we have C.
E.
O.
of The Henson company, Lisa Henson.
Our creature shop masters are also here: John Criswell, Julie Zobel, and Pete Brooke.
And finally, your family members are here to give you lots of support.
Everyone else in the audience are actual employees of the Jim Henson company.
These could be your future work colleagues, so you have a lot of people to impress tonight.
The judges will be looking closely at how well your fantasy creature interacts with the others, tells its story, and performs its special effect.
Let's begin the screen test.
Can't even begin to explain how nerve-racking it is relying on a large crew behind your creature to make it work, and have to just sit on the sidelines, in the most important screen test of, you know, your career.
And here we go.
Standby.
All right, guys.
We're rolling.
Here we go.
Final screen test.
Melissa, Ben, Robert.
Take one.
Mark.
And that's a cut.
Reset for Set designers out.
- Now, run.
- Thanks, man.
I can take this from you.
Good job.
The way that this screen test is set up is a little more realistic to how it really would be done in a commercial, or TV, or movie.
All right, there we go.
You guys are doing good? For this screen test, we'll have two takes.
One is for the walk in, and it's a full body shot.
And the second one is when the character sits down, and it's a close-up shot.
We want to make sure you're good.
- Love the head pop.
- Yeah.
This challenge is so multi-faceted.
If the design is off, even a little bit, it just could look like it's coming from completely different movies.
My performer is staying in the costume, and performers are being added to him once he is sat down.
I wanted to be as plug and play as possible.
Yeah, yeah, I'm good, I'm good.
- You're good, Victor? - Okay, here we go.
All right, nice and quiet, please.
Standby.
We're rolling.
Final screen test, take two.
Mark.
Hello, my friend.
I am Abernash, and I have a gift for you.
The elixir of life.
Yes.
One sip And you will live for 100 years.
Well, thank you much, friend.
Ah, what a relief.
I'm glad to be rid of it.
Huh? For now that you have touched it, you have bound to it.
It will give you 100 years of life, but then you have to give it to someone else, or else it will absorb your life force, and you will die.
I don't think this will do me much good.
My name is Solee.
You see, 200 years ago, my people embarked on a quest for genetic perfection.
We became stronger, more resilient.
Sadly, our genetic tinkering gave rise to a deadly virus.
Wiped all of us out, but me.
It has become my life's work to save my race.
That's why I have created this.
This is my son.
Unfortunately, I too have contracted the virus, which is my son is sealed in here.
Were he to be released near me, his future would be death.
Raise him well.
Good-bye, my son.
He will be well-protected, my friend.
Thank you.
I am Vlorkof.
I come the treacherous foothills of the dark mountains.
I have traveled a great distance with this crystal ball.
Its power threatens my people.
I must give it to the one who has the ability to control it, or else my race may be completely destroyed.
It seems as if I've traded one curse for another.
Cut! Whoo! I think that what they did was incredible.
It's just that the the puppets are so realistic that it makes me want to think that they're real.
It's it's great.
My favorite was Melissa's.
It looked so real, like, it looked like I could just go up and talk to it, and have a normal conversation.
Robert's, I thought, was the best creature.
But Ben had the best story.
I think Ben should win.
It was an amazing, amazing creature.
All three of them are so talented.
I'd be thrilled to have any of the three of them at The Creature Shop.
That concludes our screen tests.
Let's talk to our designers.
This is the end.
This is what it's all come down to.
And I don't really know how this is gonna go.
I-I-I don't know if I feel great about the situation.
Melissa, can you please tell us about your creature? So this is Abernash.
For him, we have the prop of we had the elixir bottle.
And his special effect was he got to blow smoke through his nose.
I really like the way you you gave him the stovepipe neck.
And the way you built out the deltoids to give him enough girth to make it look good I do.
But I wish that there was more articulation in the mouth.
I like the way he came in, and he shook himself off.
- Yes.
- That was an impressive entrance, and that was great.
I really was just wanting teeth in there.
It's just, he's so well done, and just to have a flat, black mouth, even if you had just put something soft and white in there.
I didn't really quite believe that he 100 years and - Gotcha.
- Two weeks old.
'Cause he looked quite clean.
I'm really impressed with your sculpt.
That, I think, is to to me, clearly the finest sculpt you you've delivered.
Thank you.
I want to win this so very badly.
It'd be such a life-changer to win this competition.
Ben, can you please tell us about your creature? This sad fellow is Solee.
And he has to give away his child to live in a new land.
So the prop was his child, and the special effect was him crying.
Right when he was crying I was like, "oh, wow.
" It was very emotional, and moving.
So I thought you you nailed that.
I think you have an amazing sculpt.
I loved the detail.
But it seems the color scheme is really monochromatic.
Hmm.
I think the eyes are beautiful.
They're very organic.
They're very subtle.
- The shell - mm-hmm.
Did you not see, when you had rehearsal, that you had that space? No, it's pretty much only when he sits down that we get this effect.
And when that happened, it was something that, I was in the suit, another one I was down here, and I could not assess the problem.
Look in a mirror.
I thought your story was particularly impressive, and I thought you used the prop really well.
Thank you.
And the fact that where you chose to put the special effect in was at the climax of that story, was a really smart, creative choice.
Thank you.
That's gonna be where you pull the close-up.
