The Orchid Orientation video was a video produced by the DHARMA Initiative to explain the functions and properties of the Orchid station to the DHARMA workers who were stationed there. It was, like the other DHARMA films, hosted by Dr. Pierre Chang, this time under the pseudonym "Dr. Edgar Halliwax". When Ben and Locke entered the Orchid, Ben found the video in a drawer and gave it to Locke to keep him occupied so Ben could work on moving the Island. In the video, Dr. Halliwax discussed the purpose of the Orchid station and appeared to be about to conduct a time-travel experiment before the tape automatically rewound in mid-sentence. ("There's No Place Like Home, Part 2")
Orientation video[]
This is the video from "There's No Place Like Home, Part 2".
Transcript[]
“ |
Items in italics represent comments. As you've no doubt surmised, station six, or The Orchid, is not a botanical research unit. The unique properties of this island have created a kind of Casimir effect, allowing the DHARMA initiative to conduct unique experiments in both space and time. This is the vault, constructed adjacent to a pocket of what we believe to be negatively charged "exotic matter". Great care must be taken to avoid leaving inorganic materials inside the chamber. The electromagnetic energy within the Island can be highly volatile and unpredictable. Now for your own safety and the safety of those around you, metallic objects must never be placed within the vault. In our first demonstration, we will attempt to shift the test subject 100 milliseconds ahead (in) four-dimensional space. For the briefest of the moments, the animal will seem to disappear, but in reality... tape starts to rewind |
” |
Time discrepancy[]
There appears to be approximately a 90 second time discrepancy between the video's actual elapsed time compared to the VCR playback counter.
- Actual start-time 0:00 / VCR start-time unknown: The video begins with the standard station intro screen and music, then goes directly into Edgar's greeting.
- Actual end-time 1:35 / VCR end-time 3:06: Approximately 90 seconds later, the video begins to rewind for no apparent reason; however, the VCR shows that 3 minutes have elapsed.
- VCR end-time of 3:06 can be deduced since the first shot of VCR playback counter, reading 3:04, happens at the actual time 1:37 mark, 2 second after the tape auto-rewound (i.e., 3:04 + 0:02 = 3:06)
There are a few explanations for this discrepancy:
- It was a completely unintentional production mistake and should be considered a blooper/continuity error; in other words, they didn't intend for us to notice the times.
- The VCR playback counter started at 1:31 and wasn't reset to 0:00 by Ben or Locke before playback; therefore, it's unintentional but explainable within the context of the episode.
- An estimated VCR start-time of 1:31 can be deduced by subtracting the actual end-time from the VCR end-time (i.e., 3:06 - 1:35 = 1:31)
- The unusual time properties of the Orchid caused approximately 90 seconds of video to take twice as long to playback (i.e., 90 second * 2 = 3 minutes)
- It is standard practice on TV to leave 1 empty minute, then 30 seconds of "bars" with a 1KHz tone for audio at the start of every tape. The first actual useful timecode for a standard pro TV video tape is 1:31. The production team might have adjusted the timecodes the way they are used to do.
Outtakes[]
The Orchid Orientation film outtakes are a set of clips/outtakes from the filming of the orientation for the Orchid station. It was first presented at Comic-Con 2007 by the Lost panel, and later appeared on ABC's website as well as on the Region 1 third season DVDs.
ABC.com video[]
This is the outtakes video from ABC's official website, without the profanity and countdown alarm sound. When the object drops, it seems to make no crashing sound.
Comic-Con video[]
Adult content and/or strong language This article/section contains language and subject matter not suitable for younger readers or those who are easily offended. |
This is the video as it premiered at Comic-Con, with the profanity, countdown alarm sound, crashing sound, and audience reaction.
Outtakes transcript[]
This transcript is based on the outtakes video found on ABC.com. For a transcript of the preceding interview, including the introductory information for this video, see Official Lost Podcast transcript/August 2, 2007.
