Whilst deciding upon themes and photographic styles within our film, I knew that I ABC's Lost would be a heavy influence. The films use of iconography, enigma and mystery, as well as its varied filming style reflect those of Lost.
There are several references to Lost in the film. The first, and most obvious, is one of the opening shot of two eyes opening and focusing themselves. This references the frequently used introduction shot from Lost, with the only difference being the use of two eyes instead of Lost's one. Whilst Lost uses the single eye to reflect the characters' confusion and only seeing half of the picture, we chose to use two to show our characters sense of awareness and that his full attention is on the situation in which he finds himself.
The second is the presence of the body. Throughout Lost's five seasons, there have been three bodies present within coffins or boxes. These have played a large part in the shows sense of mystery, causing the viewer to begin to think about who is in the coffin, why they are, and how they got there. The use of a box in our film instead of a traditional coffin is key in the depiction of the body as a piece of luggage rather than a person: this reflects the fifth season finale of Lost in which a box is opened and a body is dumped unceremoniously onto the ground, with the message the presence of the body is giving being more important than the treatment of the body itself.
The third reference is in the overall tone and themes of the film. Both Lost and our film share the theme of conflict within the protagonist, with hints of mental illness and confusion, themes present in the characters of Charlie and Hurley in Lost. The underlying mystery of what exactly is happening in the film is reflective of some sections of Lost that are reliant on the viewers confusion in order to create a sense of mystery.
- Joe Lawrence
The Pilot (Episode 1) - Lost has taken elements of cinemtography and made it iconic to the show. By doing this you are showing you're work to be innovative. It also makes it bigger and epic, to go against traditional television methods, the result is a cinematic feel.
The particular shot I wish to mention, is an extreme close up of a closed eye that opens (an image that is repeated over the series). With non-diegetic music it builds up a dramatic feel, by making an eye opening impactive it gives everything else a sense of scale. Also by having the camera tightly locked onto the eye, we have no clues of the charcters surrounding. Which means we are forced to see from his perspective. By having it up-side down it only adds to the discombobulation.
A version of this shot has beeen employed in our production (excpet usign both eyes, as we liked the idea of a linear focus across the screen to match the opening shot of the light turning on) it makes the viewer focus on every single detail.
The Clash of Urban and Rural Settings - This has become a consistent theme in our influences. Lost is rennound for implyign a location is set in suburbia, due to a mixture of extreme close ups. Then using a wideshot revealing ti to be set on 'The Island' (or vise-versa). This not only reinforces the importance of a variety of locations, it demonstrates how techniques viewers all subconciously recognise can be used to mislead the audience. We plan to utilise this in our production, perhaps in how our protgainost wakes up in an uknown location and how this is then revealed to be isolated.
Tim McNiven
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