Winning this competition would be so amazing on so many levels, but it's all or nothing, and it's it's very nerve-racking.
Robert, can you please tell us about your creature? This is Vlorkof, and he has found this crystal ball.
And it's so powerful that's it's threatening the gentle nature of his people.
Overall, I love your foam sculpting.
I love that I have anatomy in the legs, and in his belly.
I wish that there was just a little bit more going on under the fur here.
Just a little bit of a neck.
Also, I wish that there was just a little bit more of a of a snout going on.
He's he's very flat-faced.
But the eyes have a lot of character.
The wardrobe was made a big impression on me.
And you chose the fabrics, and how they go together.
- Yep.
- No, it's great.
Obviously, I like wardrobe, so the face is amazing.
The the sculpt and the mechanization.
There was one moment in the performance that was particularly impressive, which is the sneeze.
The sneer, the eyes, everything worked incredibly well.
In that moment, I thought, "oh, there was a that I take that, put it in a movie.
" You have a mouth that has a very obvious spot where it closes.
If it was able to over-close, you would've gotten a little bit more expression.
Although, if that would've messed with the sneer, then then don't do it, 'cause the sneer was very impactful.
Thank you.
I love the face.
The eyes, the snarl.
I mean, that's where the character is, is in the face, and I think I've nailed it.
Really, all the creatures are incredibly impressive.
You guys have done great work.
- Thank you.
- It was a lot of fun.
Lot of hard work went into that, yeah.
Thanks, judges.
Creature designers, you've given the judges a lot to discuss.
So I'm gonna ask you one last time to head back to The Henson screening room, and we'll call you back soon.
Thank you so much.
I am so exhausted.
It's ridiculous.
- I mean - Yeah.
Like, we've all worked on really fast projects - Oh, yeah.
- And haven't slept, but not under these conditions.
I think we all need to take a sip from my, like, life elixir.
but not under these conditions.
I think we all need to take a sip from my, like, life elixir.
We're gonna need it.
Well, this is gonna be, clearly, the most difficult choice we've had to make.
- Absolutely.
- I agree 100%.
I'm not not looking forward to this.
- It's gonna be hard.
- No.
Let's start with Melissa's creature.
I certainly felt, in terms of the full-figure creature, the initial impact was very strong.
Yes.
- I thought the pipe was great.
- Mm-hmm.
It was a simple gag, but you know but it worked.
I thought the stovepipe neck worked beautiful.
The lack of teeth really killed me.
When that opens it's mouth, and it's flat black, and it's, like, a muppet mouth just black, no teeth.
So in terms of the story, my feeling was, "it's okay.
" - Right.
- Mm-hmm.
So I almost would give her pretty much the highest marks - for fabrication, sculpting - Mm-hmm.
Painting and finishing, costuming.
Yep.
I'd knock her a little bit on mechanization and the quality of her story.
Well, let's talk about Ben's creature.
I think his story was excellent.
- Mm-hmm.
- Right.
And then, using the effect to be crying when he's considering the fact that he can't raise his own child.
No, that's really good emotion.
I just have a problem with his cowl.
We have to revisit all of that.
That, and I think the paint job.
'Cause it was flat, guacamole green.
Flat green, yeah.
I felt like the story, the importance of the prop to the story, and then the special effect.
- I think he deserves highest - Highest highest marks, yeah.
Possible marks for those three areas.
Well, Robert's creature, like Melissa's, walked in with a good, strong impact, I felt.
- Yes.
- Absolutely.
He lifted those shoulders way up, put the head way up high.
I don't know if he told the performer, but the way he worked the performer, the accent really worked.
It kind of looked like a guy that would have some sort of you know, he wasn't just speaking in kind of flat English.
He had an attitude.
The mechanisms were so successful, that came through that little snarl.
The sneer was a really smart, smart thing to put in there.
Mm-hmm.
I would take that moment, and put it in a movie.
I love the fabrication on the body.
- I mean, he had full thighs - Yep, big belly.
And lower legs, and a nice, big, heavy belly.
I thought Robert's story was fine.
But I still didn't feel a connection to this prop.
But the the prop.
I was gonna say, the prop was gorgeous, and the box was very pretty.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
I thought his special effect fell flat on its face.
I didn't even notice it.
All right, so we're in agreement.
Yeah.
All right, let's get them back.
This is so nerve-racking.
There's so much riding on this.
This is the end.
This is what it's all come down to, and it's anybody's game.
Every other week it's been, I'm shooting for top, hopefully I do.
Now, this is there's nothing else but getting top, you know? There's top or there's nothing.
Melissa, Ben, and Robert, before we find out the final results, Brian would like to have a word with each of you.
Melissa, we have been so impressed watching your growth over the weeks.
It really has been inspiring.
Thank you.
Tonight, your physical concept of your creature was brilliant.
Your fabrication was absolutely beautiful.
Your sculpt was really terrific.
However, we did have concerns about the close-up animation on the face, and some concerns about the mouth interior.
Ben, we've been constantly impressed with your innovative ideas.
Tonight, your story, your prop, your effect, were fantastic.
However, we did have some concerns about the colors of your creature, and the painting, the costuming around the neck, and behind the head.
Robert, we've constantly been impressed with your sculpting and your finishing.
We've watched as your concepts are getting bolder.
