Lost

What Narrative Structures are evident in the first episode of Lost? What effect does this have on the audience?

Whilst watching the first episode of Lost, I saw that Vladimir Propp's Narrative theory of the 7 character roles was present. An example of this is that most of the 7 character types are shown within the episode. For example Jack is the hero in this case as he is seen helping the hurt passengers and saves many people from dying or being hurt. Kate can be seen as the sidekick as she helps and joins Jack in his adventure to find the cockpit of the plane and witnesses the captain being attacked, however she can also be portrayed as the princess in this case as she is the Hero’s love interest.  Some of the people that help in the hero’s quest can be seen as a hero also however as Jack is the main hero in the storyline therefore they cannot be portrayed as the main hero. The helpers are present when Jack asks a man to look after the pregnant lady, when Jack asks help to lift a piece of metal from the plane off the unconscious man and when he asks Kate to sew up the injury he got from the crash. In this scene we see a bald man sitting on the beach who can be considered to be the villain in the series as he seems crazy when he smiles at Kate with an orange in his mouth and stares. Another time we see this is when he is standing out in the rain whilst everyone is in shelter, he puts his arms out to the sky as if he is doing a prayer or summoning the rain. He doesn’t actually have any dialogue but from his actions we see that he could have some mental issues or be the villain as they have built a lot of suspense around his character. Another villain can be Charlie as we see that he is always up to something and in one of Jack’s flashbacks he is being chased by an air hostess meaning he may of caused the accident in the first place.  There is also a hidden force that we see in the episode that is chasing down all the people on the island and kills the captain of the plane. After the cockpit scene they all begin to run away from the unseen force at this point they all begin to split up, Charlie’s leg gets stuck in the mud and he falls over whilst the others run. Consumed with fear Kate keeps on running leaving Jack to help Charlie who seems to have seen the unseen creature but says he didn’t which can also be seen as an evil side to him. As Jack goes back to save him we once again see the heroic side to him whereas Kate realising she is alone and shows fear can be seen as a damsel in distress. Towards the end Charlie crashes into Kate who demands to go back and save Jack with or without Charlie making her take on the hero role for that short period of time. Seeing these roles allows the audience to relate and as they are used to this theory being used in most of the stories they witness it wouldn't be anything too confusing.

Discuss the sound techniques used in the first episode of Lost. What effect did they have on the audience? 

In Lost, sound techniques are used to make the show more effective and to convey a message or emotion that the makers want the audience to feel.  Both Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sounds are used within the episode.  The title sequence is very short and is just an eerie jungle sound like a drum and throughout most scenes there is tense and dramatic music, whereas there is sad and slow music during some of the death scenes these are Non-Diegetic.  In the background of every scene there are a lot of Diegetic sounds present to create a feeling that we are with the characters in the location. This includes when it’s raining and both the audience and the characters hear the rain, birds which we both hear allowing us to feel like we are in the jungle setting with the sound of birds, the plane blowing up which the characters can obviously hear as we do and this allows us as the audience to feel like we are apart of the action. In the scene where everybody is beginning to relax and are talking there is a eerie noise coming from the trees which the audience become glued to the screen and begin wondering what this sound was and the characters are fearful of what the sound can be. The Non- Diegetic sounds allow the audience to feel empathetic to the characters’ situation and we feel sorry for them through sad and slow music to show the poignant situation they’re in.  Throughout all the scenes the mixture of both Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sounds in order to convey emotions that the makers want us to feel. For example at the beginning when the man is running from something we cannot see we hear a lot of footsteps and rattling of trees which makes us think that he may get caught and is being chased, whereas we also hear Non-Diegetic sounds such as tense music that only the audience can hear which puts us on the edge of our seats.  The crashing of the sea and the rain, which are diegetic sounds, can be used to create a sense of realism and to once again draw the audience into the scene itself.  The Dialogues themselves within the series is a Diegetic sound as both the audience and characters can hear it. The dialogues are basically the most important aspect of sound within any movie/television show and without this we wouldn’t really know what’s going on. The dialogue allows us to get to know the characters, see their roles and see their relationships that are growing and spreading.  An example of this can be when Jack and Kate have a conversation about the past and when Jack first became a doctor and operated on a little girl, he mentioned that things went wrong and instead of running he counted to 5 and carried on, this allowed Kate to relate and she later on used this method to help Jack. this story allowed the two to form a bond and become closer. 

