PRODUCTION. THE LAST OF US
a grid formation of 40x20ft, totalling 400 individual lights.” The grid effect allowed wind to pass through, while the quantity of lights gave an ambient and soft enough room tone in place of a textile. Bolter wanted the moonlight to have a colder-than-neutral silvery look, without slipping too far into movie moonlight. Knowing he’d have real fire sources after the explosion, he rated cameras at 3200K and targeted the moonlight sources to 4000K with some added green. “Once the fire started, I chose certain Skypanels and overhead tubes to emulate fire; we also used some off-camera Dino Light 12kW tungstens for when we needed a bit more throw, and hard shadows with fire effect,” Bolter discloses. STAND-ALONE EPISODES It feels as though each episode in the series is a feature film in itself. If you haven’t reached episode 3 yet, feel free to skip this section. For the rest of you, Long, Long Time covers 15 years in the life of Bill and Frank. By the end, it’s implied Frank has an incurable illness and spends most of his days struggling with basic tasks. They get married, have a last meal together and die in each other’s arms. “What’s life worth living for; to survive for survival’s sake, even if it means being on your own in some insular survivalist fantasy?” asks Bolter. “At what point do you get bored? Craig came up with this wonderful idea to show how you can actually win in an apocalypse. You win if you’re lucky enough to have love. The two of you can build a life and then go
out on your own terms. And that’s what they did.” Mazin and Bolter agreed the best way to shoot the idea was to include a lot of mirroring. “We wanted to mirror what we did the first time they met,” Bolter says. “Frank sits in the same seat and Bill comes through the door the same way. We moved the plate and the rabbit round. There are lots of little touches at the start and finish. We knew at the beginning we wanted them to sit far apart at either end of the table, during daytime, to show it’s the emergence of the relationship. We knew at the end we wanted them to sit much closer together, in the nighttime, and this was the end of their story.” Lighting also played a key role in how the last moments of the characters’ lives were delivered to the audience. “It was a case of using practical light, a combination of candlelight and tungsten warmth,” explains Bolter. “That and three cameras cross shooting gave the actors the freedom to do what they wanted.” The Last of Us is available to watch on Now in the UK and HBO Max in the US “The grid effect allowed wind to pass through, while the quantity of lights gave ambient and soft enough room tone”
SINGING PRAISES The Last of Us treats viewers to feature film quality, not just in one, but in all of the nine episodes
TWO-HANDER Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) must navigate a brutal landscape in order to bring hope to humanity
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