Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1505114
o c t o b e r • n o v e m b e r • d e c e m b e r 2 0 2 2 c g w 7 S et two decades into a devastating global pandemic, HBO's The Last of Us is a post-apocalyptic story of survival, perse- verance, and hope. Inspired by developer Naughty Dog's ac- claimed video game franchise of the same name, the series explores a world that has collapsed aer the outbreak of a massive fungal infection that transforms humans into violent, zombie-like creatures. The series, which received 24 Emmy nominations, follows hard- ened smuggler Joel (Pedro Pascal) as he takes on the daunting task of protecting Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a tough 14-year-old girl whose immunity may be the key to saving humanity. The unlikely pair must brave the unknown and traverse the uncharted ruins of the United States, encountering terrifying hordes of infected fungal creatures and viciously dangerous human survivors along the way. Visual effects played an essential role in bringing the post-apoc- alyptic world of The Last of Us to life on screen. Wētā FX delivered close to 500 VFX shots for the project, focusing on the creation of infected Clicker and Bloater creatures, CG animals, environmen- tal transformations and extensions, and pivotal battle sequences. Two key members of the Wētā team, VFX supervisor Simon Jung and animation supervisor Dennis Yoo, shared insights into their Em- my-nominated work on the series. C G W : C A N Y O U P R O V I D E A N O V E R V I E W O F Y O U R W O R K O N T H E S E R I E S ? Simon Jung: Wētā FX delivered 482 VFX shots in total, ranging from simple set extensions and the weathering of buildings to full CG environments. The creature work consisted of hordes of Infected, which we see in the battle scene in Episode 5 and in the Faneuil Hall environment, the Clickers inside the Bostonian Museum, the Bloat- er, the Child Clicker and a digital double of Perry [Jeffrey Pierce] in the battle scene outside Kansas. We also created animals, namely the monkeys at the university campus and the lab, the deer that Ellie shoots, and the giraffes in the final episode. Dennis Yoo: On the motion side of the show, we had to find and create the performances for all of our CGI creatures. As Simon men- tioned, this included finding performances for crowds of Infected, animals, and monsters like the Clickers, Child Clicker, and the Bloat- er. Most of the motion work included staging crowds and finding / creating performances with realistic animation using various tech- niques in motion capture and key frame animation. C G W : C A N Y O U T E L L U S A B O U T C R A F T I N G V F X F O R T H E S H O W ' S I N F E C T E D C R E A T U R E S ? Simon Jung: We utilized scans delivered to us of the live action Clickers we see in The Bostonian Museum and built those to a highly detailed level. That allowed us to use them very close to camera in the shots where either augmentation or replacement was required. For the VFX shots in that environment, the Clickers were either all Wētā delivered a total of 482 VFX shots for Season 1.