You LOST me
January 15th, 2008
Okay, I’ve posted before about my LOST addiction. In fact, I’m currently re-watching the entire series in preparation for the upcoming season 4 premiere (January 31… I will be taking no calls). So yeah. I’m a big LOST freak. But I’m not the only one around here. I just mentioned that I’m blogging about LOST, and half the office piped in about the premiere, what could happen, how it could all end, blah blah blah. It’s a disease.
About a year and a half ago, I blogged about The Lost Experience, a multi-media game that the creators of LOST used to fill the summer months between seasons 2 and 3. Beginning with fake commercials that ran during the last couple episodes of the season, it was a series of online clues and puzzles that followed the adventures of a young truth seeker named Rachel who was looking to expose Alvar Hanso and the Dharma Initiative. They had done a teaser sight for Oceanic Air between seasons 1 and 2, but the 2-3 Lost Experience ramped things up to an 11 and did a wonderful job of whetting my appetite for island goodness over what was a pretty long summer break (May to October). Of course, since then, we’ve experienced more LOST droughts. There was the mid-season break in Season 3, and then the excruciatingly long hiatus between 3 and 4. And for those droughts… we had only ourselves and our memories. {sigh}
But at long last… December 31st began a new chapter of The Lost Experience. Our good friend Virginia Miracle blogged on it over at Marketing Environmentalism, which is how I stumbled upon it. So I’m certainly behind the times, but frankly, so is LOST. I spent some time in the last couple of days catching up… and I’ve gotta say, I’m a little disappointed. First of all, isn’t this a little late in the game? By December 31st, we already had what we wanted - a light at the end of the tunnel. We knew January 31st was just around the corner. So why wait? Why leave us hanging since May 23rd with absolutely no contact, no excitement, no nothing… and then decide to chime in one measly month before we’re about to get it all back?
So far the story and the elements of this new Lost Experience seem a little less interesting and urgent than the last time around, but I’ll be willing to give it a try. Perhaps, since they didn’t finish filming the season, and the writers’ strike might force an unplanned mid-season hiatus, they’re setting up something now that might have to continue later. Frankly, I hope that’s the case. Because otherwise, this last minute engagement feels like too little too late to me. Give me creepy commercials during the season finale to let me know that you’re going to stay a part of my life for the next six months. Don’t give me six months of silence and then creep in when the excitement over the premier will overshadow you anyway. I sincerely hope they’ve got greater plans for this chapter of the Lost Experience, not that any of this will cheapen the show for me, mind you. But for a show that has made such a point of creating an experience outside of the time slot, I just hope it doesn’t turn out to be just another Bad Twin.
Other posts by Jennifer.
Patrick says:
I’m a big fan of lost and you will love to hear what I am about to say. My wife and I don’t have cable or satellite so our for our T.V. entertainment we use the antenna or watch a lot of DVD’s. I love DVD’s especially for the special feature. I got hooked on Lost by “word of mouth”. My brother gave me the season 1 DVD set a couple of years ago and both my wife and I were hooked. Normally we have had mixed results with the local ABC affiliate so we didn’t put much effort into getting rid of the bad reception but not we will try to bring in ABC (via WLOS Asheville) or watch episodes on the Internet. Now I eat up each episode, on-line games, etc.
My interest in Lost lead me to look up more information online. As a result I discovered a great podcast done by a couple in northern Kentucky. The Weekly Lost Podcast by Cliff and Stephanie Ravenscraft.
http://gspn.tv/category/weeklylostpodcast/
This is not the only podcast Cliff does. At one time he was doing as many as 20 talking about his favorite TV shows, his life in general, using the Mac and helping others learn to Podcast. Cliff got so passionate about Podcasting and New Media that he quit his job as an insurance salesman and not has his own new media company;
http://bitcastmedia.com/
Because of the great word of mouth and gift giving by my brother I have become a rabid fan of Lost but even more fascinating I have developed a great friendship online with Cliff, his wife and the rest of his “community.
Thought you might find that chain of events interesting.
It’s also interesting that I got interested in the computer game Myst in the early 90’s a and later was asked the alpha and beta test the online game Uru:Ages Beyond Myst and developed friendships with the game creators and people in the fan base. That’s interesting because Lost and Myst share a lot of common elements and the creators cite Myst as a partial inspiration for the TV show.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:43 amChristian says:
If you like all of the cool marketing/interactive community around lost, I can’t wait to see Cloverfield. It’s another J.J. Abrams production, and the marketing is sick! None of the trailers tell you what the plot is about, and their viral stuff continues to bait your curiousity.
I remember I was sitting in a movie theatre during the previews and one of them was for Cloverfield. Except you had no way of knowing, because there was no branding. It just look like someone’s graduation party filmed on home video. Very cool.
January 15th, 2008 at 1:18 pmMatty says:
I just started watching lost in the middle of last year. I just finished the third season last night. I don’t know how I am going to be able to sit through commercials… and then I have to wait a week for the next episode. Man! I was spoiled with catching up on DVD’s.
January 15th, 2008 at 2:24 pmRob Williams says:
Love LOST! Can’t wait for Season 4 to get going. Finally! I agree about the mobisodes right now. It’s like they are just deleted scenes or something. Meh. But it’s LOST and that counts for something! Have you seen the LOST in 8:15 video? Pretty cool. Looking forward to opening up the LOST category again on my blog too.
January 15th, 2008 at 7:25 pmJennifer says:
DVD viewing definitely spoils you. I watched my first live LOST at the end of season 2. And what you lose in having to watch commercials, you gain in suspense! And Yes Christian… J.J. Abrams does seem to have a real nose for creating projects that lend themselves to intriguing, multi-layered marketing. The Cloverfield stuff has been BRILLIANT! Can’t wait for this weekend! Man, between the LOST premiere and Cloverfield, the excitement might just be too much for one month to hold!
January 16th, 2008 at 5:24 amPatrick says:
Anyone here seen the presentation J.J. did at Ted Talks?
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/205
He really nails what it means to tell a story and to hook someone.
January 16th, 2008 at 5:48 am