HIFF & DARLTON: SINGING THE SAME, SAD SONG
July 2009, I attended the Hawai'i International Film Festival's "Suck up to LOST on the surface but MAJORLY pimp Hawai'i's film production capability to the nines because it just occurred to us last month that those lovely millions of LOST production dollars we're so used to will stop cold turkey come next April" doohickey for Damon and Carlton (and a number if other LOST heavies).
I'll stop there because you don't really want to know how frustrating it is to live in a state where the ability to market itself is inversely proportional to its ability to manage itself. And you don't want to hear another word about how happy everyone was that the show is ending.
Although, we did sing happy birthday to Jack Bender. That was pretty cool.
But NO! The thing you want to hear is that yours truly, thinking way ahead of the pack, procured the aisle seat closest to the stage WELL in advance (because that's what the rest of us do, Hawai'i). This turned out to be a STELLAR move because the show ran long, and there was only time for four questions from the audience. Since I was on the aisle seat, I scampered down to the mic ASAP after they finally opened the floor for questions! (Yay team!)
The microphone was too high for me, and I hesitated to touch it for fear ABC/Disney goons would yank me away from the stage with a super-sized crook, but that was totally cool.
When Damon stared at me like I had FOUR heads the ENTIRE time I was talking, did I dork out? Did I stutter and mumble or giggle nervously between every sentence?
NO MA'AM! Yours truly was ready and able and willing and highly, highly interested to give these guys a chance to pay tribute to the folks on LOST that contribute the MOST to its brilliance and never get a seat on the panels, or the podcasts or any of that stuff. I wanted to hear them talk about how FLIPPING fantastic the visual/sound/special effects post-production teams are and how without CGI, LOST would NEVER have accomplished what it has. It can't be what it is WITHOUT amazing post-production! They know this! Of course they know this! They just never say it!
So I said, "Love the show, think you're great," and said my two sentences about how Kevin Blank and the entire post-production team were inspiring and amazing, and I asked them, "How much has access to and use of CGI/digital post-production affected what you've been able to do with the show?"
And Carlton choked.
I kid you not. After over 2 hours of everyone singing the it was was so perfect and wonderful to film the show in oh-so-versitile, able to change into London, Germany, Tunisia, Nigeria so LOST never had to go looking somewhere else to shoot, we've-got-everything-you-need-to-film-here-in-the-future-so-pay-attention-Hollywood-and-bring-your-money--er--film-or-televsion-production-to-Hawai'i song, Carlton fell back on a stock answer he'd used for that very same question a few times before.
He said, "Well, we have to come up with all of these different locations for the show, and being that we shoot the entire show in Hawai'i, digital post-production and CGI, especially now that it's so much less expensive and more accessible, really helped us give the show a high production value because we were able to..."
And that's all I heard folks, because when it clicked in my head what Carlton just did, I had to use every ounce of energy NOT to interrupt him and say:
"So CGI helped you create a realistic backdrop. And the smoke monster, right? And the statue. And the submarine. And IS THERE ANY PART OF THIS SHOW THAT HASN'T BEEN DIGITALLY MANIPULATED IN SOME WAY DURING POST PRODUCTION, CARLTON? HUH? IS THERE?!!"
Okay, that's not really true. I'd never call him out in such an obnoxious way after he'd pretty much stepped in it already (cuz he seems like a decent guy, and he's writing my favorite show), and ABC/Disney was FILMING this entire event, so it seemed wise to tell myself 1) DO NOT say anything else but thank you and 2) Good LORD, suck your stomach in, the camera's got you in profile!
[But I DID give a distinctive shout out to "Thanks For Sharing," a frequent commenter on my Matthew Fox posts. It sounded like I was at an AA meeting, but who cares? It was AWESOME!]
Despite Carlton's MAJOR gaff, I couldn't help grinning my head off. [Maybe that's why Damon looked like I'd grown horns right before his eyes? Think?]
[On my original post for this event I added: "You watch. After I publish this post, they'll put every single moment of that HIFF event on the DVD EXCEPT me and my question! Let's all meet back here in a year and see if I'm right!" Turns out, they didn't even do that! Even though ABC/Disney put in a lot of effort and threatened attendees with certain death if they put anything on the internet, when the DVDs came out, THEY DIDN'T INCLUDE THE HIFF EVENT AT ALL. Figures!]
