Crew

“Y: The Last Man” creator Brian K Vaughan who recently joined the Lost writing team reports that tomorrow’s Desmond-centric Lost episode is the first episode of Lost which he has co-written:

I’m lucky enough to be sitting in a treehouse in Kaikoura, New Zealand, but wanted to jump online to plug this week’s episode. While you may detect some annoying Vaughanisms throughout, my good buddy and co-writer Jeff Pinkner did most of the heavy lifting on this important script, so any parts of our Desmond-centric show you hate are most likely my fault. As I said last week, I wish I could take credit for one-tenth of the cool stuff people are attributing to me, but every episode of Lost is a group effort, so I’m grateful to Damon and everyone else on staff for their insanely hard work on this one. I’m really proud of the final result, lest you think I fled the country in shame…

Brian has been credited as executive story editor since the episode “Par Avion”, but it will be interesting to see his first episode as a writer.

SyFy Portal reports that the Lost Weekend 2007 party took place last weekend. I had completely forgotten about Lost Weekend, but I’m glad that someone covered the event!

Sam Anderson (Bernard) and Byron Chung (Mr. Paik, Sun’s father) were the first VIPs to arrive. Later, Maggie Grace (Shannon Rutherford), whose locks are now dark brown, joined the party wearing one of the most casual outfits there — a red fitted T-shirt and blue jeans.

Andrea Gabriel (Nadia, Sayid’s love) was quite the party girl. Dressed in a little, beige silky dress, she spoke with almost everyone in attendance.

From the beginning, Anderson held a rapt crowd about him, each fan taking their turn to have their photo taken with Bernard. However, once Daniel Roebuck (Leslie Arzt, the high school teacher who got blown up) showed up, however, the crowd that surrounded the lovably annoying scientist was equally large.

Much like the characters he’s played on Lost and Nash Bridges, Roebuck is an animated talker with an easy smile.

Rose and Bernard reunited when L. Scott Caldwell (Rose), dressed nicely in flowing black pants and blouse, arrived.

Also in attendance were executive producer and Lost co-creator Jeffrey Lieber and writer Craig Wright. They got up on stage and thanked the fans for being so supportive of the show.

“When we were creating the pilot, we didn’t think it would get on TV,” said Lieber. “When it got on TV, we didn’t think it would last more than one or two episodes. And now we’re starting our fourth season. It has been amazing.”

Read more over at SyFy Portal

The members of the Lost stunt team take great risks to help make Lost the action packed show that we all love, but unlike the actors and actresses they double, we rarely get to read much about them or their work.

To give you a bit more insight into the process of creating Lost, I’ve interviewed Lost stuntwoman Heather Arthur who does the stunts for, among others, Evangeline Lilly who plays Kate.

How and why did you become a stunt woman?

Heather: My dad is a stuntman and has been for over 30 years. When I was little I always knew I wanted to be a stuntwoman. My dad would have me jump off the refrigerator when I was only two years old into homemade airbags. It was fun. My dad became the stunt coordinator for Lost and said I would be a great double for a girl named Evie. I had never seen the show but quit my job and moved to Hawaii two weeks later.

How do you prepare for a stunt? Do you rehearse and choreograph it a lot?

Heather: It depends on what the stunt is. If it is a fight we may have a few days of rehearsals and record the fight and show it to the director. If it is a high fall, then we may practice high falls before we actually work. It just depends on the stunt. I have never done the same stunt twice so every stunt I prepare for differently. I live by the motto from my dad “Never do a stunt once that you wouldn’t do twice”. He said it has kept him alive.

Could you take us through the process of creating a stunt and pulling it off?

Heather: Each stunt is just so different. The stunt coordinator (that is who hires me) reads the script and talks to the director to understand what he wants to see. Depending on what the stunt is we will have rehearsals or prepare depending on what it is. If it is a fight, which is what most of the stunts on Lost are, then we will rehearse either on the day of the fight or a few days before, record the fight and show the directors, producers and sometimes the actors. If they like it then it is a go and we will perform our fight. Most the time they like it and if they change anything it is usually something small.

Right before I do the stunt I talk to the actress and ask for their feedback. I ask how they they think their character would do the stunt. It is important to me that the actress is happy with my work. Sometimes they say ‘just do what you think feels right’ and other times they offer me great insight.

If there is such a thing as a “normal day” on set, could you tell us a bit about it?

