Just caught this interesting mermaid concept on TV

**merboy78xy** · 01-11-2012, 11:39 PM

Hey guys...
Was surfing the web and came across a cool show (now I'm gonna have to watch the whole season!) of a "reality show" that is based on secial effects makeup. I'm sure some of you already know it. The finale was a competition for people to "re-envision" fairy tale characters, and the one contestant chose the little mermaid.

here's the link:
http://www.syfy.com/rewind/faceoff/1314454

Spoiler alert: stop reading here if you don't wanna know what she did concept-wise... I wanna discuss it, but don't wanna "spoil" it if you wanna watch the link first! So from here out I discuss what I saw on the show.

It's interesting how she went about her concept... perhaps not my "cup of tea" but I loved the jelly-dome headpiece on the seawitch (and the concept that she had jellyfish as her base... now THAT'S a cool idea!) Though in her original drawings and plans, the witch was going to have tentacle "hair" which would have helped in my opinion, but it didn't come to fruition. And I also loved the coloring and pattern on the mermaid's tail (such as it is)... bright colors and interesting pattern.
I wish that a full tail had been made instead of a transitional tail-- but I get why she was trying to think "outside the box." I was upset that there were no fins at all in the final design. I think she was working on some, but they too must not have come out well. I just thought she looked a bit "alien" as opposed to fish.
I also thought she missed quite the opportunity. The idea was "psychedelic little mermaid"... the whole scene and makeup should have been done in UV paint and the whole thing coulda glowed. Can't get more psychedelic than that, AND it's somewhat supported by the truth that plenty of sea creatures either glow, flouresce or have bioluminescence. Missed opportunities... ah well.

what would YOU guys have done?

**mermaidondine** · 01-11-2012, 11:57 PM

Yeah, I'm an avid Face Off fan! I was very much looking forward to that episode when it aired and I really loved the Jellyfish idea, but overall I was disappointed in The Little Mermaid concept.

My props went out to Sam for going outside of the box like that, but like you said; it just didn't really come to fruition. The mermaid struck me as more of an alien too, rather than anything remotely resembling a fish. I really wanted to see a fluke! I think you're definitely on to something with the idea of UV paint to really capture the "psychedelic" feel though. (I think that would have translated more than what she brought to the table, which I felt came off as more cartoon-ish Pop Art.)

I'm excited about the new season, which premieres tonight. There's a particular challenge that I can't wait to see: one that's based on fish! So I'm really hoping to see some interesting takes on the gorgeous creatures that inhabit our ocean :-)