Syfy’s visionary competition reality show where VFX artists’ imaginations result into interesting creations, returns for a third season Tuesday, August 21 at 9/8 central.

Sean Astin (L) judging a challenge with host McKenzie Westmore.

Star Wars Effects in Premiere Episode:
The ninety-minute season premiere will feature actor Sean Astin (Lord of the Rings) as a guest judge. “Face Off” host, McKenzie Westmore said during a recent press conference interview about the first episode, “It opens up with a great Foundation challenge to showcase the talent and tell us who they are. Then it moves into the big opening the ‘Star Wars’ challenge.” This challenge will be for artists to recreate the famous Cantina scene from “Star Wars” on the “Face Off” stage. She also said that this season there will be a lot of female talented make-up artists.

Famous Star Wars Cantina scene (pictured above).

This was indeed more of a challenge for one particular contestant said one of the show’s judges Ve Neill who said that this contestant had never seen “Star Wars”. Neill rest assures, however, that this make-up artist still managed to pull-off an impressive creation.

What Ve Neil Thinks of New Judge:
Joining the judging panel this season will be Neville Page, Lead Creature Designer on Avatar. Neill said that with Page on the panel, it doesn’t change the dynamic as when Patrick Tatopoulos is in the judge’s seat. Both men as creature designers provide the same element during the deliberations in choosing who will be eliminated at the end of each show.

What Fans Can Expect This Season:
What fans of “Face Off” can expect this season? Westmore said, “We went bigger and broader this year”. Neill said, “We’re seeing a lot more full suits and all kinds of great things from our artists.. The opening show is going to be absolutely spectacular. We have some of the best talent we’ve had on the show in a long time. ‘Star Wars’ challenge was amazing. We did a “Who” challenge with Brian Grazer there. He was one of the producer’s on the film (How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat).”

Advice For VFX Artists:
In selecting a winner of a challenge at the end of the episodes, Neill stated that, “It’s important for them to follow the specifics of the challenge. When we have two great make-ups, we judge it just by did they follow the challenge exactly. They could have a really spectacular makeup but they’re missing part of the challenge.”

A contestant completing his challenge in “Face Off”.

According to Westmore’s observations of VFX artists, she said the ones that have a strong sense of self and talent have a strong background in make-up schooling. Neill agreed, and stated, “makeup has advanced so much it’s really important to have schooling. There is just way too much to learn by yourself or just by asking questions. It’s so involved now. There’s no way people can do this without schooling anymore.”

One of the many make-up talents one should have if they’d like to get a leg-up on the competition or go onto “Face Off”, is air brushing. Neill said, “I don’t think that a lot of the kids know how to airbrush. It’s like anything if you don’t practice you don’t get any better. Experience is what wins this show.”

Other celebrity contestants that they talked about this season are Laila Ali, and Kevin Smith.

More on FACE OFF: Borgs and Pirates challenge
FACE OFF finale sneak-peek: Viewers will vote for the winner!