Neil Druckmann, creator of the franchise The Last of Us, is revisiting his own creation by writing, alongside Craig Mazin the serialized production of HBO Max.
During a visit to Brazil, to promote the series alongside the cast and Mazin himself, Druckmann spoke about the difference in the creation process between a series and a game and highlighted the most important points in the story.
Currently, Druckmann is on his fourth project involving The Last of Us – three involving the game and the fourth now the series. About the process of working on this new journey, he says: “The work was different in a way, in a way it's a completely different story, not just between me and my other directors, it's different because we're always asking what it is and what what are we trying to say, how can we do it as effectively and honestly as possible. And then being open to the idea of making it the best version.”
See more: The Last of Us | Merle Dandridge talks about her character's differences in the game and the series
And the process requires some techniques. “In this case, it was knowing not to be too attached to the things we already have ready and understanding that this media has different strengths and weaknesses. It’s a job of constantly asking what is the best version for this story, for this medium and being open to sometimes doing things identically as we have in the game and sometimes deviating wildly because it’s what’s best for the plot.”
Neil constantly emphasizes how important collaborative work is: “I work best with this type of collaboration, whether it's with my co-writer, Craig or an actor/actress. Merle [Dandridge] had to bring in a different Marlene because she's playing a slightly different version of Joel and Ellie and all the other characters. It's about being authentic with what that is. I don’t want to say challenge, but it was something that constantly reminded us of what we needed to do to get it right.”
The necessary changes in characters
The characters in the game The Last of Us are already very complete, but to convey their fears and intentions to the public in a series may require some changes. Druckmann comments on an interesting way to do this: “I think for every character in the story, to find your own internal motivation, you have to take the interesting characters that you're rooting for and put them in conflict with each other.”
Recording a post-apocalyptic series during the pandemic
The Last of Us is about a world after suffering an epidemic that decimated the population. Interestingly, the series was recorded during the COVID pandemic and it is interesting how this new perspective changes some notions that were held in the previous plot. “I realized we had a lot of toilet paper in the game” – jokes Neil.
Some updates needed to be made: “I tried really hard to make the game, but we did a lot of research into the Spanish flu and other outbreaks. We researched as individuals versus larger groups, versus government, so that we continued to get the message across that we really wanted. I wanted to show that fungi are dangerous, and I think it was important to capture what happens when you can't defeat something as horrible as some of these outbreaks. So we had some reflections of what's happening in the world, but unfortunately it's not the first and it probably won't be the last time we have to deal with something like this.”
See more: The Last Of Us | Neil Druckmann talks about his creation process for the game
The series The Last of Us is based on the eponymous game created by Naughty Dog to the PlayStation, originally released in 2013. The plot revolves around Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), a duo who bond through the difficult world they live in, and are forced to endure brutal circumstances and face merciless monsters on a journey across the United States following an apocalyptic outbreak.
The Last of Us premieres January 15 on HBO Max.
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