Tonight, your creature's physical shape was fantastic.
The close-up animation on your face, very good.
However, we did have some concerns about the transition in the hair, from the head to the body on the creature.
In the end, the only way we could really reach a consensus is we had to imagine ourselves, with all of our various experience, on a movie set, shooting your creatures.
And which creature did we feel we could most confidently shoot on.
And on that basis, the winner of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge is Robert.
It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me.
I just can't believe that I've won this thing.
You deserve this.
Congratulations.
Come here.
I have pushed myself to a point that I never thought I could get to.
I think the most important lesson that I learned over these past eight weeks is that you can do things that you never thought were possible.
Oh, my gosh.
- Congratulations, son.
- Oh, my I am the newest employee at the Jim Henson creature shop.
Cheers to Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge.
Cheers.
Ben.
Robert.
Melissa.
Jake, thank you so much for being a part of this.
Thank you guys so much for the opportunity.
This week on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Here's the final creature brief.
All three of your creatures have to interact with each other.
Hey.
There's every single person who got eliminated.
It looks awesome.
The goal here is to get top.
Nothing else matters.
There's only one spot to win, so it's a lot of pressure.
It's not doing its full thing.
This is so nerve-racking.
There's so much riding on this.
Tonight's screen test will decide who wins the job at Jim Henson Creature Shop.
Good-bye.
I think the eyes are beautiful.
I take that, put it in a movie.
That was an impressive entrance.
The winner of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge is Walking onto The Henson lot for the last creature brief, it's a rush of different kinds of emotions.
And I'm ready for whatever challenge is coming.
- Hello, creature designers.
- Hi.
The three of you have made it to the grand finale.
It's exciting.
I-I did not think, after the first challenge, that I would be here.
I went from being on bottom to the top three.
The three of you are about to start the final creature brief.
Brian is in his office, and he wants to see each of you one-on-one.
What? Melissa, you got to go first.
I have to go have a little meeting with, um, Brian Henson.
No big deal.
He could be my future boss.
Good morning, Melissa.
- Good morning.
- Come in.
- Thank you.
- Here, have a seat.
Just wanted to catch up with you.
Sure.
And maybe offer you a little bit of advice.
One of the strengths that I have noticed is you seem to be pretty unflappable.
And on this particular challenge, we're going to be providing you a team of creature shop personnel that you can manage.
I want you to try to get the most out of everybody that's working with you.
Your work has been extremely impressive.
Thank you.
As you approach working with a team, I want you to make sure that you delegate your workload.
If what happens is you do the Ben show - Yeah.
- And Ben does everything - Yeah.
- You won't win.
Your creatures are beautiful, but they they tend to be on the gentler side.
And I want you to have stronger presence.
Let's really feel the emotion of that creature.
Brian really goes over what I've been strong at, and what I've been weak at.
He has a lot of encouraging words to say.
Here's the final creature brief: Each of you have to design and build your own original creature, a fantasy being.
A traveler that meets two other travelers at a mysterious tavern where their roads cross.
When all three are in the tavern, they're going to tell the other two the story of where they come from, their species, and the journey that they're on.
That means, for the first time, all three of your creatures have to interact with each other.
- That's awesome.
- Cool.
- That is so cool.
- Okay? And as this is the final brief, there are, of course, a lot of additional elements.
You have to design and build your own prop, and the story of that prop has to be incorporated into your traveler's story.
But here's the really tough part.
I've got something cool to show you.
All right, this is your tavern.
Awesome.
Your traveler needs to come in, full figure, hiding the performer inside the creature, and then sit down behind the bar.
Once they're sitting, we will cut cameras, you can go in and reset your creature so that you can perform the creature in the best way possible.
Once your creature is sitting, that's where they will tell each other their stories.
And as with any good finale, of course there's a twist.
There's all these elements.
It's crazy.
And they all have to come together right now.
Your creature will have to perform some sort of special effect.
Whether it's spitting, or vomiting, or breathing.
Whatever you think will be most impactful for your creature.
We want to really show us what you can achieve, okay? You've got only three days.
There's so much up in the air.
I don't know who my team is.
I don't know what kind of creature I want to make.
Each of you will be randomly assigned one of our three creature shop masters.
Good luck, guys.
Congratulations.
You're in the finale.
- Thank you.
- Thank you so much.
Now, get to work.
Oh, man.
Hey.
Hey, guys.
Walk into The Creature Shop, and "lookie, lookie.
" There's every single person who got eliminated.
- Melissa.
- Robert.
Ben.
What's up, buddy? Oh, so glad that you're still here.
I'm so glad you guys are on my team.
So my teammates are Russ and Ivonne.
They're really talented, so I'm really happy.
My new crew.
Hi.
Bring it in, bring it in.
So excited.
I'm so happy that you're still here.
Lex and Chaz are my team.
I would've handpicked Lex myself.
And we have Chaz.
Chaz got "x'ed-out" on the very first challenge, and I don't know what he can do.
- Dude.
- Yes.
- How's it goin'? - Hey.
I was particularly happy to see that I had Jake on my team, and Tina.
I know Tina gets a lot of flack, but I'm holding the reigns, and I can guide her artistic ability in a certain direction.
I think she'll knock it out.
So this week we have to create a head-to-toe creature.
This is a very sad character I'm creating.
