From the beginning, the creators thought that the show would be best viewed in a "real time" format.
As the guide explained:
WHAT'S THE SHAPE OF THE FIRST SEASON?
We believe that one of the things that makes LOST compelling is that we experience every day with our survivors. Without fencing ourselves in with are restrictive time format like the one ''24" employs,each episode will take place over the course of one to two days. The following episode picks up right where we left off(not necessarily in cliff-hanger fashion - we could begin the next morning) so we get to see the virtually real-time struggle of survival.
What makes this new brand of storytelling so exciting is that the desert island concept seems so conducive to it. Nothing on the island is easy - every task an almost Herculean struggle. Audiences won't tune into find that our characters have built an elaborate tree house- we'll watch them build it.
We feel that by compacting time, the drama is significantly heightened and audiences will feel the experience is more authentic. When all is said and done, the first season roughly covers our survivors' FIRST FORTY DAYS ON THE ISLAND.
What the writers are adopting is another popular series hook, this time "24's" focused time format which brings the viewer into the action with the characters. On 24, viewers could imagine themselves as a silent agent standing in the same room while decisions were being debated and finalized or running around trailing Jack Bauer on his missions.
TPTB did stick to the idea of running the show in a daily cycle. Each island episode immediately followed the prior show, except when the series went into "filler mode" for some when the new story arc on the Tailies ("The Other 48 Days") crept into the main story line. In retrospect, the idea of adding more survivors (especially those terrorized by the Others) to the main camp turned into re-stocking the red shirts for adding more (dramatic) deaths and friction among the main characters.
However, the "struggle" brand of storytelling did not turn out as stated in the guide. There were no epic struggles for survival. We did not see the survivors build tree houses or work together to forage, fish or make new tools. Every character basically seemed to do what they wanted to do or not do. The first major hurdle, fresh water, was magically solved when Jack, while chasing his ghost father, stumbled on the cave's water fall while he was chasing his ghost father. The survivors did not build shelter, they use set up small tents and lean-tos. When Jack wanted to move them all to the caves for water and safety, most refused to go. There was no core "building" of a new society on the island, with structure and order, which was the underlying premise in the writer's guide.
The first season was supposed to be about the struggle to build a new "home" for people who were not going to get rescued. It was supposed to be about the friction between those who realized their fate (trapped on the island forever) and those who believed rescuers would find them. The final episode did have Michael's second raft being intercepted by the Others, with the kidnapping of Walt and the shooting of Sawyer. It was also the great trek to find the dynamite to blow open the mysterious Hatch that Locke found in the jungle. A mission which the group's science teacher, Artz, would be blown up by unstable dynamite (which was highly doubtful in reality). The main story begins to wander into Season 2, and loses some credibility when the group finds the Hatch. But instead of occupying it as their new home, the beach camp remains as the choice of most of the survivors (for no apparent reason) even after Hurley doles out the provisions and everyone knows about the underground shelter.
The first season did begin to follow the linear time format promised in the guide. But as that time went on, time itself would become skewed by the unexplained, supernatural time travel and island time skipping story arc. Episodic days would no longer fit together like puzzle pieces. Adding in back stories, flash backs and flash forwards, episodes began to not even relate to one another.
But most fans would still believe that the first season did deliver an "adventure" story on the island, despite its flaws.
We believe that one of the things that makes LOST compelling is that we experience every day with our survivors. Without fencing ourselves in with are restrictive time format like the one ''24" employs,each episode will take place over the course of one to two days. The following episode picks up right where we left off(not necessarily in cliff-hanger fashion - we could begin the next morning) so we get to see the virtually real-time struggle of survival.
What makes this new brand of storytelling so exciting is that the desert island concept seems so conducive to it. Nothing on the island is easy - every task an almost Herculean struggle. Audiences won't tune into find that our characters have built an elaborate tree house- we'll watch them build it.
We feel that by compacting time, the drama is significantly heightened and audiences will feel the experience is more authentic. When all is said and done, the first season roughly covers our survivors' FIRST FORTY DAYS ON THE ISLAND.
What the writers are adopting is another popular series hook, this time "24's" focused time format which brings the viewer into the action with the characters. On 24, viewers could imagine themselves as a silent agent standing in the same room while decisions were being debated and finalized or running around trailing Jack Bauer on his missions.
TPTB did stick to the idea of running the show in a daily cycle. Each island episode immediately followed the prior show, except when the series went into "filler mode" for some when the new story arc on the Tailies ("The Other 48 Days") crept into the main story line. In retrospect, the idea of adding more survivors (especially those terrorized by the Others) to the main camp turned into re-stocking the red shirts for adding more (dramatic) deaths and friction among the main characters.
However, the "struggle" brand of storytelling did not turn out as stated in the guide. There were no epic struggles for survival. We did not see the survivors build tree houses or work together to forage, fish or make new tools. Every character basically seemed to do what they wanted to do or not do. The first major hurdle, fresh water, was magically solved when Jack, while chasing his ghost father, stumbled on the cave's water fall while he was chasing his ghost father. The survivors did not build shelter, they use set up small tents and lean-tos. When Jack wanted to move them all to the caves for water and safety, most refused to go. There was no core "building" of a new society on the island, with structure and order, which was the underlying premise in the writer's guide.
The first season was supposed to be about the struggle to build a new "home" for people who were not going to get rescued. It was supposed to be about the friction between those who realized their fate (trapped on the island forever) and those who believed rescuers would find them. The final episode did have Michael's second raft being intercepted by the Others, with the kidnapping of Walt and the shooting of Sawyer. It was also the great trek to find the dynamite to blow open the mysterious Hatch that Locke found in the jungle. A mission which the group's science teacher, Artz, would be blown up by unstable dynamite (which was highly doubtful in reality). The main story begins to wander into Season 2, and loses some credibility when the group finds the Hatch. But instead of occupying it as their new home, the beach camp remains as the choice of most of the survivors (for no apparent reason) even after Hurley doles out the provisions and everyone knows about the underground shelter.
The first season did begin to follow the linear time format promised in the guide. But as that time went on, time itself would become skewed by the unexplained, supernatural time travel and island time skipping story arc. Episodic days would no longer fit together like puzzle pieces. Adding in back stories, flash backs and flash forwards, episodes began to not even relate to one another.
But most fans would still believe that the first season did deliver an "adventure" story on the island, despite its flaws.