THE UNSUNG HEROES :(
In light of Carlton's dropping the ball, I'd like to give an official HUGE shout out to the entire post-production team on LOST. You make me want to be a better storyteller. No lie.
Pay close attention, LOST fans! THESE guys are the ones that make this show great, and NOBODY knows about it. They get gypped coming and going as far as I’m concerned. The editors on this show are brilliant, and I hope Damon and Carlton and ABC/Disney are kicking them some MAJOR cash for pulling off what they’ve done.
Understanding the amount of work that’s gone into editing, sound production, visual effects and special effects is paramount to understanding what’s going on on LOST. VISUALLY, EVERYTHING we need to figure out WTF’s going on on LOST is RIGHT THERE.
Let’s not forget that EVERY SOUND on that show is carefully manipulated to do the same. There are TONS of hidden sounds in the track besides the whispers.
All I can say is this: If you don’t “believe” in the power of post-production, you're missing out -- AND you might be in for a SHOCK when all is said and done.
THE GREATEST SCAVENGER HUNT IN TV HISTORY
I also gotta give a BIG shout out for the unseen movers and shakers who have and continue to arrange the onslaught of Easter Eggs for LOST on other shows -- on ABC and across networks. Can you imagine the mind-numbing number of meetings that had to take place to pull this off?
[Don't panic.]
As I'm sure you're aware, Easter Eggs can be trivial moments, like an Oceanic Airlines ticket on FRINGE, stuff like that. I’m not saying that ALL of these Easter Eggs are important. However, LOST is a riddle, and half the trick to creating an excellent riddle is finding a way to provide all the information your victims need without ever saying anything that gives it away.
I’m just gonna say it: Providing hints and clues about LOST has informed creative decisions about other shows. Particularly a few shows that premiered AFTER it was announced that LOST was definitely and definitively ending after 6 seasons.
That's why some Easter Eggs are HUGE clues about LOST -- too huge to ignore or blow off, by FAR.
A small handful of shows are actually written around hints about LOST. I’d even go so far as to say that’s the only reason they ever existed in the first place! [But it’s impossible to figure this out unless you are playing attention to the post-production clues on LOST itself, aka “The Mothership.” Eye color is the PERFECT example.]
I’m not saying that these shows aren’t great on their own. I'm NOT saying that at ALL – so let’s not get upset about that part. BUT, after considering all I’m NOT saying, I have to tell you this: I didn’t have the first clue what was going on on LOST until I watched the pilot for FRINGE.
[Are you excited? I am!]
I've seen LOST clues on FRINGE, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes and Chuck for the last 3 years. Lately, I've seen clues on The Walking Dead, The Event and How I Met Your Mother (the one with Jorge Garcia). The MOST clues I've seen by FAR are on both seasons of Dollhouse and THIS season of FRINGE [S3].
We're gonna work all this out as we go along, but until then, PLEASE post where you've seen LOST clues, no matter how weird or small or insignificant they seem to you. It's NOT your imagination. It's time to start the hunt in earnest!
FOLLOW UP
Here's the good news: At least ONE post-production team has been officially accoladed for their INCREDIBLE work on LOST. The editing team collected a EMMY AWARD for Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series -- the ONLY Emmy award won by LOST at the 2010 Emmys.
Congratulations to the OUTSTANDING LOST Editing Team!
- Henk Van Eeghan
- Mark Goldman
- Christopher Nelson
- Stephen Semel
Here's the OTHER good news: Carlton corrected his mistake made all those months ago on the Season 6 DVD commentary for "LA X."
Carlton Cuse:
This shot [down the hatch to recover Juliet] is actually an amazing bit of work that's a combination of Zack Grobler, our amazing production designer, who really takes these crazy ideas and gives them life and believability. But also part of that hatch was a visual effects shot. It was green screen. Part of it was actually a matte painting built and designed by our effects company. It's kind of that ability to meld technology of visual effects and computer imagery with actual sets that helped us enormously in being able to create scope on the show that is much more like features than what you traditionally would think of as television.
[Thanks for clearing that up, Carlton!]
Check out LOSTblog.com's new section: TV Losties' Like -- LOST fans' thoughts on other TV shows.