Okay, so here's the idea.
He's the last of his species.
He has created these embryos, and he wants to give it to someone to raise.
I want to use my team's abilities to their best, and I know Jake is a great sculptor.
Sculpt two hands, left and right.
And I know that Tina was good at fabrications.
From the wrist up, this will be fabricated.
Fabricated body.
I know that I can knock out the eye mechanisms very quickly.
- Okay.
- Good.
You know, my mind's running at 1,000 miles an hour.
I'm very nervous.
The goal here is to get top.
Nothing else matters.
There's no safe.
There's no bottom.
There's only top.
- Sketch it.
- Let's go.
Sketch it, sketch it, sketch it.
My character's an older character.
He's kind of dirty, kind of tattered.
He's got this, like, matted fur.
So you want to start making a body pod.
I'm gonna be doing head sculpt, and I would love for you to start cutting out pieces on these.
This challenge is insane.
If I won this competition, like, holy smokes.
My dad would cry.
Really, he would be so insanely proud.
- There's nothing at stake here.
- What is the plan? I want a really tall creature.
Like, eight feet.
I want it to be a big presence on the stage.
This lost traveler, kind of scruffy, torn up clothes.
And for the prop, he's gonna have a crystal ball.
Maybe we could glue some hair on him.
You know, a nice pot belly.
Ivonne's probably the best fabricator out of anyone.
The first thing I'm gonna have her do is start constructing the body.
So I'm super excited about having her on my team.
I only worked with Russ for one challenge, but he knows what to do.
He can build stuff really fast.
So I'm hoping to use his skills the best way possible.
We've got to do a really far from human paint job on this guy.
Yeah, maybe even take his nostrils, and in my meeting with Brian, he tells me that it's not the Ben show.
But, you know, it's difficult for me to really trust people when I know that I could do it better.
But for how much work we have to do in three days, it can't be just me.
I have to use their abilities.
All right, let me work on this chin a bit.
- The only thing - this is what they had.
The closest thing we have is that.
I'm a little overwhelmed right now.
I know I'm gonna get a good product, and a good finish having Lex on my team.
But then, Chaz is a wildcard.
Is there a solvent for superglue? - Nope.
- Sandpaper.
Well, it's glued to you.
Oh.
Happy thoughts, everyone.
Guys, we got an hour left.
Just gonna start calling you captain, I think.
Winning this competition would be so amazing on so many levels.
I've looked up to The Henson company for years.
I think that working for them would be so fantastic, and I would learn so much.
I do have a roommate, and she happens to be my mom.
So this is such a great opportunity for me, because I want to have my own place, and be able to put out my own art.
It's things like that that will change my life.
That's time, guys.
We're done.
I got to stop sniffing chemicals.
It's day two of the challenge.
I'm really gonna focus on the sculpting of the head, the mechanization of the eyes.
Ivonne, she's already created this really awesome giant body.
Russ is working on the prop, and the mechanical hands.
This challenge, the final one, everything has to be perfect.
This could be my new job.
I could be doing this every day.
I wonder if these have a better attitude today.
Bust 'em out of here, and see if they're being restricted by something.
There's so much that has to be done, and like, there's, like, no time.
But I'm getting hung up a little bit with these eye mechs.
- Freaking out.
- They jump.
They jump around, and they're not in the same spot always.
It's so important, because this is the last time the judges get to see me, and this has to wow them.
Coming up on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge I'm really trying to take Brian's advice, and it's hard for me.
There's only one spot to win.
There's so much riding on this.
It's win or die trying.
The eyes are beautiful.
That moment, I thought, "oh! Take that, put it in a movie.
" That was an impressive entrance.
Hot dang.
This really is anybody's game.
Our creature brief this week is to create a creature that will be walking into a tavern and sitting down and joining two other creatures that are all crossing paths.
It has to be a full body character, and we have to create one special effect, outside of the mechanization, to go with our character and with the story.
And they have to have their very own prop that helps to drive their storyline.
Add these guys right here.
- It's what comes with the kit.
- Nice.
I'd just put those in there.
This is a really difficult situation with these eye mechs, because Chaz, apparently, has done it differently, and I'm really skilled now at this specific set.
Hooray.
Problem solving.
- Well - go team.
Too not too soon, not too soon.
I have faith.
- The eyes work, yay.
Whoo-hoo.
Were you concerned about that? - Always.
- How many mechs have you made? It's always a concern.
Wish we had a rolling pin.
Would be awesome.
I could make one out of a wood dowel.
Yeah, cool.
I'm really trying to take Brian's advice, and it's hard for me.
He said, "don't make it the Ben show.
Use your team.
" So I'm, like, makin' Jake sculpt as much as he can.
Nice.
The embryo floating in the middle.
I love it.
My character is the last of his kind.
He has created an embryo that is his child, which he brings to this tavern.
And he must give it away, because if it grows up around him, it will catch the disease that causes it to be sterile.
Just shove some more epoxy into this fetus mouth.
Thing's so gross.
Looks awesome, dude.
- Just - Oh, God.
Why does that exist? Ben and his crew have a fetus lantern.
That's cute.
It's the most adorable thing I wish I never saw.
My creature is this kind of rough, seedy kind of guy from the forest.
His special prop is he's got basically the elixir of life, which Chaz is building.
