UK Gets Lost

[lost-in-love-pingu]

Lost episode 1.1 - Pilot part 1 by Tom Pengelly

Good day readers. I am your UK sceptic of the Hit ABC (now Hit Channel 4 and E4) show 'Lost' and I plan to dig right down to the bones of the show. Seeing as us English were made to sit almost a year whilst the reviews kept spouting out good stuff about this show, it's only fair I analyse to the deepest part of the jungle to find whether it was worth waiting for. Though with what the reviews have been raving about, I doubt there's anything to complain about at all.

Now these reviews are going to be biased. My faith in channel 4 was lost (HAH, nice improve), when I noticed a blatant edit. Even though the pilot was aired before the 9pm UK watershed and future episodes are at 10pm, I still don't trust channel 4 and I have schedule conflicting issues as well, so expect a report on the episodes that magically appear on my computer and not the version edited by the US and then by the UK.

Let us begin from the top. We are introduced to the programme and the world of "Lost" with the title screen, which to a fan of JJ Abrams, should immediately be scrutinised. We hear a spooky, electronic signal tune, with a dark background featuring the word "Lost" making those who have never heard of the show wonder what's in store. The title screen is one of the most important part of the actual show, welcoming us into the world of the characters. Here, it does that in an unusual way, by introducing us into what the characters will experience: confusion, spookiness, and primitiveness. Primitiveness is deduced from the title being so simple, yet so effective, even risking comments about possible accidents by the viewer even before the programme has started.

Throughout the programme, we are treated to the delights of Michael Giacchino (for future reference, if I mention anything of Marco Beltrami, ignore me, my mind is only simple). Giacchino's music begins from the start with the spooky. confusing title. He then goes on to put further confusion into the music with non-synthesised instruments, and every key feature of scenery is noted, with Giacchino making sure every feature is noted, from the shoe on the tree, to the beach, to the screams. We go from a panic-calm-panic phase which puts people into a stage of unawareness. The music paces up, becomes urgent, repetitive, dangerous. Then when the title credits air, it becomes melancholy, unhopeful, desperate. Some even may say lost. These two themes are the main themes of Lost, danger and sadness filled with abstract and random hope. Giacchino uses variations of them to keep freshness and continuity, and each piece starts to give its own meaning, as new instruments such as the cellos are brought in ie. when we first see Sawyer, when more characters are unearthed throughout the pilot, and new situations too. Other examples of variations include Locke's "Orange Mouth" experience while Kate is stealing shoes and his trip out in the rain, a harmonious warble is added to create a sci-fi mood, possibly suggesting future stories or themes with his plot. The instruments also used have a tribal, a native feel towards them, with metal drums and natural bells used, especially during action scenes and suspense scenes. Michael Giacchino uses excellent techniques to convey the situation and the emotions, and he has used to his head to bring about the primitiveness that the characters are left in, they hope they are trying to find and the desperation they are running from. He also does his best to try and convey hope through light strings in rising pitches, but we all know that as much he tries, it's never going to happen thanks to the downward pull of the very same strings or the slight minor slip in the melody. Music is another of those important factors that makes a piece of entertainment exciting and Michael Giacchino is obviously very committed to Lost. His own violins used in Alias have even reared their heads in Lost (eg. the disharmonious chords when Kate and Charlie finding Jack after the monster chase), and have now become Lost, not Alias. Yes other instruments help to mark them as Lost but Giacchino keeps the instruments distinctly to Lost. This "Violinist" trademark of his marked in a different series just proves how awesome this man is, at keeping his styles, varying his jobs, and instilling emotions of extreme proportions into our hearts.

Another attribute to a good programme, and a good pilot, is a catching plot. People stranded on a deserted island may seem farfetched, and hard to get 24 episodes and more in, but the mind is the limit. And the writers and producer's, from the fact we're getting a whole season, have some imagination. The pilot part 1 focuses on processing the situation and finding out the options, taking into account all the dangers that this mysterious island possesses, and with the unexpected entrance of the monster, the series immediately looks to be picking up, adding the air of mystery to the island. Speaking of mystery, the creator being JJ Abrams, the monster isn't going to be the only mystery on this island. Already, we are perplexed by many things, such as characters, what people know already, who some characters are, and the biggest question of all, will they ever get off the island alive? Also to JJ's expense, many situations are created where it's one thing, but it can easily be associated with something relating in the scene, easily scaring us. And speaking of little subtleties that speak loud, the episode contains quite a few, such as raised suspicion of characters or things the character says, or unordinary shots of things. Many of these provide clues to what's going to happen, or clues to the answers we seek, especially regarding the woman commenting on the monster's roar, saying she's from the Bronx. And I focus on that because the monster is all we can think about.

