Hey, an episode set in my country!

I was pretty surprised by the dialogue, too. Sounded very natural and easy to understand. No comparison to Jennifer Garner's babbling on "Alias". Either the actors are fluent in German (they did have accents, though), or they had a damn good language trainer.

Only thing that confused me was the building with the German and the Bavarian flag, especially when the episode was supposedly set in Berlin. Bavaria is waaaaay more south. Also, what was the flag doing on the building? Was it supposed to be a government building? In that case, there shouldn't be shops on the floor level...

Hey, an episode set in my country!

I was pretty surprised by the dialogue, too. Sounded very natural and easy to understand. No comparison to Jennifer Garner's babbling on "Alias". Either the actors are fluent in German (they did have accents, though), or they had a damn good language trainer.

Only thing that confused me was the building with the German and the Bavarian flag, especially when the episode was supposedly set in Berlin. Bavaria is waaaaay more south. Also, what was the flag doing on the building? Was it supposed to be a government building? In that case, there shouldn't be shops on the floor level...

Nevermore,

So maybe you could answer this question that's been bugging me. From this screencap (http://bp3.blogger.com/_RrObyQ3XzcY/R7WucG3EfYI/AAAAAAAATxY/fr5X63rK0gQ/s1600-h/lost.s04e03.720p.hdtv.x264-ctu.mkv_000551801.jpg), would you say that this is a scene filmed in Berlin? Or are they still shooting every scene from Honolulu?

Nevermore,

So maybe you could answer this question that's been bugging me. From this screencap (http://bp3.blogger.com/_RrObyQ3XzcY/R7WucG3EfYI/AAAAAAAATxY/fr5X63rK0gQ/s1600-h/lost.s04e03.720p.hdtv.x264-ctu.mkv_000551801.jpg), would you say that this is a scene filmed in Berlin? Or are they still shooting every scene from Honolulu?


from Lostpedia


The menu in the restaurant where Sayid (http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Sayid) meets Elsa (http://lostpedia.com/wiki/Elsa) for the first time features numerous glaring spelling errors: "Tages Menu" ("menu of the day"; correct would be "Tagesmenü", although at least the parsing is an error actually found in many German restaurants); "Grilltes Huhnerfilet mit Gemüse" ("grilled chicken filet with vegetables"; correct would be "Gegrilltes Hühnerfilet mit Gemüse"); "Steak mit Knobloch Kartoffen" ("steak with garlic potatoes"; correct would be "Steak mit Knoblauchkartoffeln"); and "Gulash mit Bratkartoffen" ("goulash with roast potatoes"; correct would be "Gulasch mit Bratkartoffeln").
At the place Elsa marks on the map is no restaurant. At this place is the Humboldt University of Berlin
After Sayid exits the bar, a building in the background can be seen sporting two flags on flagpoles. One of them is the German State Flag (which may only be used by federal authorities); the other one is the Bavarian flag (Bavaria is the Southern state of Germany; this is supposed to be German's capital city, Berlin). Although there is a Bavarian representation in Berlin, the building the flags are hanging from has stores on its floor level, which is rather unusual for government buildings.
Behind-the-scenes photos revealed back in October 2007 the name of one of the aforementioned stores as "Weinlese Teppich", which translates as "grape harvest carpet". [1] (http://spoilerslost.blogspot.com/2007/10/hawaii-goes-german.html) Unless the store's owner goes by the highly unusual name of "Weinlese", this appears to be a mangled translation of "vintage carpet".
Most of pedestrian signs on Berlin's roads have another type of "walking man" figure. Not like on this shot. "Walking man" sign is well-known part of modern Berlin.
In addition, there are no yellow stripes on sidewalks in Germany either.
Berlin actually has an effective winter service, so it'd be highly unlikely to see huge chunks of snow on the street there like in this episode.

True, I noticed the same things... The other thing I noticed - but only because this is something which is frequently done wrong in movies and TV shows for some reason and I can't not pay attention to it anymore - are the license plates: you can't really see them on that screenshot, but if you look closely, you can tell that they don't quite look like German license plates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_car_number_plates).

Hey, an episode set in my country!

I was pretty surprised by the dialogue, too. Sounded very natural and easy to understand. No comparison to Jennifer Garner's babbling on "Alias". Either the actors are fluent in German (they did have accents, though), or they had a damn good language trainer.