- But this'll be right inside - Yeah, I love it.
So when he reaches for it, you can just, "nyah.
" Chaz gets a big a-plus from me.
Give me a high five.
Just do it.
My creature's prop is going to be a little chest, and inside is this crystal ball.
But for a special effect, we want to incorporate the special effect with the prop.
When we open up the chest, this dry ice, this kind of smoky fog effect kind of pours out, and it lights up with the glow of the ball.
Wow.
Cool.
You've got a friend.
- Who? - Ben.
Oh, he's wearing his? Yeah.
- God.
- Oh, hey.
What's up? Fancy seeing you here, man.
Yeah.
Ahh! Oh, look at his teeth.
Oh, and That is so great.
I've always wanted to do a-a little sneer.
I've never had the time to do it in any of the other challenges.
But I want to have something extra.
Well, Russ is really good at rigging sneezing.
What if we make him sneeze? And it'll really sell it.
'Cause he's coming in from the cold, and he can have, like, a hanky.
And he just wipes his nose, and that's the gag.
Sweet.
Now that I have a great team, I think I have the time to put this thing in.
Got ten minutes, guys.
- We did a lot today.
- Yeah.
We're in a good spot for tomorrow.
Hands are about ready.
Come in tomorrow, and foam.
I feel good about this, because when we have our master session tomorrow, like, we have stuff put together to show, you know? All right, everybody.
That's time.
Whoo! Today is the last day of the last challenge.
And we're here to finish an awesome creature, and kick some ass.
It wasn't until last night when I saw my fur go up, when I saw my structures go up, that I really felt good.
That I really felt like, "hot dang.
Like, this really is anybody's game.
" I'm super excited about tomorrow's screen test.
It's kind of bittersweet.
It'll be the last one, but it'll probably be the best one.
Did you hear what he said? Just make it look cool.
I wish we could trigger the switch for this light in his hand.
The less that we can complicate it, the better.
My creature's special effect is blowing smoke.
He's gonna be smoking pipe, and actual smoke is gonna flow through his nostrils.
What we're trying to do is have Chaz rig up a pedal so that the main performer can just push down with his foot, and smoke just comes out of the nose.
It's coming out, but it's really small.
It all has to come together and be flawless.
This is the last time I get to show off what I can do.
If it's not being shown off in the best possible way, what do I have to show for it? Coming up on Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Oh, my God.
This is so nerve-racking.
I think I've nailed it.
There's nothing else but getting top.
There's top, or there's nothing.
I want to win this so very badly.
The winner of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge is As far as the special effects go, I'm having problems with the smoke coming out of the nostrils.
Where it's not doing it's full thing.
Hopefully, Chaz can work out the kinks with the machine.
It's working.
It's super, super good.
There we go.
Then we can do it like this.
Beautiful.
Hi, Ben.
Hey, Robert.
- Hi.
- Hi.
This week, unlike other weeks, we have our own master.
This week, I have Julie.
I have Pete.
He is the creator director of The Creature Shop.
My very own master this week is John.
John's my master.
I know that you had an opportunity to meet with Brian.
- Yeah.
- How did that go? He told me to really use my team.
I think I've been doing that really well, actually.
I know that you have to have a special effect.
He has to give this away at the crossroads at the tavern, and because of that, he cries.
Oh, okay.
So these tubes hook up to here, and I have little tubes that make tear ducts.
- There you go.
- Good.
Based on an experience I had once with one of the Flintstones movies, make sure that your connections in your water system are really good.
Yes.
Because I've seen them not be good, and blow out the electronics.
- Yes.
- Good luck.
Thank you.
I can't wait to see it at the screen test, Ben.
- Me too.
- Rootin' for you.
He travels a lot with gypsies and witches.
Okay.
And so his prop is kind of like a crystal ball.
- Have you got the prop? - I do.
As we open up the box, all this dry ice will come out, and this thing will be inside, glowing.
You've got to do a prop and a special effect.
Right.
So that that's you you're doing both in one gag, are you? It will be one of our special effects.
- We also - you got another one? - He snarls.
- God, that's nice, yeah.
I want to make him sneeze, "ah-choo," you know? Damn, that's gonna be good, Robert.
I hope you have enough time just to pull in some hair here.
Like, punch the hair in, and just make this guy look just as beautiful as possible.
You've got a really strong character there.
And I do want to see you win.
It's a lot of pressure to have him be my team leader.
I have to win not only for myself, but I have to win for him, 'cause he runs the show.
You're good, and you have the talent to win, okay? I appreciate it.
Got a good future ahead of you.
You really can do it.
His special prop that helps drives story is this awesome bottle, this elixir bottle.
Wow.
Wow.
- Yeah.
- Very nice.
- Yeah.
- Three days.
Look at you.
Also, he actually has a pipe.
That is a wonderful touch as well.
- So our special effect - uh-huh.
Is he's gonna be having smoke come out of his nose.
Brilliant.
This guy's been working for Henson for, like, how long? If he's excited about it, that's, like, a really, really good sign.
What are you doing in the reset to get your character prepared for the close-up? We're going to take out a fake forearm, and the assistant is gonna slip in his arm into it - Uh-huh.
- So that he can interact.
Okay, 'cause you don't want that director waiting.
I think you might have enough time - to mechanize these eyebrows.
- Eyebrows.
