Blog Four
I have never watched the series Lost, therefore I did not know what to expect. After watching the assigned episodes of J. J. Abrams’s Lost, I thought that these episodes were perplexing and were often slow moving in certain segments. Lost has so many scenarios and storylines that are hard to follow. I could not see myself getting involved in this series like some of the viewers that are addicted to this program and have to follow each installment. I found it quite interesting that they are some similarities in Abrams’s Lost and Fincher’s Zodiac. Both Lost and Zodiac have fading in and out scenes that leave the audience wondering what is going to happen next. They use dramatic music to set-up dramatic scenes and scenarios that have either deadly consequences or flare-ups that draws and grabs the audience attention to keep them intrigued and wanting more. Zodiac and Lost also have timelines and visual effects, and sound effects. They both as well have unresolved questions and endings that leave audiences and viewers stunned and mystified.
The difference between David Fincher’s Zodiac and J. J. Abrams’s Lost is that Zodiac is a movie and not a television series. There is also the aspect that Lost is a weekly segment that employs and uses different devices and elements throughout each episode. Each episode is set on this topical island with a series of flashbacks to the each survivor past life and history. At times, I was lost and disinterested in some segments. The constant use of the flashback scenes got me confused in each character’s history and life. Then there the fact that one does learn the character’s name for a while therefore it is hard at times to follow the storyline of this series. In Lost the character, Dr. Jack Shephard (Matthew Fox) is deemed as the leader that gives directions to the survivors of the ill-fated flight 815 that crashed the creepy island that they now call home. There are elements of mythology throughout each of the segments. There are the “boars,” that the character, Locke (Terry O’Quinn) chases for food, the mysterious black smoke, the references the “Black Rock,” a British slaving ship, and the “mention of the others” that also inhabitant this creepy island. Locke is a character that was once paralysis and mocked constantly by his boss, but once upon the island he becomes the hunter, fearless, and gains the ability to walk again. Locke feels that there is a reason why these particular people are predestined to be on this island. He believes in fate and that this island has some kind of power that will alter the lives of all that survived the plane crash. Locke tries to convince Jack that there is a reason why they round-up on this creepy island. He believes that it is some kind of reason and fate that brought them together to this particular place.
Wikipedia,details Lost’s conception. Wikipedia states, “The series began development in January 2004, when Lloyd Braun, head of ABC at the time, ordered an initial script from Spelling Television based on his concept of a cross between the novel Lord of the Flies, the movie Cast Away, the television series Gilligan’s Island, and the popular reality show Survivor” (1). In J. J. Abrams Lost, there are the concepts of lying, truth, and mind-games that are interwoven throughout each of the segments. The constant use of the visual effects and dramatic music, and fading in and out of scene are important characteristics and elements that draw in the viewing audience. I find this series complex and confusing. True even though there are many mysteries, unresolved question, and mind-games in Lost, I cannot see myself watching such a series.
Work Cited
“Wikipedia.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(TV_series) .
