The lack of showy creatures in Season 4 of Lost did not mean the vfx crew was not busy. They had to create mostly invisible type of vfx, like the animation for a spiraling plane inside an aquarium. All images © ABC.

Mitch Suskin, the new vfx supervisor on Lost, was able to complete the first eight episodes of Season 4 before the WGA strike halted production. "The strike has thrown a crimp in things," he suggests. The initial eight episodes were meant to lay the groundwork for the final eight of the originally planned 16-episode season; the second part has now been abbreviated to five additional episodes, for a total of 13.

Since the first half of the series was primarily about building a foundation for what was to come, there were not a lot of creatures or other new vfx designs. "It was mostly transitioning Hawaii to whatever we needed it to be," Suskin explains, noting that several scenes took place in locations such as Los Angeles, Berlin or the desert. "It's about making the most of Oahu, and removing Oahu when we needed to. In the first half of the season, vfx was playing a supporting role."

The lack of showy creatures did not mean the vfx crew was not busy, however. "It was mostly the invisible type of vfx," says Suskin. Viewers probably were not aware that underwater scenes or shots of Faraday parachuting included vfx shots, for example, or that the satellite phone or GPS tracking devices that play a central role in the series are almost all vfx.

"Whenever you see that [GPS device], it's a block of wood, basically," Suskin adds. In the beginning, the producers didn't realize the device would be used so much, so they didn't build a prop, using vfx to fill in the backlit screen and other details.

These shots can be difficult to pull off. "The things that you don't see are the biggest challenge sometimes," Suskin points out. "When viewers are looking at a smoke monster, they want to believe it, but they know it's not real, and they've never seen one before. But when you want it 100% real [as with the GPS device] and not let the audience know you've tampered with the shot, that's more of a challenge."

In one close-up, a toy airplane representing Flight 815 was falling through the water in an aquarium. The initial idea was to use a prop. "But it's impossible to get a toy plane to spiral the way you want it to," Suskin insists. He received a call from the set saying they needed help with the scene. They shot a clean plate and the vfx team was able to create the animation for the spiraling plane, even with the gravel moving slightly as it touched down. And all this was done on short notice.

One bit of trivia for Lost watchers: The toy plane was originally a Lockheed L-1011, a three-engine plane, which mirrored the make of the plane that was to be Flight 815 as it crashed on the island. However, early on in the production, a decision had been made to change the plane from an L-1011, which is an older-model aircraft, to a two-engine Boeing 777. The vfx team did its best to alter the plane so it would be the right model, but the result is a bit of a hybrid.

That points up something that's important in vfx when doing a cult show such as Lost, where loyal viewers spend a lot of time trying to interpret every detail. "Everything has a meaning, so we have to be careful," Suskin suggests. "We need to keep the facts straight and the world of Lost consistent."

The shots of Faraday parachuting included vfx shots. Most of the vfx team has been on the show since the beginning, and the tools have remained essentially the same. 

Evolving Technology
Suskin, who has been on the show's vfx team off and on since the pilot and supervised the two-hour Season 3 finale as well as Season 4, reports that no new tools or technologies have been used to create the vfx so far this year. Most of the team has been on the show since the beginning, and the tools have remained essentially the same.

Suskin says he and the crew will consider new tools or techniques when a desired effect "is cooler, faster, bigger, better than we've done before," citing new creatures or fluid dynamics as examples. But about 80% of the work so far this year has been compositing, which is done on Combustion at Seven Crows Visual Effects, which also does rotoscoping. Matte painting is done by BlackPool Studios on Photoshop and After Effects and 3D animation by Eden FX on LightWave. QuickTime is used to create a rough inital edit.