Heather: When I first get to set and I find my dressing room to put down my stunt bag (my bag of pads I think I may need for that day of work). I check in with one of the PA’s (production assistants) to let them know that I am there. Then I put on my wardrobe and I am sent by the PA to go through hair and makeup. In hair and makeup they will try and match me with the actress. Sometimes the actor is sitting in hair and makeup also so they can just look over and see exactly what her hair is. If the actor is not there they will have pictures of her hair and makeup. Next I head to set and wait for my time to work. The saying on set is hurry up and wait. It is kinda crazy before I get up to set but once I get to set it is a lot of waiting. When I am sitting waiting I am usually mentally preparing for my stunt. Then the cameras roll and I do my job. I usually stay on set until the whole scene I work in is done then the Director will release me when they know they won’t need me anymore. Then I take off my wardrobe and get cleaned up by hair and makeup.

Is there any stunt you’ve done on Lost that was particularly challenging or that you are particularly proud of?

Heather: Back on Lost season two on the episode “The Other 48 Days” when I was super new to doing stunts I had to throw myself down a very steep hill/cliff with another person. The hill was covered in thorn bushes and I was doubling Ana Lucia so I was sleeveless. The other guy that was falling down the hill with me had pads on everything but because of my wardrobe I only had knee pads on. I was standing on the top of the hill/cliff and I said this is going to hurt. I did it twice and my dad was so proud (not because it was such a hard stunt but because he was so proud of seeing his daughter follow in his footsteps and up to this point it was my most difficult stunt) that he got tears in his eyes. I was banged up and my arms were covered in thorns but when I saw my dad crying for happiness I didn’t feel a thing. I will always remember that day when my dad now looked at me as a stunt girl.

Have you ever been injured during a stunt?

Heather: Most the time I work I will almost always leave with a few bruises and scraps. But I got injured pretty good working on One Tree Hill. I got hit by a car at about 18 miles per hour and got thrown off the top of the car and landed on my head on the concrete. I was taken to the hospital because I was so dizzy I couldn’t stand up. I now know what boxers must feel like when they get knocked out and can’t get up. I ended up having a level 2 concussion and took about a month off work to recover.

You’ve doubled Evangeline Lilly and Michelle Rodriguez among others. How has it been to work with them?

Heather: Every actress is so different just like every co-worker you work with is so different. Some actresses are super friendly and others are more standoffish. It just depends.

Do you try to adapt to their style of movement and so on during the stunts or do you just do your own thing?

Heather: I almost always talk to the actress to ask how they think their character would do it. It is important that they are happy with my work. I also talk to them after the first take to ask their feedback.

Any tips for the guys and girls out there who would like to become a stuntman/woman?

Heather: It is a very hard industry to break into. I am still super new and still trying to get known and my dad was a stuntman. I believe in following your dreams so if that is what you want to do give yourselfa couple of years to struggle and work as a waitress/waiter while you try and make it. Most jobs in this business are super hard to get into but I think someone has to do it.

Are you a fan of the show, and if so, do you have any theories on what’s going on?

Heather: I never saw the show until I was hired to work on it and I had to google who played Kate. I watched Season two every week but I haven’t seen that much of season 3. I mostly just watch it when I work to see how the stunt turned out and to see how I can improve next time.

Where can we see you next?

Heather: I will be on Lost this week a few times. I worked on Transformers that comes out this summer, and the movie Next that comes out this month.

Is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?

Heather: I am still new to stunts and there are a ton of very talented people in this business. Just like any job there is always the down side, but for me this is the best job in the whole world!

If you want to read more about Heather, she writes about her adventures over at her blog.

I just read over at The Honolulu Advertiser that two members of the Lost production crew on Hawaii died of apparent heart attack last week.

One crew member died after collapsing on the set and the other died while driving home from work. The series is filmed in Hawai’i.

The studio confirmed the two deaths but declined to discuss details.

“We are saddened by this tragic loss of life and our thoughts are with their families,” said an ABC spokeswoman, who declined to be named.

Lost isn’t just the beautiful actors we see on the screen each week, but also a group of devoted crew members who create the illusion we all know as “Lost”.

I’m saddened by this tragic news, and even though we don’t know them by name, I hope that the thoughts of Lost fans all over the world are with their families.

If you found the previous post about location scouting and set decoration interesting, you will love this “behind the scenes” video of the production of the first 6 episodes in Lost season 3.

There is no need to worry about spoilers if you have seen the first six episodes of season 3 that have already aired. Just sit back and enjoy!

via DarkUFO

There is a very interesting article about the production of Lost at starbulletin.com. In the article we find out how Lost prouction designer Zack Grobler and Lost locations manager Jim Triplett work:

The crew’s call time is usually 6 a.m. Grobler said he’ll often work until 9 or 10 p.m. “I’ve been known not to go home,” he said.

Grobler has up to 50 people working for him, including art directors, film architects, set designers, painters, sculptors, carpenters, prop and set dressers, translators and researchers. If Sun and Jin have a scene in Korea, Triplett finds the place to shoot it, and Grobler makes it look genuine. What do the signs on streets and taxicabs and hotels say? How do they look? What about vehicle registration? Magazines a character would read? Architecture? Grobler designs and builds everything from scratch, and “we want to make sure we don’t get those wrong,” he said. “Sometimes we find perfect locations that have everything ready, but often it’s a just a shell.”