I would love to see these eyebrows move.
Even if it's just two points.
All right, well, I'm gonna let you get back to it.
- Good luck with everything, and - thank you so much, sir.
- Good stuff.
- Thank you.
I'm running with John's idea, and I'm putting Chaz straight onto eyebrow mech.
- Oh, it could be done.
- Oh, yeah.
This could be the thing that really wins me this competition.
Our guy is looking dangerously human.
And I want to make sure the paint job brings him away from that.
So you're kind of making circles.
- It should be more of spotty.
- Gotcha.
The judges have told me in past challenges that my stuff looks really clean, so I really wanted to get it as dirty and grimy as I possibly could.
I just want it to look really aged.
Oh, you have the palate in? Tina, it makes me so happy that you are working on this project with me.
I think I'm gonna skip the palate.
He's got a lot going on, and we don't need to fuss with that.
I have such a problem with mouths.
- Unless we do.
- But we don't.
Okay.
Good.
- Ben's creature - it has a lot of personality.
It moves really well.
But the paintjob is, like, mint green.
There's no secondary colors that are added in, so it reads kind of flat.
Where's your head? I'm not exactly sure what the thought process is behind Robert's creature.
The head looks great, but it's basically a gorilla with a little bit of a "smushed" nose.
I'm not sure if he'll get dinged on that.
I'm not taking in the spray booth.
I'm gonna hot glue it, see how that works.
Melissa's creature is gonna be all furry apparently.
I really appreciate that she's using the talents of her teammates, having Lex, but she's putting a whole lot of trust into Lex's abilities.
- We got one hour, guys.
- Last challenge.
One hour.
Does he need anything else? I think he looks great.
Okay, guys.
Assistants, thank you so much, but now, it's time to say good-bye to your creature designers.
I'd like the finalists to take the last few minutes of today to prep their creations for the screen test.
- Bye.
- Thank you.
- Thank you.
- Yay.
- This was awesome.
- Group group hug.
- Group hug, aww.
- Guys.
- All right.
- All right.
See you.
This is so nerve-racking.
There's so much riding on this.
It's win or die trying.
There's only one spot to win, so it's a lot of pressure, for sure.
I came here to take home the job, and take the money.
I came here to win.
- That's it, guys.
- We're done.
- We're done! - Whoo! , that's awesome.
- Hi, guys.
- Robert.
- How's it going? - What's happening? I'm very excited about this, guys.
- Me too.
- Screen test is today.
It's just it's crazy, you know? We're all trying to break it down for them in this short amount of time, and, you know, make the last screen test come to life.
So that's just permanently in there? - Yes.
- Fantastic.
- You don't have to worry about Yeah.
- I'll never drop it.
- He's Vlorkof.
- He's Russian.
Okay.
"Da.
" This character is really, really sad.
- That's why he's gonna cry.
- Hmm.
- Make it comfortable for you.
- Yeah.
That looks really good, Melissa.
Oh, my God.
- Hi, baby.
- Oh! Oh, my God.
I can't believe you guys are here.
Oh, I'm a total daddy's girl.
And my husband's in uniform.
The two guys who love me most in this entire universe, like, just there for me.
It was just lot of years and time and effort into this day.
I know you guys have always been there to support me.
- So - Always will be.
For them to be here, and to see how far I've come, I was just so happy for them to be there, and to share this incredible moment with me.
I can't believe it.
Give you some love and support.
I can't believe it.
My mom and my girlfriend come out, and I'm completely blown away.
I mean, I've never been so surprised.
That also added onto the pressure, because now my loved ones are in the audience.
Creature designers, welcome back to The Henson soundstage for the last time.
Tonight's screen test will decide who wins the cash prize, and the job at the Jim Henson creature shop, worth a combined value of $100,000.
This week, your creature brief was to create and build a fantasy creature that visits a tavern at a mystical crossroads.
We asked you to design a prop, a special effect, and a story about your creature.
As you only had three days for this build, you each welcomed back two previously eliminated creature designers to assist you.
They will be joined by professional puppeteers to bring your creatures to life at the screen test.
Let's meet our judges.
First, a creature designer and director whose credits include Star Wars to Star Trek, Dinosaurs to Muppets, Kirk Thatcher.
Next, a creature fabricator whose big screen blockbusters include Jurassic Park, Batman Returns, Terminator 2, and The Chronicles of Narnia, Beth Hathaway.
And of course, who else but the chairman of The Henson company and our head judge, Brian Henson.
Maestro.
In the audience tonight, we have C.
E.
O.
of The Henson company, Lisa Henson.
Our creature shop masters are also here: John Criswell, Julie Zobel, and Pete Brooke.
And finally, your family members are here to give you lots of support.
Everyone else in the audience are actual employees of the Jim Henson company.
These could be your future work colleagues, so you have a lot of people to impress tonight.
The judges will be looking closely at how well your fantasy creature interacts with the others, tells its story, and performs its special effect.
Let's begin the screen test.
Can't even begin to explain how nerve-racking it is relying on a large crew behind your creature to make it work, and have to just sit on the sidelines, in the most important screen test of, you know, your career.
And here we go.
Standby.
All right, guys.
We're rolling.
Here we go.
Final screen test.
Melissa, Ben, Robert.
Take one.
Mark.
And that's a cut.
