The Untold Truth Of Face Off

Not all reality shows are created equal, and for every one featuring hidden cameras that capture the worst moments of a person's life and extreme situations designed to break participants into a million tiny, vulnerable pieces, there are some shows that are, well, pretty brilliant. They're the kind that spotlights artists and craftspeople creating incredible things under incredible pressure, and one of the best shows out there for that was "Face Off."

"Face Off" ran for 13 seasons on Syfy, and when it was canceled, fans made it clear that they weren't saying goodbye without a fight. Thousands of people petitioned the network to try to get them to reconsider, and while that didn't work, it did help the show's powers that be get through the tough news. When executive producer Dwight D. Smith spoke with Reality Blurred, he said, "The outpouring of support and passion from our fans has been incredible."

He also said that there was no real reason given for the show's cancellation, aside from the fact that ratings were down. That, however, was a given for a lot of shows: The more options that are out there, the thinner viewers are spread. He also acknowledged that it was tough to find contestants with the skills at the levels needed, but added that he didn't feel like it was really and truly over. Will it come back? It's unlikely, but let's look at some of the secrets of the seasons we were fortunate enough to get.

Michael Westmore might be one of the most well-known and influential makeup artists in Hollywood's recent years, but he didn't always intend to end up in the family business. He told The Herald-Times that he was an art history major with dreams of branching out into archaeology when his uncle — who worked at Universal during their monster-movie heyday — offered him an internship. The rest is, as they say, history.

When Westmore appears on "Face Off," he's typically giving artists advice, suggestions, compliments, and insight. It turns out that there's more the cameras don't see — or at least, that audiences don't see — including a pre-season class he gives to contestants before they even start. What's he cover? Specifically, he gets into the common mistakes that people make with their molds and sculpts: "There are major mistakes that new people make. I made all of those mistakes."

He knows just how valuable tips from the professionals can be. When Entertainment Weekly asked him who had inspired him, he name-dropped one of the most prolific SFX and makeup artists in Hollywood: John Chambers. Anyone who doesn't immediately recognize the name will know his work — "Planet of the Apes," and Spock's ears for "Star Trek." Westmore studied with him for three years, and here's a fun tidbit: Chambers also worked with the CIA to help them set up a fake movie studio during the Iranian hostage crisis.

The models are the unsung heroes of "Face Off," and if it looks like they have an incredibly challenging job, that's because they do. They're tasked with bringing the artists' designs to life, and when Reality Blurred spoke with show models Matt Chris Wood and Isabelle Du, they were honest about the fact that it was a tough job with long hours — and for surprisingly low pay.

The pay rate was plucked from a 2014 casting call, and it specified that depending on what was going to be going on any given day, they would be paid $150 or $200. While that might be acceptable for an 8-hour work day, they weren't working just 8 hours. In fact, they were expected to be on set before dawn, all to start getting ready.

Although it typically takes four hours to get all the makeup and prosthetics applied, that's just part of the day. There's also the hour-long presentation and judging, shooting the promo photos, the reveal, the trip on the bus to get to the stage, and the challenges of eating and drinking with all that makeup on. And bathroom breaks? Depending on the design, that just might not be possible... for the entire day. Then, there's the performances and finally, the clean-up, which can take a long time, too. (Wood's longest make-up removal took about four hours.) All that means they're looking at a 13- to 20-hour day.

Reality TV isn't just a hit with viewers, it's a hit with studios, too — in large part because it's generally cheaper to produce and more profitable in the long run. That said, there's still a lot that goes into a show like "Face Off," and according to what producer Dwight D. Smith told Reality Blurred, the show actually has a pretty hefty budget because of the materials that need to be made available to the artists and the lab they're presented with. And they don't cut any corners, either.

"[The artists] usually lose their minds when they get loose in the lab," he said. "They don't have the resources to have the breadth of materials we have in that lab." And while that's one of the most fascinating parts of the show, it's not the only work area — there's another, and even though it's an invaluable part of the process, it's never seen on the show. What is it? An entire wardrobe department that's scrambling to put the costumes together at the same time the artists are working on their makeup.

Initially, Smith said the intention was to have it featured on the show, but when it came time to put together the first season for broadcast, the entire department ended up on the cutting room floor. Since the judges never took costuming into consideration when choosing winners and losers, it made sense not to spend valuable screen time there.

While Syfy's "Face Off" might not be the first show that comes to mind when the conversation turns to dangerous reality shows, it's not without risks. For starters, there's always the potential for a severe allergic reaction. And it's happened: RJ Haddy was in the middle of creating his take on a senior citizen when his model had a reaction to the materials, and it sent him back to the drawing board. 

According to one lawsuit, the dangers are even greater than that. Syfy was hit with a personal injury lawsuit over a 2012 incident where model and stuntwoman Tamiko Brownlee was allegedly hurt in a stunt gone wrong. The claim — which no longer seems to be available online in full — said (via Reality Blurred) that Brownlee said she was "surrounded and consumed by a fireball... [and] did not know, was not advised, did not consent, assume and/or agree to participate... in said television production... where her person and/or body would be and/or run the risk of being burned."

While the outcome of the case isn't clear, Brownlee did speak about the incident in an interview with the San Antonio Express-News. She said the accident left her with second- and third-degree burns, and she ended up needing multiple skin grafts. She went on to return to work in the industry, but it wasn't easy: "It took a lot of persistence, [but] I'm pretty stubborn. I made myself get past it."

First things first: The general consensus is that "Face Off" isn't scripted. Many of the contestants have spoken about the camaraderie that comes with the work: Seventh-season contestant Stella Sensel told the New York Post that when it comes to the nastiness that often comes with reality TV, she didn't see any of that for a simple reason: "We all genuinely like each other. We're actually creating art. We don't have time for [being cutthroat]."

Sensel explained further that because the industry is so small, contestants are aware of the likelihood that they'll run into each other again. And that's important context for Joe Castro's story. He rage-quit season three's first episode, and later told Pop Horror that he'd seen it was rigged, and "I didn't want to be a part of a fake competition." He continued: "It was almost career suicide for me. I didn't work for four years after that. They tried to silence me."

Castro released a documentary called "Frankenfake," and in the press release for the film, he promised to reveal the legal documents that he'd been forced to sign, and talk about claims that the show's producers even withheld his medication from him. Castro's partner in that first episode had a different take on it. Tommy Pietch later told Entertainment Weekly, "I don't think he's ever been judged before. I don't think anyone had ever actually critiqued him. He didn't want to get judged."