The monster in itself takes priority for the majority of viewers, seeing as it decided to rear its head the first night the plane crashed. The monster is a beauty of a plotline and many people wonder what it is, even the pilot did before he was eaten by it. Michael Giacchino gave it its own theme, of metal, unnatural grinding, clicking and disharmony. The music is almost tribal, esp. when the pilot is yanked from the plane. The whole scene is so good you can't tell if it's music or monster, giving me as a viewer a bathroom accident of my own, disguised so well by total confusion. The monster's roar is also disharmonious, terrifying to hear the clash of metallic with nature, it sounds so wrong. Yet personally I am in love with it: the breathing in, the roar and it's metallic echo. It seems weird NOT to hear it (although I am somewhat a person of controversy, even if you do know me). One thing is for sure: we know it is huge, for the footsteps do not lie. Even though we aren't going to find out what this thing is, the keen observer will already have found some clues. The Bronx is clearly related to it, after the woman Jack saved says she has heard it before and where she came from. Being in the background where it was said, it had to be important. The subtle clues are purposely always hidden from the casual viewer, making this programme an analyst's wet dream.

Fear is used a lot in this programme. The pilot part 1. suggests the genre is survival horror, like a game of Resident Evil: Nemesis, with just raccoon city and the nemesis for the gameplay, but that is enough to warrant someone like me with several accidents of the bathroom kind. But think of the characters, they must be utterly scared. And when they are, the actors present this without the slightest hesitation, unless of course, it's required in the script. Even in episode 1, character evolution has taken priority to make the storyline as interesting as possible. The biggest example is Kate's strength at the end, after running from the monster. Jack's story earlier on gave her new life to confront her fear, that is character evolution. And with so many problems being outlined in the first episode between characters, like Charlie's bizarreness, we can guarantee that characters will evolve, even the minor characters, who get scripted as beautifully as do the main characters. The characters also get some comedy in, even for the first episode, be it subtle and chuckles to laugh out loud. Hurley establishes himself as someone to depend upon for help or cheering up, Charlie tries his best to impress but instead makes us laugh, and Kate's determination to get through everything shines through comedy, even when she doesn't mean to, ie. stitching up jack. All of this sets down the character's grounds, enabling us more time to find answers some of these ever important questions for future episodes, which is secretly what we all desire. Such as inactive features in the plotline presenting possible clues or actions taking place, the characters show signs of hiding things. Has the black woman seen the monster? her eyes and line say she did. The actors themselves have been criticised for being too hot. As a person who knows that looks are not everything, I don't see this criticism. Seeing how hot someone is is all about personal preference. Yes, of course there are hot people, that's Hollywood for you, but also, some people see more of the good in people's looks than others do, so wherever you go, some people will see more hot people, and that's a fact. In support of the criticism though, I was quite stunned at how my opinion of Sayid's looks has changed from eh to WOAH!

The production of the show was well generated. Camera angles were used to focus in on shots that would provide more effect than if they were further out or boxed in, such as Shannon screaming in the plane crash. My point is proved as the plane crash site is actually quite small when viewed from a camera angle farther away and at an angle. Camera angles also shake at appropriate times, be it a chase scene or a vibration of a large multitude, which is a feat not to be underestimated. Camera movement is a very key issue in creating tension, and the best example of this is the monster's appearance, focusing on the darling siblings Shannon and Boone, who turn around whilst the camera panned in a curving nature. It's always the little things that count, and the director has to understand this. Luckily, this director does. However there is one scene that does not convince me as a viewer of the special effects. Even though the camera swerving makes the scene look legit, the night where the monster appears, the beginning of Emelie De Raven's shot do scream out green screen, not placing any blame on the actors of course, for everyone played their part superbly, no faults about it. The second disaster of this episode also happens regarding poor camera angles. At the end of the episode, the screen immediately switches from the people to the dead pilot in the tree. The switch is too quick to make an impact. The man is bloodied, beaten yet not eaten, that what we notice, and thats odd of monsters. More suspense could have easily been brought into that shot, but the chance of deleted footage and post-production editing could have easily got in the way.

For a pilot, especially of such big expenditure, this is superb. Even though there are classic clich?s where you just know what?s going to happen, its directed in the way you wouldn't expect it to happen, the biggest one being the pilot seeing what the monster is. Being a music lover, i give my credit to Michael Giacchino (as you can see by the music section being the longest by double at least), for creating an atmosphere that i can't even write this review without. (I'm barely surviving with suspenseful Metal Gear Solid tracks). However, i leave off, in typical Lost fashion, or so JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof expects to believe, with a question. That damn dog knows something we don't. What in hell is it???? It may be cute, but it's full of wisdom, and not the i-know-when-you're-feeding-me-cruddy-dog food kind.