PRODUCTION. THE LAST OF US
BALANCING ACT Having played The Last of Us themselves, the team knew the material well, giving justice to scenes that appear in both mediums
A dapting a video game to the visual medium of TV or cinema should come with a health warning. For every effort warmly received by critics and audiences ( Sonic the Hedgehog ), there are numerous that are nothing more than a cautionary tale ( Super Mario Bros and Mortal Kombat ). So, when the decision was taken to turn video game The Last of Us into a big-budget drama, a poisoned chalice was waiting. This nine-part series is a post- apocalyptic drama based on the 2013 title developed by Naughty Dog. Most of the action takes place 20 years after a mass fungal infection caused by a mutation in the genus cordyceps sparks a global pandemic, transforming hosts into hostile, cannibalistic, zombie-like creatures. “Writer and showrunner Craig Mazin had a 130-page show bible with the most detailed, thrilling breakdown of what the series was and how it should look and feel,” says Eben Bolter, cinematographer on the series. “It was all thoroughly thought out between he and Neil Druckmann – Naughty Dog co-president – before we started the initial pre-production phase.” Describing himself as a ‘day one player’ of the video game, Bolter was more than familiar with the world; much of his job interview was spent discussing how the team would interpret this iconic look for TV screens. “To be specific, we were interested in a cinematic naturalism – creating cinematic
“If anything felt too lit or fixed, Bolter and his team would try less lighting rather than more”
rooms, locations and situations without the artifice of Hollywood lighting, or glamorising close-ups,” Bolter recalls. “My challenge to myself was to try to light sets completely from outside – or inside – using practical lights in shot. I would usually light a set for a wide shot, then, when we go in for actors’ close-ups, bring in new lights to further enhance their shots. But on The Last of Us , we tried to embrace the imperfect; let actors move freely and react to the naturalism.” If ever anything felt too lit or fixed, Bolter and his team would try less lighting, rather than more. For those unfamiliar with the video game, it features a number of iconic shots and set-pieces. So, when it came to the same characters appearing in the same
locations, the team were forced to weigh up whether it was sagacious to recreate the shot. The decision was to do it on a case-by-case basis. “The answer was always an organic one; if we felt that in the room on the day it was still the best way to tell the story, then we would do the same shot, as to not do it would be obstructive to a fault,” says Bolter. “But if the new realities of our sets or what the actors were doing
NOT TAKEN LIGHTLY A lot of thought went into ways of lighting the production without making it feel too artificial, allowing scenes to remain organic
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