Reset for Set designers out.
- Now, run.
- Thanks, man.
I can take this from you.
Good job.
The way that this screen test is set up is a little more realistic to how it really would be done in a commercial, or TV, or movie.
All right, there we go.
You guys are doing good? For this screen test, we'll have two takes.
One is for the walk in, and it's a full body shot.
And the second one is when the character sits down, and it's a close-up shot.
We want to make sure you're good.
- Love the head pop.
- Yeah.
This challenge is so multi-faceted.
If the design is off, even a little bit, it just could look like it's coming from completely different movies.
My performer is staying in the costume, and performers are being added to him once he is sat down.
I wanted to be as plug and play as possible.
Yeah, yeah, I'm good, I'm good.
- You're good, Victor? - Okay, here we go.
All right, nice and quiet, please.
Standby.
We're rolling.
Final screen test, take two.
Mark.
Hello, my friend.
I am Abernash, and I have a gift for you.
The elixir of life.
Yes.
One sip And you will live for 100 years.
Well, thank you much, friend.
Ah, what a relief.
I'm glad to be rid of it.
Huh? For now that you have touched it, you have bound to it.
It will give you 100 years of life, but then you have to give it to someone else, or else it will absorb your life force, and you will die.
I don't think this will do me much good.
My name is Solee.
You see, 200 years ago, my people embarked on a quest for genetic perfection.
We became stronger, more resilient.
Sadly, our genetic tinkering gave rise to a deadly virus.
Wiped all of us out, but me.
It has become my life's work to save my race.
That's why I have created this.
This is my son.
Unfortunately, I too have contracted the virus, which is my son is sealed in here.
Were he to be released near me, his future would be death.
Raise him well.
Good-bye, my son.
He will be well-protected, my friend.
Thank you.
I am Vlorkof.
I come the treacherous foothills of the dark mountains.
I have traveled a great distance with this crystal ball.
Its power threatens my people.
I must give it to the one who has the ability to control it, or else my race may be completely destroyed.
It seems as if I've traded one curse for another.
Cut! Whoo! I think that what they did was incredible.
It's just that the the puppets are so realistic that it makes me want to think that they're real.
It's it's great.
My favorite was Melissa's.
It looked so real, like, it looked like I could just go up and talk to it, and have a normal conversation.
Robert's, I thought, was the best creature.
But Ben had the best story.
I think Ben should win.
It was an amazing, amazing creature.
All three of them are so talented.
I'd be thrilled to have any of the three of them at The Creature Shop.
That concludes our screen tests.
Let's talk to our designers.
This is the end.
This is what it's all come down to.
And I don't really know how this is gonna go.
I-I-I don't know if I feel great about the situation.
Melissa, can you please tell us about your creature? So this is Abernash.
For him, we have the prop of we had the elixir bottle.
And his special effect was he got to blow smoke through his nose.
I really like the way you you gave him the stovepipe neck.
And the way you built out the deltoids to give him enough girth to make it look good I do.
But I wish that there was more articulation in the mouth.
I like the way he came in, and he shook himself off.
- Yes.
- That was an impressive entrance, and that was great.
I really was just wanting teeth in there.
It's just, he's so well done, and just to have a flat, black mouth, even if you had just put something soft and white in there.
I didn't really quite believe that he 100 years and - Gotcha.
- Two weeks old.
'Cause he looked quite clean.
I'm really impressed with your sculpt.
That, I think, is to to me, clearly the finest sculpt you you've delivered.
Thank you.
I want to win this so very badly.
It'd be such a life-changer to win this competition.
Ben, can you please tell us about your creature? This sad fellow is Solee.
And he has to give away his child to live in a new land.
So the prop was his child, and the special effect was him crying.
Right when he was crying I was like, "oh, wow.
" It was very emotional, and moving.
So I thought you you nailed that.
I think you have an amazing sculpt.
I loved the detail.
But it seems the color scheme is really monochromatic.
Hmm.
I think the eyes are beautiful.
They're very organic.
They're very subtle.
- The shell - mm-hmm.
Did you not see, when you had rehearsal, that you had that space? No, it's pretty much only when he sits down that we get this effect.
And when that happened, it was something that, I was in the suit, another one I was down here, and I could not assess the problem.
Look in a mirror.
I thought your story was particularly impressive, and I thought you used the prop really well.
Thank you.
And the fact that where you chose to put the special effect in was at the climax of that story, was a really smart, creative choice.
Thank you.
That's gonna be where you pull the close-up.
Winning this competition would be so amazing on so many levels, but it's all or nothing, and it's it's very nerve-racking.
Robert, can you please tell us about your creature? This is Vlorkof, and he has found this crystal ball.
And it's so powerful that's it's threatening the gentle nature of his people.
Overall, I love your foam sculpting.
I love that I have anatomy in the legs, and in his belly.
I wish that there was just a little bit more going on under the fur here.
Just a little bit of a neck.
Also, I wish that there was just a little bit more of a of a snout going on.
He's he's very flat-faced.
But the eyes have a lot of character.
The wardrobe was made a big impression on me.
And you chose the fabrics, and how they go together.
- Yep.
- No, it's great.
Obviously, I like wardrobe, so the face is amazing.
The the sculpt and the mechanization.
There was one moment in the performance that was particularly impressive, which is the sneeze.
