When Good "Lost" Titles Do Bad Things
As you might already know, I'm a huge fan of the hit ABC TV series Lost and wonder why all primetime shows can't be as original and captivating. It's a near flawless show but one thing that always bothers me during the beginning of each episode is their minimal but effective animated title sequence. (Screen capture shown here.)As you can see, the enormous gaps generated by the 3D rendered type are large enough to drive a Hummer through. It seems that some art director didn't care enough to edit what should have been an easy fix, despite attempting to hide it with a focus blur effect.
While reading through a typography site, I discovered that other people felt the same way.
Surprisingly what I found out later was that the"art director/designer" was none other than J.J. Abrams, the executive producer and co-creator.
According to the Fuselage's Ask the Staff forum, J.J. had this to say about it:
JJ Abrams
11-06-2004, 02:20 AM
Funny thing, the title card...
While we were in post production on the pilot (a VERY rushed experience, that), I made the floating "LOST" word on my trusty 12" Apple laptop.* It was always meant to be temporary.* The weird tones you hear was something I did on the Mac as well.* Before we aired the first episodes, we actually hired a pro title company to put together a title sequence.* I wrote a theme song (even recorded an orchestra playing it), but at the end of the day, it all felt... well, not like the show.* While it was FINE, what it FELT like was a typical TV show, and it just didn't get us excited.
That one 3D word, just floating toward the camera, out, then in, then out of focus, just felt like LOST.* So we kept it.* And now, every time I see it on air, it makes me laugh, 'cause it was just a goofy placeholder that's now on national TV every week.
Continued props to the Macintosh.
While we were in post production on the pilot (a VERY rushed experience, that), I made the floating "LOST" word on my trusty 12" Apple laptop.* It was always meant to be temporary.* The weird tones you hear was something I did on the Mac as well.* Before we aired the first episodes, we actually hired a pro title company to put together a title sequence.* I wrote a theme song (even recorded an orchestra playing it), but at the end of the day, it all felt... well, not like the show.* While it was FINE, what it FELT like was a typical TV show, and it just didn't get us excited.
That one 3D word, just floating toward the camera, out, then in, then out of focus, just felt like LOST.* So we kept it.* And now, every time I see it on air, it makes me laugh, 'cause it was just a goofy placeholder that's now on national TV every week.
Continued props to the Macintosh.
Well good for the Mac, yes, but here's to hoping they fix this by next season. Or maybe the rendering artifacts are a hidden clue? Hmmm...
posted by Robert at July 18, 2006
3 Comments:
I always liked the original title sequence, artifacts be damned! It's deceptively simple, a plain font blurred but still readable, always twisting (just like the plots) and then briefly coming into focus for a second before blurring again. It plays into the entire theme of Lost, which is lots of mysteries, then a brief revelation, followed by more ambiguity. Don't mess with it if it ain't broke!
Oh don't get me wrong, I love the title sequence, I just wish they would fix that rendering artifact. I wonder if J.J. used Maya? I'll fix it for him!
So how does an artifact like that get created? Just curious. Would this issue have been avoided if J.J. used TrueSpace?
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