When an office building or private home must be dramatically altered, Grobler and his team take meticulous photos of the original arrangement. Then they remove everything, paint, put up signs, furnish in a way that’s appropriate to the era and characters, and shoot the scenes. Just as rapidly, the crew will undo the alterations, repaint the walls and replace the furniture and decorations. Grobler has even constructed a hospital in an empty office building for a day, which was easier than moving the crew to an actual hospital. All of this happens in two to three days.

The article offers an interesting insight into the massive amount of work that goes into the creation of a Lost episode. Highly recommended!

Read the entire article at starbulletin.com

Out of 40 applicants at University of Hawaii-Manoa’s Academy for Creative Media, 10 lucky students were selected for internships at on the set of Lost reports Pacific Business News.

The interns will rotate between the production office, art department, locations, wardrobe and the assistant director’s department. Jean Higgins, Lost co-executive producer had this to say:

“We have great expectations for our first class of UH interns. We are very excited to be able to help both the future of the Hawaii film community and the next generation of filmmakers.”

It’s kinda like Willy Wonka’s golden tickets. Without the tickets and chocolate and on the set of Lost, but still!

As an aspiring filmmaker, I would love getting an internship on Lost. Sounds both entertaining and very interesting. Congrats to the 10 students!

At “An Evening with Lost”, one of the questions that host Jimmy Kimmel asked was if the actors are afraid of their characters getting killed of and if they are starting to get a bit paranoid. Just a little disclaimer - Since I was writing while I was watching the event the quotes may not be exact but they should be pretty close to what was said.

In a reference to Ana-Lucia and Libby getting killed on the show after the actresses who played them were charged with drunk driving, Yunjin Kim who plays Sun quickly responded “I’m alergic to alcohol!”

On a more serious note, director Jack Bender spoke about the sadness of seeing a member of the cast leave.:

“Ian Somerhalder was the first to leave and I remember the set that day. There really is a family. I remember the sense of what it was to lose one of our own. Ian got through it perfectly but there really is a sense of “live together die alone”. I do remember that. There was a real serious gravity to one of our characters leaving both the show and the story.”

Dominic Monaghan continued:

“We are all going to leave sooner or later, you have to make your peace with that. You have to realize that these are moments in your life.”

Josh Holloway claimed that he had hired a private investigator to dig up dirt on JJ and Damon to cover his bases.

Things were stirred up a bit when host Jimmy Kimmel said that the audience doesn’t want their favorites to die and Evangeline Lilly in response asked him who he thought could die and Kimmel answered:

“I wasn’t sorry to see Michelle Rodriguez go.”

Edit: I thought that it was the 13th today while it’s actually the 12th. The webcast isn’t until tomorrow. Sorry everyone. Check back in tomorrow and I will make sure to post the link to the webcast.

On January 13 at 7:30 PM Pacific Time the Academy of Television Arts & Science will be holding a panel discussion featuring the cast and producers of Lost. At approximately 8 pm, a link for viewing the event via a live webcast will be made available either on emmys.tv or on their page for the event.

Eleven cast members, including Matthew Fox and Evangline Lilly, as well as Lost creators JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof and executive producers Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Jeff Pinkner and Carlton Cuse will be attending the event.

I will update this page with the link to the webcast as soon as it is made available.

Feel free to discuss the event in the comments of this post!

Update: According to emmys.tv, the live webcast will start approximately 7:45 PM PST.

Update 2: Alright, it’s over. It was a pretty fun event and I think we got a bit more insight into the show. I wrote down a scribble transcript of the important things that were said so after I’ve been able to clean it up I will post it tomorrow. Thanks to emmys.tv for sharing it with us online. Have a good night everyone!

On Saturday, January 13, the Academy of Television Arts & Science will be holding a panel discussion featuring the cast and producers of Lost.

According to Lost-Media, 11 cast members, including Matthew Fox and Evangline Lilly, as well as Lost creators JJ Abrams and Damon Lindelof and executive producers Bryan Burk, Jack Bender, Jeff Pinkner and Carlton Cuse will be attending the event.

The panel discussion will take place on January 13, 7:30 PM pacific, at the Leonard H. Goldenson Theatre in North Hollywood.

Sadly, tickets for the Jimmy Kimmel hosted discussion have been sold out, but fear not my friends, we will be able to watch it live on the internet via a webcast!

The link to the webcast will be made available during the evening the same day. I will publish the link as soon as possible, so if you don’t want to miss this, make sure to subscribe to our RSS feed.