The sneer, the eyes, everything worked incredibly well.
In that moment, I thought, "oh, there was a that I take that, put it in a movie.
" You have a mouth that has a very obvious spot where it closes.
If it was able to over-close, you would've gotten a little bit more expression.
Although, if that would've messed with the sneer, then then don't do it, 'cause the sneer was very impactful.
Thank you.
I love the face.
The eyes, the snarl.
I mean, that's where the character is, is in the face, and I think I've nailed it.
Really, all the creatures are incredibly impressive.
You guys have done great work.
- Thank you.
- It was a lot of fun.
Lot of hard work went into that, yeah.
Thanks, judges.
Creature designers, you've given the judges a lot to discuss.
So I'm gonna ask you one last time to head back to The Henson screening room, and we'll call you back soon.
Thank you so much.
I am so exhausted.
It's ridiculous.
- I mean - Yeah.
Like, we've all worked on really fast projects - Oh, yeah.
- And haven't slept, but not under these conditions.
I think we all need to take a sip from my, like, life elixir.
but not under these conditions.
I think we all need to take a sip from my, like, life elixir.
We're gonna need it.
Well, this is gonna be, clearly, the most difficult choice we've had to make.
- Absolutely.
- I agree 100%.
I'm not not looking forward to this.
- It's gonna be hard.
- No.
Let's start with Melissa's creature.
I certainly felt, in terms of the full-figure creature, the initial impact was very strong.
Yes.
- I thought the pipe was great.
- Mm-hmm.
It was a simple gag, but you know but it worked.
I thought the stovepipe neck worked beautiful.
The lack of teeth really killed me.
When that opens it's mouth, and it's flat black, and it's, like, a muppet mouth just black, no teeth.
So in terms of the story, my feeling was, "it's okay.
" - Right.
- Mm-hmm.
So I almost would give her pretty much the highest marks - for fabrication, sculpting - Mm-hmm.
Painting and finishing, costuming.
Yep.
I'd knock her a little bit on mechanization and the quality of her story.
Well, let's talk about Ben's creature.
I think his story was excellent.
- Mm-hmm.
- Right.
And then, using the effect to be crying when he's considering the fact that he can't raise his own child.
No, that's really good emotion.
I just have a problem with his cowl.
We have to revisit all of that.
That, and I think the paint job.
'Cause it was flat, guacamole green.
Flat green, yeah.
I felt like the story, the importance of the prop to the story, and then the special effect.
- I think he deserves highest - Highest highest marks, yeah.
Possible marks for those three areas.
Well, Robert's creature, like Melissa's, walked in with a good, strong impact, I felt.
- Yes.
- Absolutely.
He lifted those shoulders way up, put the head way up high.
I don't know if he told the performer, but the way he worked the performer, the accent really worked.
It kind of looked like a guy that would have some sort of you know, he wasn't just speaking in kind of flat English.
He had an attitude.
The mechanisms were so successful, that came through that little snarl.
The sneer was a really smart, smart thing to put in there.
Mm-hmm.
I would take that moment, and put it in a movie.
I love the fabrication on the body.
- I mean, he had full thighs - Yep, big belly.
And lower legs, and a nice, big, heavy belly.
I thought Robert's story was fine.
But I still didn't feel a connection to this prop.
But the the prop.
I was gonna say, the prop was gorgeous, and the box was very pretty.
Yeah, mm-hmm.
I thought his special effect fell flat on its face.
I didn't even notice it.
All right, so we're in agreement.
Yeah.
All right, let's get them back.
This is so nerve-racking.
There's so much riding on this.
This is the end.
This is what it's all come down to, and it's anybody's game.
Every other week it's been, I'm shooting for top, hopefully I do.
Now, this is there's nothing else but getting top, you know? There's top or there's nothing.
Melissa, Ben, and Robert, before we find out the final results, Brian would like to have a word with each of you.
Melissa, we have been so impressed watching your growth over the weeks.
It really has been inspiring.
Thank you.
Tonight, your physical concept of your creature was brilliant.
Your fabrication was absolutely beautiful.
Your sculpt was really terrific.
However, we did have concerns about the close-up animation on the face, and some concerns about the mouth interior.
Ben, we've been constantly impressed with your innovative ideas.
Tonight, your story, your prop, your effect, were fantastic.
However, we did have some concerns about the colors of your creature, and the painting, the costuming around the neck, and behind the head.
Robert, we've constantly been impressed with your sculpting and your finishing.
We've watched as your concepts are getting bolder.
Tonight, your creature's physical shape was fantastic.
The close-up animation on your face, very good.
However, we did have some concerns about the transition in the hair, from the head to the body on the creature.
In the end, the only way we could really reach a consensus is we had to imagine ourselves, with all of our various experience, on a movie set, shooting your creatures.
And which creature did we feel we could most confidently shoot on.
And on that basis, the winner of Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge is Robert.
It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me.
I just can't believe that I've won this thing.
You deserve this.
Congratulations.
Come here.
I have pushed myself to a point that I never thought I could get to.
I think the most important lesson that I learned over these past eight weeks is that you can do things that you never thought were possible.
Oh, my gosh.
- Congratulations, son.
- Oh, my I am the newest employee at the Jim Henson creature shop.
Cheers to Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge.
Cheers.