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[Wednesday at NAB]
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‘Lost’: Revealing the Secrets of its Success
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by Geoff Poister,
~ April 16, 2008
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TV TECHNOLOGY
On Tuesday morning, the NAB Spotlight Series shone its beacon on two individuals behind the creative engine of ABC’s widely successful and innovative program “Lost.”
Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof, executive producers, were interviewed by Variety TV columnist Cynthia Littleton before a large, enthusiastic audience.
Littleton immediately framed the discussion in terms of the show’s strategic use of almost every media delivery method available today.
“‘Lost’ is the quintessential show of our time because it takes advantage of all of the new media opportunities out there, including downloads, the Internet, DVD … and it is the most ‘DVR-ed’ show on the air,” Littleton said.
Then Littleton posed a question much on the mind of people in the broadcast industry: What has allowed “Lost” to succeed? “This show is universal,” Cuse answered. “It is not set in America. It has an international cast, and tells the story through allegories and metaphors in a somewhat biblical sense.”
“I think the reason is that the show doesn’t tell you what it is,” Lindelof said. “When a program ends people say, ‘what was that?’ And then they contact their friends or go on the Internet and talk about it.”
There was some discussion about TV predecessors and some references to “The X Files.” However, “Lost” took on greater risks because it is a serial story that demands a commitment from the viewing audience.
“Unlike ‘X Files’ we don’t have self-contained episodes,” said Lindelof. “Every episode is another card in a house of cards.”
Lindelof and Cuse discussed their decision to create a finite number of episodes so that they could develop a story that eventually reaches a conclusion. With the assurance that the show will run for exactly six seasons, the writers can plan the story arcs with precision.
“This re-energized the storytelling,” said Lindelof. “Once we got the OK to end the story, we could flip to the end of the book and see what’s coming. We could start envisioning the last episode.”
Writing “Lost” is in and of itself a process that reflects the wonders of the Internet Age. ABC has skillfully leveraged the Internet to give fans past episodes, summaries and biographies, and share ideas in a way that creates an entire world beyond the show. But even more unusual, the thoughts expressed by the viewers actually influence the writing and, to some extent, the course of the story.
“The writing process is partly plan and partly organic,” Cuse said. He described how feedback from viewers may influence story elements as important as whether a character will die.
And it’s an emotional journey for all, even the writers. This was particularly evident when the popular character Charlie had to die. “We were really emotional when we watched that episode,” Cuse said. “We felt so cruel.”
Aside from story creation, producing “Lost” is a collective effort harnessing the power of two DPs, two directors, a music composer and a team of professionals in Hawaii and Burbank, Calif.
“We treat each episode as if we are making a little movie in 10 days,” Cuse said. “It’s shot on 35mm and the music is scored by Michael Giacchino, who works with live musicians.”
Again, the pair emphasized how new technologies make the show possible.
“We couldn’t do this without computer graphics,” said Cuse. “We have to create locations in all parts of the world, and sometime the created ones look more authentic than the real ones.” Carlton also described how the Internet enables the directors in Hawaii to work with editors in Burbank and to utilize special effects created by effects artists all over the country.
For anyone following the “Lost” phenomenon, the ultimate question is whether the story really has a known end. This is an issue that Lindelof and Cuse treat with great respect for their audience.
“It’s a good question because this show requires a large investment of time and attention and fans need to feel that they won’t be disappointed,” Cuse said.
“We know the final episode,” Lindelof said. “And we are writing toward that.”
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