Lost

The television series Lost is a mainstream text, in which the majority of the audience are passive, they simply watch the show and enjoy. We know this from it's usage of technical conventions and narrative.

The first convention that makes me believe this is a mainstream text is in the first minute of the second episode, a non-linear narrative. We start off by seeing 3 characters walking in the forest, we assume this is where the entire show will be set, however, we then suddenly get a close up of a male character and then a cut to this same character sat on a plane, this is a flashback, which is a very mainstream technical convention.

Another convention that makes me believe this is a mainstream text is the usage of lots of enigma codes. Enigma codes are usually shown just before an advert break to make sure the audience come back for more, this is very commonly used. One or two examples of this are when John Lock and Walt are on the beach, they are both having a friendly chat on the beach discussing an old game, when all of a sudden there is a change in the music score, it becomes much darker, a close up and zoom is then used on John to whom then says 'wanna know a secret?', the clip then changes. Another example of an enigma code is right at the end of the episode, when a group of our characters have gone on a hike, to then find out a loop of 'help me, please save me, it killed them all' being played through a radio transmission for 16 years, the score then once again reflects the mood and Charly says 'Guys, where are we?', it then cuts to the end of the episode.

Another convention which adheres to the mainstream is