LMGI COMPASS
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Summer 2023
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47
"LOCATION AND SETTING WERE SO CENTRAL TO THE JOURNEY OF THESE CHARACTERS. THE
LOCATIONS SET THE MOOD AND CREATED A LANDSCAPE FOR THE HARROWING EXPERIENCES THE
CHARACTERS NAVIGATE THROUGH IN A WORLD THAT HAD BEEN TRANSFORMED."
-SLM JASON NOLAN/LMGI
were called upon to find versions of Boston, Kansas
City, Wyoming, Texas and Utah so that Paino and the
art department could then turn them into overgrown
wastelands.
DIVING IN
Nolan started building his team immediately: He hired
KALM Antosz for the full run, along with a few others
he'd grown close with over the years, including scout/LM
Mohammad "Mo" Qazzaz/LMGI.
"The goal in the beginning," says Mo, "was to build up a
library of possible locations as quickly as possible."
Official prep began in January of 2021 with the shoot
set for July. Paino set about working to create the look of
the show, along with DP Ksenia Sereda. They connected
with Nolan immediately and were impressed by the team
he'd assembled.
"I thought they did a really good job finding places—
especially given our schedule—that could work for what
we needed or that could at least create a foundation we
could build on," says Paino.
Sereda echoes that sentiment. "Jason knew the area,
the people and he really understood how to support Neil
and Craig's vision for the show."
Paino's art department began churning out concept art
and, of course, they had the vision from the game which
Jason had seen in those art books he'd picked up early
on in the process.
They also found a valuable resource in YouTube.
"Gamers spend hours playing the game and then post
it all on YouTube," Mo explains, "so watching those
videos would give you a good idea of the feel of things
and, anytime a new set or location came about, the team
would start by looking at the location from the game on
YouTube and then we'd try to match it in real life."
"Everywhere we looked, we always kept the game in
mind, but then there are production realities that creep
in," adds Lam. "With a game, you can do whatever you
want, but when you're shooting live action in the real
world, although we were mucking up the real world,
there were other parameters that we really needed to
consider."