“ |
[A test pattern card with a DHARMA logo is held up as indistinct whispers are barely audible. The film jerks and clarifies to show Halliwax. A woman is applying make-up to his face.] HALLIWAX: I'll never get used to wearing make-up. MALE VOICE: You look great! It takes away the shine. HALLIWAX: Who cares if I shine? I'm a scientist, I'm not a... [Film jumps to show a rabbit on a table. A female assistant lifts it up and passes it into Halliwax's arms.] MALE VOICE: Turn the rabbit around, please. [Halliwax does so, revealing a painted number 15 on the animal's side.] MALE VOICE: Got it. [Film jumps again; an image of Gerald DeGroot is shown for a brief moment.] HALLIWAX: Hello. I'm Doctor Edgar Halliwax, and this is the Orientation Film for Station 6 of the DHARMA Initiative. As you [the Narvik building overlaps for a brief moment] have no doubt surmised, Station 6, or "the Orchid", is not a botanical research... [cut, image of building in swan orientation film when "social engineering" is mentioned can briefly be seen] We apologize for asking you to deceive your family and colleagues. This is, of course, in the interest of their own security. The unique properties of this Island created a kind of Casimir effect, allowing us to... [A shot of the Room 23 film is very briefly shown, reading "God loves you as He loved Jacob". The film resumes with Halliwax holding the rabbit again.] HALLIWAX: The field you have been selected to study is highly volatile and potentially dangerous. But, over the next few minutes we will demonstrate the elaborate safety measures that have been put in place to ensure... [an object falls from above Halliwax with no crashing noise] ... the hell?! [On the shelf above Halliwax is another white rabbit with the number 15 painted on its side. Several people start shouting, and the assistant runs past Halliwax.] MALE VOICE: Hey, what is that?! What's going on...?! ASSISTANT: Oh God, it's fifteen! HALLIWAX: ... the hell?!* ASSISTANT: Negative 20! [A recorded female voice counts backwards from ten, cutting off at "three".] HALLIWAX: How long? ASSISTANT: Nine minutes, but we're still learning how to...! HALLIWAX: [looks at camera] Why is that still running? MALE VOICE: He told me to keep the camera running... HALLIWAX: Turn it off. Turn it off! [The camera cuts briefly to an upside down frame of someone riding a bicycle through the Barracks. (In the Comic-Con version, during this brief intercut, a voice—possibly Halliwax's—says something that sounds like "stop the virus".) The film then cuts back to Halliwax without any alarm or chaos.] HALLIWAX: Hello. I'm Doctor Edgar Halliwax, and this is the Orientation Film for Station 6 of the DHARMA Initiative. As you have no doubt surmised, Station 6, or "the Orchid", is not a botanical research unit. [The film cuts off.] |
” |
- *Note that Halliwax's line "... the fuck?!" from the original Comic-con screening was changed to "... the hell?!" in the publicly-distributed version on the ABC website. Also the alarm sound present in the original screening, apparently the same as the Swan's countdown clock alarm sound, was removed.
See also[]
- Dharma booth video, shown at Comic-Con 2008
Trivia[]
- The logo on Halliwax's jacket is from The Swan.
- There are several split-second cuts in the film of images from other DHARMA Initiative videos:
- 0:40: Gerald DeGroot and students in a laboratory, from the Swan Orientation Film
- 0:49: The Hanso Foundation building in Denmark, also from the Swan Orientation Video
- 1:10: A title card reading "God loves you as He loved Jacob," from the Room 23 video
- 1:43: An inverted shot of a bicyclist riding through the Barracks
- A bicycle (in a rather deteriorated state) can be seen on the ground when Sayid, Kate and Miles visit the Barracks to rescue Charlotte from Locke's group. ("The Economist") It may or may not be the same bicycle as the one seen on the video.
- The rabbits in the film have the number 15 on them. In "Every Man for Himself", a rabbit with the number 8 on its back was shown to Sawyer.
- The second rabbit numbered 15 does not appear until after the incident, suggesting the arrival of this cloned/replicated/future/past 15 caused the incident to occur.
- In the episode "The Shape of Things to Come", Ben awoke suddenly in the middle of the Tunisian Sahara wearing a hooded parka bearing a name tag reading "Halliwax", the alias used in the orientation film, and the Orchid logo.
- The background changes after the "God loves you as he loved Jacob" cut:
- The black bottle behind Halliwax is replaced with a microscope, presumably the one that was on the shelf to his right before the cut.
- A red rectangular object appears on the shelf to his right, above where the microscope had been.
- The outtakes shown at Comic-Con 2007 is included on the region B release of the Season 3 Blu-ray set.
Unanswered questions[]
Unanswered questions |
---|
|
- For fan theories about these unanswered questions, see: Orchid Orientation video/Theories
- Why does the tape automatically rewind in mid-sentence?
- Why do the rabbits need to be kept apart?