"LOST" In the Jungle with cinematographer John S. Bartle

Thanks to ginasimpson205 for the heads up.

I've just returned to Hollywood from spending a week in the jungle, where I visited cinematographer, John S. Bartley, ASC on the set of the hit television show, Lost. One of the most ambitious and cinematic network series on the air today, the show packs in an hour the production value of a big budget studio feature. Shooting on location in Hawaii might sound like a glamorous proposition, but imagine having to carry heavy camera cases, lighting equipment, or pushing around a video village cart in the sand or over thick vegetation roots on the jungle floor. I personally didn't have to lug anything around, but was eaten alive by mosquitoes, covered head to toe in mud, and basically a hot, sweaty mess by the time I got back to my hotel room each night.

Lost is currently finishing production on their fifth season, for a total of 17 episodes. A typical episode is shot in 10 days, with two of those days including a 2nd unit shooting simultaneously. Like most one-hour dramas, Lost has two cinematographers that alternate with each episode allowing one to prep, while the other shoots. Cort Fey was shooting 2nd unit and location scouting, while I spent time on set with Bartley. My visit coincided with the production of the two-hour season finale, an animal all its own, scheduled for 20 shoot days with 7.5 overlapping 2nd unit days. I was sworn to secrecy about any plot points or story reveals, which was fine by me as a huge fan of the show! With all the time travel, flashbacks and flash forwards in the narrative of Lost, and by shooting scenes out of chronological order, it was actually very easy to stay confused about the story. For me, I was primarily interested in learning about how John Bartley captures the beautiful images he does on film and about the challenges, as a cinematographer, he faces every day on a show of this magnitude.

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Source: Kodak