Saturday, November 26, 2011

LOST Tour de Stade

After a few stops in Honolulu our Hawaiian Escapades van set off for its final destination -- Oahu's North Shore. On the way we passed by Aloha Stadium which appears in three episodes of the show.

Its first appearance is in the season 2 opener, Man of Science, Man of Faith. It serves as backdrop to a chance encounter between Jack and Desmond, a meeting which precedes their time in the Swan Station by several years.

The Season 2 finale, Live Together, Die Alone, revisits the same night but shows us an emotional conversation between Desmond and Penny that occurs immediately prior to his run-in with Jack.

A final visit to the stadium occurs in the flash-sideways, shortly after Desmond "wakes up". This time Penny runs the tour de stade. I guess even in the after-life one has to stay in shape.

Monday, November 21, 2011

LOST Tour: Bus Be Burkely

Season 3's Not In Portland features one of the more abrupt deaths in series history when Juliet's ex-husband is hit by a bus in front of his Miami workplace. After checking out some downtown Honolulu's LOST landmarks our Hawaiian Escapades tour made a quick drive-by of the building used for these scenes.

This is a better view, taken by Ryan Ozawa in October 2006 around the time that the episode was filmed.
Below photo courtesy Ryan Ozawa.

And this is how it appeared on-screen as Edmund Burke exits the building, walks toward the road, then runs into Juliet.

Several trees with lovely violet flowers can be found near the road. The first picture below was taken during our tour drive-by, the second during filming, and the third is lifted from the episode.
Below photo courtesy Ryan Ozawa.

There is also a very cool easter egg that is barely visible on-screen. Check out the bus in the upper left of the below screen cap.

The bus, which may or may not have an Other behind the wheel, has a major impact (literally) on the life of Edmund Burke. The side of the bus whooshes by in a fraction-of-a-second during the episode. Look familiar?

This behind-the-scenes shot from Ryan Ozawa provides a clearer view. "Full of Nuts", just like the LOST production team! (And LOST fandom, for that matter.)
Below photo courtesy Ryan Ozawa.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

LOST Tour: Fort Street Before Our Eyes

The Fort Street Mall is a pedestrian-only shopping area that stands-in in for London in several episodes of LOST, most notably Flashes Before Your Eyes but also Greatest Hits and Dead is Dead.

At 915 Fort Street stands the American Savings Bank which doubles as the headquarters of Widmore Industries. A telltale pattern of inlaid circular lights gives the location away. This is the building that an angry and confused Desmond departs after his meeting with Charles Widmore in Flashes, Charlie busks here in Greatest Hits, and this is the location at which Charles Widmore receives Ben's call informing him that daughter Penny is about to be Linusized.

The Widmore Industries signs look to have been practical rather than CG. One of them is visible in a behind-the-scenes shot below.
Below photo courtesy Ryan Ozawa, taken during a November 2006 shoot.

After exiting the Widmore Industries building Desmond swings left onto Fort Street only to run into...
Below photo courtesy @kiwilostie

... Charlie Pace, pre- Drive Shaft. These scenes were filmed at the intersection with Merchant Street.
Below photo courtesy @kiwilostie
About a block away, near the corner of Fort and Merchant one can find the satellite city hall entrance which doubled as a London underground stop.
Below photo courtesy Ryan Ozawa, taken during a November 2006 shoot.
This shot gives a sense of the geography of the scene -- the Widmore Industries building is immediately to the left of Desmond and the underground sign can be seen behind him.

The scene with Desmond and Eloise together on a bench was also filmed near the intersection of Fort and King. The Londony buildings in the background are CG.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

LOST Tour: Rose in Winter

Although I found Bernard's on-Island antics in season 2's S.O.S. somewhat ho-hum, I did enjoy the Rose and Bernard flashback which included their first meeting one cold and snowy night. That scene was filmed on a stretch of Marin Street between Smith and Nuuanu in downtown Honolulu.

I'll award Bernard a silver prize for second-best LOST faceplant.

The Sayid/Shannon awakening scene in The End was also filmed in this area.
Below photo courtesy @Scoutpost

The brick building houses O'Toole's Irish Pub. The pub interior is featured in Flashes Before Your Eyes.
Below photo courtesy @Scoutpost

At the end of Marin Street lies another pub -- Murphy's Bar and Grill. Its interior is used in flashback scenes from Homecoming and Lockdown.
Below photo courtesy @Scoutpost