Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500164
T H E L A S T O F U S | P E R S P E C T I V E 1 1 5 coda. Another idea that was important was finding beauty in the decay but avoiding what I would call "disaster porn." Finding that sweet spot between the two would be the key to giving the show the right gravitas. Right from the start, the emphasis was to have our heroes walk through real practical sets with a minimum of VFX. This applied to streets and locations as well. I had a direction, and the rich source material of the game. The show bible laid out the world. The scripts were dense with detail and action. Each episode would have the scope and scale of a blockbuster period film. Because Joel and Ellie are traversing the country, we would not have any repeating or standing sets. In the end, this epic journey would require the creation of some ninety-eight sets, three of which were multi-acre backlots, and over one hundred eighty locations. Throw in Calgary's harsh winter weather and working at the height of the COVID pandemic. I knew the amazing team of people we would pull together and I were in for quite a journey ourselves! To create the idyllic pre-infection time in the story, set in suburban Austin and an outlying town, I wanted to make sure the palette here was warm, and emphasized colors that would not exist after electricity is virtually nonexistent. Adobe browns, yellows and bright flowers were added to our cul-de-sac location. One thing quickly became apparent in my location scouting: Calgary is pine tree country and finding a neighborhood of deciduous foliage was difficult. This would become a constant chore as the characters go from the East Coast of the states to the West Coast. T h e L a s t o f U s T H E B U I L T W O R L D I S U N B U I L T, T H E N R E B U I L T B Y J O H N PA I N O , P R O D U C T I O N D E S I G N E R A. CUL-DE-SAC SET BUILT ON A PARKING LOT ADJACENT TO CALGARY FILM STUDIO STAGES. B. DETAIL OF A MOOD BOARD BY JOHN PAINO. B