OTHER TECH

Here's an idea I threw at Masi. How about using BD-Live, the feature that connects Blu-ray Discs with the Internet? You pick a date where you have a live worldwide viewing, and all the fans watch, say, Episode 10 in real time, and then discuss it online, and maybe the star of the episode answers questions, also in real time as it's going on.

KRING: That's a fabulous idea.

ALEXANDER: We actually have talked about doing something like that. There are a lot of challenges in what you've just described, and as this is a new technology, people are figuring out what to do with it. Moving forward, hopefully we can figure out a way to make that happen, because it's a great idea.

The Heroes box-set packaging is clearly deliberate in how it opens and unfolds, especially with the comic-book lettering for Season 1 and the overall aesthetic of Season 2. You must have a very deliberate sense of how you want it to be, even down to how the boxes look sitting next to each other on the shelves.

KRING: There are some very cool things that we're adding to the special editions for various retailers. One thing I really love is the scrapbook that has framed Tim Sale artwork - it's fantastic. You get to see all the artwork and the corresponding film frames of the show, and see how they lived up to the idea - in other words, did the artwork come true? Because the paintings are actually premonitional moments, the viewer/fan really gets to study how well we lived up to [i.e., filmed] Tim's vision.

Cool. Another good extra would be to follow all the threads in the map that was in Isaac's loft in the future sequences.

ALEXANDER: The string map. Yeah. There was a Lost menu/extra that really connected all their storylines, I think. [True; see the Lost: Season 2 DVD set-MM]

Certainly the QC in what we see is very high here. What Season 2 moments do you consider your best-looking scenes, ones that will stand out on DVD and Blu-ray?

KRING: [pauses] We aim so high for everything, it's kind of tough to choose. We have to withstand the scrutiny of our special effects, so it really lives and dies on that. We always put extra care in those moments so we don't get dragged down by expectations.

Understood. For me, and Masi as well, one of the most powerful moments is the cherry blossoms scene in "Lizards," Episode 2 of Season 2. It's a beautiful-looking sequence.

KRING: That was a really spectacular one, I agree.

ALEXANDER: Me too. Everybody here is dedicated to making every moment of the show feature-level quality. Having come from serialized shows, for me, the DVD and Blu-ray formats are the best way to watch the show. You can watch it at your own pace and really get deep into the narrative. For people to experience a narrative at their own pace and get the visual and audio quality at the maximum theater-quality level is unparalleled in terms of what you're going to get, TV-boxsetwise.

In my mind, the three top network shows that are benchmarks for audio and visual quality are Heroes, Lost, and 24.

KRING: Thanks. We know we exist in a very competitive world, and we feel we also have to compete with the HBOs and the Showtimes - not just their regular series, but the fact that you can watch the latest $200 million blockbuster in high-def and on the same system that you're watching us. We feel we have to compete at that level, especially when you enter the realm of special effects. Therefore, we spend a tremendous amount of time dealing with the post-production of this show - the color-timing, just getting everything dialed in. We have to.