Post by Forever Xena on Aug 5, 2005 0:17:27 GMT -6
'Lost' websites intriguing as series
By ANN MARIE McQUEEN - Ottawa Sun
Fans of ABC's Lost are likely to agree on one thing: It is a weekly hour of television as frustrating as it is absorbing.
In addition to wondering just what is up with the mysterious, not-really deserted island, viewers can ponder dozens of dangling threads associated with each of the show's plane crash survivors.
Threads like how Locke got in his wheelchair, what did Kate do to make her mother freak out so badly on that hospital stretcher and why, exactly, does Jack's stubble always stay the same?
The show's Sept. 21 second season premiere still sits a tantalizing six weeks away. But for fans eager to learn or see or read anything Lost, there are compelling websites out there ready to whet the appetite and feed the mystery.
Take the official-looking website for Oceanic Air, owner of the ill-fated Flight 815. Or a fansite dedicated to fictional rock band Drive Shaft, and by extension, its heroin-snorting bassist Charlie Pace, played by Dominic Monaghan.
While ABC is clearly behind the airline site, Drive Shaft seems to be the work of fans. Either way, both are examples of Lost in cyberspace: Extensive, fun, peekaboo-style places for hungry fans to play.
And as Lost writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach told the Sun yesterday via e-mail, that's exactly the way those behind the show like it.
Creator J.J. Abrams sponsored a fan community dubbed "The Fuselage" very early on in the first season, said Grillo-Marxuach. Others -- he wouldn't say which, or how many -- came as Lost gathered steam.
"Clearly, the success of the show was a motivating factor in getting an expanded Web presence out there, but one of the things that sets us apart is a sensitivity to fandom," wrote Grillo-Marxuach. "So we always looked to the Web as a great place to find a deeper involvement with our audience."
The Oceanic Air site is an example of how the show has translated its confounding appeal to the Web. Visitors can read a statement from Michael Orteig, airline president.
"After 25 years of service, we are forced to close our doors," reads the statement. "Due to financial difficulties in the wake of the Flight 815 tragedy, we are no longer able to sustain service."
Try to track flight 815 and you'll only see an eerie looking "alert" in the "arrival" section. Or spend several long minutes playing around on the plane's seating plan, finding out where the main characters sat and what visuals pop up once they are clicked.
"The sites are designed as puzzles -- they are very environmental -- you are supposed to go in, poke around, and see what you find," confirmed Grillo-Marxuach.
Over at the Drive Shaft site, a "media" section turns up several articles about Flight 815.
One article features an interview with the Martha Stewart-style wedding guru mother of killed-off character Boone Carlyle.
A techie piece indicates one passenger carried on his laptop all the research for a revolutionary communication device; another spun from a show plot suggests several of the passengers aboard the plane had no "history" or background.
Grillo-Marxuach says that kind of "noise" -- truthful or not -- actually helps the show.
"At the end of the day, the only truly canonical information about the show is what you see on primetime," he said.
Grillo-Marxuach said response to the sites has been overwhelming, keeping staff working constantly to refresh content and provide new experiences for visitors.
"We are in the business of entertaining people and the Web has become another way -- one that's a little looser and playful in structure -- for us to do that."
By ANN MARIE McQUEEN - Ottawa Sun
Fans of ABC's Lost are likely to agree on one thing: It is a weekly hour of television as frustrating as it is absorbing.
In addition to wondering just what is up with the mysterious, not-really deserted island, viewers can ponder dozens of dangling threads associated with each of the show's plane crash survivors.
Threads like how Locke got in his wheelchair, what did Kate do to make her mother freak out so badly on that hospital stretcher and why, exactly, does Jack's stubble always stay the same?
The show's Sept. 21 second season premiere still sits a tantalizing six weeks away. But for fans eager to learn or see or read anything Lost, there are compelling websites out there ready to whet the appetite and feed the mystery.
Take the official-looking website for Oceanic Air, owner of the ill-fated Flight 815. Or a fansite dedicated to fictional rock band Drive Shaft, and by extension, its heroin-snorting bassist Charlie Pace, played by Dominic Monaghan.
While ABC is clearly behind the airline site, Drive Shaft seems to be the work of fans. Either way, both are examples of Lost in cyberspace: Extensive, fun, peekaboo-style places for hungry fans to play.
And as Lost writer Javier Grillo-Marxuach told the Sun yesterday via e-mail, that's exactly the way those behind the show like it.
Creator J.J. Abrams sponsored a fan community dubbed "The Fuselage" very early on in the first season, said Grillo-Marxuach. Others -- he wouldn't say which, or how many -- came as Lost gathered steam.
"Clearly, the success of the show was a motivating factor in getting an expanded Web presence out there, but one of the things that sets us apart is a sensitivity to fandom," wrote Grillo-Marxuach. "So we always looked to the Web as a great place to find a deeper involvement with our audience."
The Oceanic Air site is an example of how the show has translated its confounding appeal to the Web. Visitors can read a statement from Michael Orteig, airline president.
"After 25 years of service, we are forced to close our doors," reads the statement. "Due to financial difficulties in the wake of the Flight 815 tragedy, we are no longer able to sustain service."
Try to track flight 815 and you'll only see an eerie looking "alert" in the "arrival" section. Or spend several long minutes playing around on the plane's seating plan, finding out where the main characters sat and what visuals pop up once they are clicked.
"The sites are designed as puzzles -- they are very environmental -- you are supposed to go in, poke around, and see what you find," confirmed Grillo-Marxuach.
Over at the Drive Shaft site, a "media" section turns up several articles about Flight 815.
One article features an interview with the Martha Stewart-style wedding guru mother of killed-off character Boone Carlyle.
A techie piece indicates one passenger carried on his laptop all the research for a revolutionary communication device; another spun from a show plot suggests several of the passengers aboard the plane had no "history" or background.
Grillo-Marxuach says that kind of "noise" -- truthful or not -- actually helps the show.
"At the end of the day, the only truly canonical information about the show is what you see on primetime," he said.
Grillo-Marxuach said response to the sites has been overwhelming, keeping staff working constantly to refresh content and provide new experiences for visitors.
"We are in the business of entertaining people and the Web has become another way -- one that's a little looser and playful in structure -- for us to do that."
source jamtelevision
