The Last of Us Behind the Scenes — Did They Do the Game Justice?

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The Last of Us Behind the Scenes Cinematography Breakdown — a look at the creative visual choices made by the team of cinematographers, including choosing cameras, lenses, and handheld shots to keep the viewer as engaged with the show as players were with the game.

The Making of The Last of Us ►►
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Chapters:
00:00 - Intro to The Last of Us Cinematography
01:13 - The Challenge of Turning a Game into a TV Show
02:40 - Chapter 1: Camera & Lenses
05:31 - Chapter 2: Natural Lighting
11:08 - Chapter 3: Docustyle Camerawork
15:49 - Final Thoughts/Takeaways

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CINEMATOGRAPHY OF THE LAST OF US

Fans and critics alike have praised the adaptation of The Last of Us as one of the greatest video game-to-TV transfers. It would be easy enough to just replicate the shots from the game, but perhaps it goes beyond that. Maybe it is that the “experience” of watching the show so closely resembles the experience of playing the game. This was certainly the goal of the showrunners and cinematographers, and it informed many of their visual decisions, including the lighting, camera movement, and lens choices. In this video, we will dive into these choices that made the cinematography of The Last of Us so compelling.

THE LAST OF US CINEMATOGRAPHY — CAMERAS AND LENSES

One of the goals was to keep the environments visible around the characters. As DP Ksenia Sereda says, “We needed to be able to stay close but at the same time preserve the depth of background.” This helps keep the audience engaged in the world itself, not just with the characters. Plus, this extra negative space is a subtle reminder that an infected to could pop out at any moment. For more tense, claustrophobic scenes, like in the climactic scene of episode five, longer lenses collapse the depth for maximum tension.

THE LAST OF US CINEMATOGRAPHY — LIGHTING

DP Eben Bolter describes the lighting scheme as “cinematic naturalism,” which means grounding the visuals in the scene's reality. “It was about lighting a room rather than a shot. And letting flaws exist, and leaning into those flaws.” In other words, for the audience to immerse themselves as active participants, the world needed to look as real as possible.
Bolter also describes using a technique called “skip lighting,” which has exterior light bouncing off props or set dressing inside. Since electricity wasn’t always available in the story world, this simple technique maintains that reality.

THE LAST OF US CINEMATOGRAPHY — CAMERAWORK

As another element meant to ground the viewer in the reality of this post-apocalypse, handheld camerawork was heavily employed. According to Bolter, about 80 to 90 of each episode used this strategy. But instead of a literal handheld camera, they used a ZeeGee mount which provides the stability of a Steadicam but the look and feel of a handheld camera.
The difference in engagement between playing a video game and watching a TV show is worlds apart. But as the team behind the cinematography of The Last of Us has shown, it’s perhaps not as impossible as previously thought.


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♬ SONGS USED:

"The Last of Us" - Gustavo Santaolalla
"Prelude in B Minor" - Will Taylor
"Left Behind" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"Spiral" - Alon Peretz
"Secret Weapon" - Evgeny Bardyuzha
"It Can't Last (Sunset)" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"A Battle in the East" - Rhythm Scott
"Invited" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"Raiders" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"When the Demons Came Knocking" - Eleven Tales
"All Gone (Isolation)" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"Breaching the Wall" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"Subterranean" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"Stockpile" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"Surveillance" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"1986" - Angel Salazar
"All Gone (Purpose)" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"All Gone (Affliction)" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"Forsaken" - Gustavo Santaolalla and David Fleming
"Still Need Syndrome" - Yarin Primak
"The Last of Us" - Gustavo Santaolalla
"Alone And Forsaken" - Hank Williams

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