Only thing that confused me was the building with the German and the Bavarian flag, especially when the episode was supposedly set in Berlin. Bavaria is waaaaay more south. Also, what was the flag doing on the building? Was it supposed to be a government building? In that case, there shouldn't be shops on the floor level...

http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage-1376-73.html

Bewohner mit Parkausweis
Inhabitant with Parka etc ice?

Does this mean no parking when there's snow? or something like that ;)

http://gallery.lost-media.com/displayimage-1376-73.html

Bewohner mit Parkausweis
Inhabitant with Parka etc ice?

Does this mean no parking when there's snow? or something like that ;)

No, it doesn't. Though it's a cute idea ;)
Bewohner mit Parkausweis actually means 'residents with parking permit', in this case for Zone 29 of Berlin, are allowed to park in this street, but nobody else.
Actually, that sign is a little weird, because above it is the sign warning the drivers of pedestrians crossing the roads.
Now, we Germans do love our signs and have many more of them than actually needed, but actually the times on that sign don't really make sense.
The way this sign reads, residents are allowed to park in the street at the given times. The times are a bit odd, since normally those signs announce parking prohibited or parking requires fee during daytime and resident parking at night. That's how it's usually done. But then again, if it's supposed to be Germany they got one thing right - the signs don't always make sense.
I think they just copied two German streetsigns but then arranged them in a weird combination :biggrin:

Only thing that confused me was the building with the German and the Bavarian flag, especially when the episode was supposedly set in Berlin. Bavaria is waaaaay more south.
Probably an allusion to the Illuminati.

Nevermore,

So maybe you could answer this question that's been bugging me. From this screencap (http://bp3.blogger.com/_RrObyQ3XzcY/R7WucG3EfYI/AAAAAAAATxY/fr5X63rK0gQ/s1600-h/lost.s04e03.720p.hdtv.x264-ctu.mkv_000551801.jpg), would you say that this is a scene filmed in Berlin? Or are they still shooting every scene from Honolulu?

It's shot on Oahu actually. We got behind-the-scenes photos for that scene back in October.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=80503210&blogID=316362437

I do think that a German Lost fansite had an April Fool's joke last year about an episode of Lost actually being shot in Berlin and looking for extras. However, that was really just an April Fool's joke. :)

from Lostpedia

*snip*

Yeah, I added most of that (although a lot of the things were discovered by other German fans). Still, overall, I think they did quite a good job, just so long as you don't bother to check out the fine details. ;)

The wording and grammar in the dialogue also wasn't always 100% accurate, and on occasion the subtitles were swapped (as in, subtitle 2 for line 1 and vice versa), but the pronunciation still came across a lot more natural and easier to follow than what I've heard on most other shows. And I'm just glad we didn't get more "JAWOLL HER GRUPPENSTURMFÜHRER ZU BEFEHL!" wartime stereotypes...

I think some fellow German fans also pointed out that the clothes look a little odd for Germany.

Still, the overall "feel" is well done, it's just the fine details that don't quite line up. :)

Probably an allusion to the Illuminati.

The who the what now?

The problem on Alias is they had the actors have whole conversations in foreign languages, while Sayid openly admitted he spoke little. And I remember a few guest actors on Alias spoke good German.

Probably an allusion to the Illuminati.

That had me laughing out loud. Great idea!

It's shot on Oahu actually. We got behind-the-scenes photos for that scene back in October.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=80503210&blogID=316362437


Thanks for answering that, Nevermore!

Hey, an episode set in my country!

I was pretty surprised by the dialogue, too. Sounded very natural and easy to understand. No comparison to Jennifer Garner's babbling on "Alias". Either the actors are fluent in German (they did have accents, though), or they had a damn good language trainer.



The actress who played Elsa is actually Dutch, so German shouldn't have been that big a problem for her. I was actually more stunned by her English.

The actress who played Elsa is actually Dutch, so German shouldn't have been that big a problem for her. I was actually more stunned by her English.

As Sayid said: Everybody in Europe speaks english.^^

I didn't know the actress was dutch, but now you said it, I rewatched the parts where she speaks german and indeed noticed a quite obvious dutch accent.
Funny little detail.^^

Hey, an episode set in my country!

I was pretty surprised by the dialogue, too. Sounded very natural and easy to understand. No comparison to Jennifer Garner's babbling on "Alias". Either the actors are fluent in German (they did have accents, though), or they had a damn good language trainer.

Only thing that confused me was the building with the German and the Bavarian flag, especially when the episode was supposedly set in Berlin. Bavaria is waaaaay more south. Also, what was the flag doing on the building? Was it supposed to be a government building? In that case, there shouldn't be shops on the floor level...