How is realism constructed in this episode of Lost?

Lost seems like a very realistic show as it has effective realism in it whether it’s through sound, props, clothing or the performance of the actor. The whole show itself revolves around a realistic concept of a plane crash and being stranded on an island. The people on the plane had the reaction that would be expected in real life, which was fear and a high level of shock of the plane malfunctioning. When Jack has a flashback we can see the fear in all the passengers faces and this makes the crash believable.  The diegetic sounds used in Lost do this as well. For example the plane crash sound, the people screaming on the way down and the captain talking to the passengers. These also make the show realistic. When they have crashed and they’re stranded on the island the setting is what the audience would expect as it’s an island where you can see things that would normally be on an island, for example the sound of the sea, the rain and the birds in the jungle. Another important aspect of the setting is that the broken pieces of the plane doesn’t just disappear, it stays on the island in place, which would be the case in real life too even though some parts will be moved and broken off. The engine explodes after a man is sucked in and this shows that they’ve thought about most aspects when trying to make the series realistic. All of the passengers were wearing everyday casual clothing that you would see if you entered a plane and not costumes and fancy outfits. Another example is on the plane with the airhostesses wearing the uniform that they wear in the real world. The props are another way of ensuring realism, for example on the plane the airhostess is pushing the trolley with everything that a normal plane would have such as food, drinks and souvenirs, snacks and so on. Another effective use of props is on the island where there are shells on the beach and animals within the jungle and even on the broken cockpit of the plane there is controls you’d expect to see on a real plane and all of the oxygen masks that drop down when the plane is in danger of falling.  The actor’s performance also must be realistic because if the acting isn’t believable then no one will really enjoy it or relate with it.  For example when Jack is hurt on the beach or when the pregnant lady had her contraptions these were believable if we had somebody shouting ‘ouch’ with a straight, emotionless face every 5 minutes then it wouldn’t be nearly as effective as it was with professional acting. The emotions must be conveyed through the acting and to do this amateur acting wouldn’t really work well.  Overall the realism in the show allows the audience to feel like they’re connected to it and feels like they can relate to the show itself. 

How does Lost fit the conventions of a TV drama?

Like other TV dramas you’d expect to see on television Lost is a series, which had 6 seasons in total consisting of week-to-week episodes. Like a typical story as Vladimir Propp saw, it contains heroes, villains and helpers. There is always a dialogue in every Drama and in Lost we see that the dialogue also consists of the typical love interest.  There are usually the same characters every week and sometimes a new one is added or an old one will leave but they usually stay the same, in Lost we always have the same survivors with a few cutbacks and add ons.  Every TV drama has a storyline, without it there would be no point of watching it, as it wouldn’t flow.  For example the storyline of Lost is about a few survivors stuck on an island after a plane crash.  A good way to keep viewers with a TV drama is by using cliffhangers. For example on Lost if somebody was to die or was about to die they could end the show this way in order to keep the audience intrigued and make them watch the next episode in order to see what’s going to happen next. The setting is on an island and is always set in the same location within the Island unless they have flashbacks leading to thoughts from the past, which would be shown in another location.  Another important aspect that makes Lost fit the conventions of a TV drama is the props, everyday props are used such as planes and casual clothes. In other TV Dramas Camera angles are used in order to convey some emotion or show a persons relationship. For example in Lost fear is conveyed by Extreme close-ups focussing on the aspect of a characters face which could be their eyes in shock or fear.  Another shot that Is used a lot is the shot-reverse-shot, which is used a lot in TV Dramas such as Eastenders or Hollyoaks, this is used in Lost when two people are having a conversation. Lastly sound is a very important aspect in TV Dramas, being the title sequence and music to convey an emotion, which is a Non-Diegetic sound and these are sounds only the audience can hear. The sequence allows the audience to remember and recall when they hear the sequence again, for example in Lost the sequence is the word Lost with a jungle type sound. Also background music makes a scene more tense and interesting rather than having none at all which would probably bore the audience as the music itself pumps up the audience and if its to create fear it will convey this onto the audience. Diegetic sounds, which are sounds that both the audience and characters can hear, allow Lost to fit the conventions too this is because the audience can relate to the surroundings and creates a sense of realism within the series. Overall the mis-en-scene allows the series Lost to fit into the conventions of a TV drama.