extras

I realize that the last "celebrity" post I created I stated that the next person I would write about would be Michele Gondry. I lied. I still intend to write about Gondry, but I have something else to write about in the mean time. Forewarning, it's long.

Before I begin, I must make apologies where apologies are due. For a while now, my brother has been raving about JJ Abrams, and while I'm a huge fan of at least two of his projects (Lost and Felicity), I didn't really know much about him, and therefore, mocked my brother for his new-found fascination with Abrams. However, I just finished watching the extras on the Lost Season 1 DVD collection, and I must say - I'm now a HUGE fan. I absolutely adore Abrams, and am anxious to start watching Alias, a show I never really gave much attention to. My brother told me I "owed it JJ" to watch Alias, but I did not take his statement seriously. However, after watching the special features on the Lost DVDs, I see what he means. I do owe it to him. So all apologies Kelly for not yielding to your suggestions, and not understanding your fascination with Abrams. Therefore, this post will be dedicated to Abrams, as well as the show.

Now, on to the good stuff...

First, let me start off by saying that the "behind the scenes" stuff a lot of times ends up being way more interesting to me than the actual show/movie itself. Example: Lord of the Rings. I saw the first movie in the theaters, and did not feel strongly at all towards it. I had mediocre feelings for a movie I had tremendous expectations for. After my first screening, I did not see it again until it came out on DVD. I heard a lot of buzz about the "extended edition" and decided that I too wanted in on the action. I picked it up, watched all the "behind the scenes" stuff, and fell in love with Peter Jackson, the cast, the people of WETA, and ultimately, the movie. From that point on, I was obsessed with Lord of the Rings stuff - but mostly because of all the crazy stuff that went into the making of it. That's what fascinated me the most. Well, the same goes for Lost actually. I was gung-ho for it before it even aired, telling everyone I knew it was going to be a cool show, and that they should watch it. One of the reasons I had initially started watching it was because of Dominic Monaghan - yes, I had a wee bit of a crush on him. I'm a sucker for a funny guy. Anyway, I watched the pilot and the first few episodes, and found it to be a tad cheesy. So, I gave up on the show. It wasn't until mid season when I had heard all of these crazy things going on on the show, that I decided to tune back in. And I was hooked. Loved the show. Found it creative, loved the characters, loved the fact that I didn't know what the crap was going on - all that jazz. As season two began this year, I realized I had missed a LOT of the back story on characters. While I could follow along with what was happening, I realized there was a lot that didn't make sense to me, and I wanted to try to go back and re-watch them. My parents bought me the DVDs as a present, and I've been watching them since Christmas. I just now got to the good stuff - the special features. Here's why I love the special features so much...

The writing process: As someone who loves to write, and has a strong interest in how things are all put together, I was super excited that they talked about the process of how they got their writers, and how they went about doing it. The outline for the pilot was written in five days, and ABC picked up the outline. It's hard enough getting a script picked up for a pilot - let alone a mere outline. Craziness. But I loved that they talked about all problems and victories they had throughout the writing process.

The cast: I always love to see the "real-life" actor who plays each character. Granted, one cannot get a true sense of what that person is like in real life, but I love that I can at least get a glimpse of what they are like. One of the characters who I was surprised I found myself REALLY enjoying was Josh Holloway who plays Sawyer. He was cracking jokes all the time (there I go again with Mr. Funnyman) and was laughing a ton, and just didn't seem to take himself so seriously. So fun.

How they do stuff: I always love when they show how they do stuff. I know that for a lot of people, it's "ruined" for them when they see how it all was accomplished, but for me, it only makes me appreciate and admire the crew involved in making it look so real. One of the things that I thought was great but also had me laughing pretty hard was how they handled the polar bear. I don't want to give anything away or spoil anything for anyone, but if you get a chance to watch the special features, know that that was probably one of my favorite "this is how we did it" scenes.

Dominic Monaghan: Now, this isn't necessarily something that I "loved" about the special features, even though I'm still a bit of a Dom fan. However, it's something I found kind of interesting. Dominic's character isn't what I would consider "central." He gets a fair amount of air time, but the people I would consider (though it's changing a bit this season) would be Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Locke. However, in the special feaures, Dom is EVERYWHERE! He's in pictures, they talk about a ton of his scenes, they do a "behind the scenes" on Drive Shaft - Dom and Charlie get tons of attention. Now, I find this strange because this is also what happened in the Lord of the Rings extended editions. I felt like Dom seemed to pop up all over the place. Part of me wonders if it's just because of a charismatic personality, or if it's because he LOVES talking to the camera. I think maybe a little bit of both. Anyway, that was just a little tidbit I though interesting.

Matthew Fox's pictures: This was my absolute favorite part of the DVD. Photographs do something for me like nothing else. It's weird. I wish I could explain it, but I can't. I just love photography. Maybe I ought to consider that among the eighteen other avenues I've thought to explore. Anyway, Matthew Fox, or "Foxy" as D.M. refers to him, took pictures on set while waiting to shoot. He stole an idea from Jeff Bridges who on the set of White Squall, took photos and created books for all the cast and crew. Fox decided to do the same thing. The DVD highlighted some of the pictures he took, and they were absolutely beautiful. A lot of them were candid shots of them on set and moving around on the set, lots of black and white photos. I think it's so awesome that he gave the books to the cast and crew, but I must say, I wouldn't mind getting my hands on a copy of the book... How amazing would that be to have?

JJ Abrams: One of my favorite moments on the DVD with JJ is where he's imitating how they filmed a scene. The camera is on him, while he and another crew member imitate what they just shot. It's absolutely hilarous. However, I'm just amazed at the brilliancy and integrity of JJ. The thing I love about him was he wasn't willing to do just any show about people being stranded on a deserted island. He was only willing to do it if it was something unique, something different - had a different angle than anything else. The show has gotten criticism for being like "Gilligans Island meets Survivor" with a twist of The Island of Doctor Moreau. But the show goes further than that. There are so many layers to it, and the way the story is unraveled is brilliant. Another thing I love about the show is the dedication to plot AND character - not one or the other. So often, shows rely so heavily on one or the other that it feels as though something is lacking. I don't feel that way about this show. I think it has a really good balance. Sometimes, there are weeks where I wish there was more action (like this past Wednesday after waiting 6 weeks for a new episode) and other times I wish there was more "back story." However, all opinions aside, I think the writers do a really good job of incorporating both. The other thing I love is JJ's commitment to having real props as much as possible, and straying for CGs wherever he can. I was surprised to find out how much was real vs. how much was CG. There was a lot that I would have imagined to be CG that wasn't. The polar bear... man, that was hilarious... YOU GOTTA SEE IT.

Anyway, I could go on and on... I've already written way too much... But what can I say. I love this show. And I especially love the special features.

But don't worry, I'm still on the "Jack Bauer" side of the line. Cannot wait for Sunday.

Sorry for the lengthy post. Thanks for hanging in there with me, if you even DID hang in there with me. I'd be interested in knowing how many of you actually read this entire post in its entirety... My guess is not that many.
I'm a good rambler.