I am living in Hamburg, Germany. I wasn't confused by the flags. It might be a Hotel like "Bayerischer Hof" or something. It doesn't neccessarily mean that this is a government building.
Of course the name "Weinlese Teppiche" is a bit weird. It would only work if Weinlese is the name of the shopkeeper (which is a very unlikely name since it's meaning is "grape harvest"). Maybe the guy sells carpets (Teppiche) and has a hidden grape plantage somewhere....

I had some probs understanding the german but it is OK. The waiter indeed spoke perfectly.
The car plates weren't accurate but - hey, Berlin is an international city - why shouldn't there be some cars from foreign countries? (I doubt that a car from Oahu is likely to be found here...)

It's bit weird how the "snow" looks like and how it is placed across the scene. Especcially the bits that lie at the waste basket's from which Sayid takes a handful to wash his hands. It's too much in my opinion compared to the bits on the ground.

But, forget it - it's just the movie and I am always pleased to see my home country "mentioned" on US-based series. ("Millenium", "Alias" etc.). Which makes me wonder how much people from other depicted countries could rage about some discrepancies regarding their landmarks etc.

It's bit weird how the "snow" looks like and how it is placed across the scene. Especcially the bits that lie at the waste basket's from which Sayid takes a handful to wash his hands. It's too much in my opinion compared to the bits on the ground.
It looks like the end of the day when the fish market dumps its crushed ice into the gutter -- unsurprising since Lost indeed uses for snow crushed ice intended for packing fish, as explained on one of the podcasts. My friend (who also knows Damon) Nadine is disappointed Damon turned down use of my patented foaming formula (with which he is intimately acquainted) for Lost, considering that similar soapsuds are shown being used to simulate snow in La Nuit Americaine (Day for Night), a movie about special effects. However, I explained to her that soap foam wouldn't work right to show Rose's car stuck in "snow" or Sayid grabbing some "snow". But if someone has to take a bubble bath on Lost and gets a rash, don't blame me!

Robert

"Grape Harvest Carpet"?!?

Wasn't that the planned two-man jazz fusion act featuring Charlie Pace and Derek Smalls that was scheduled to tour the Rhineland when Driveshaft* and Spinal Tap were both "on hiatus"?

- mnw

*(Auf Deutsch ist "Drive-geschafft"?)

My friend (who also knows Damon) Nadine is disappointed Damon turned down use of my patented foaming formula (with which he is intimately acquainted) for Lost, considering that similar soapsuds are shown being used to simulate snow in La Nuit Americaine (Day for Night), a movie about special effects.

Maybe the city officials of Honolulu frown on using foaming agents on their public streets. They have enough trouble with controlling the pollutants in the runoff from downtown Honolulu that ends up in the harbor and on the beaches. And if you start messing with the harbor and beaches in Hawaii, you're in for a big pile of trouble!

"Grape Harvest Carpet"?!?

I assume they were aiming for "vintage carpet". As "Weinlese" can apparently also mean "vintage" - but only in the strictly wine-related sense, not in the "antique stuff" sense.

And either way, it'd be an extremely generic store name. Just like the (incorrectly parsed) "Blumen Laden" next to it - which simply means "flower shop".

That'd be like calling your Italian restaurant "Italian Restaurant".

I'm happy it wasn't set in Italy: we would have had the usual guitar mandolin, mafia and spaghetti with somebody speaking with Neapolitan accent, even if you are in Milan. I hate it, always been symbolized like that :shakehead: .

Yes, Nevermore. I suppose they might have confused the word vintage. Maybe the prop department should contact the two of us which names would make sense. BTW: carpet shops are very often run by turkish or arabian people in Germany. So it would made sense to add an arabian or turkish sounding name here - maybe: "Sayid Jarrar's big carpet store" - along with some "Sale because of closing down!" signs.

I suppose nobody of the prop department is aware how closely we all look at HD-screenshots. hahaha....

The guys who are going to digitize Startrek TOS for HD-TV are replacing the tactical display's of the Captain's bridge and correct errors regarding Capt. Christopher Pike's birthdate because they know how the fans will analyse the HD-images.....

I suppose nobody of the prop department is aware how closely we all look at HD-screenshots. hahaha....

Well, according to Gregg, they are.

http://www.thefuselage.com/Threaded/showpost.php?p=1532048&postcount=2