Skip to content
NAB Show NAB Show New York
  • Stories
    • Create
    • Connect
    • Capitalize
    • Intelligent Content
  • Events
  • Learning Lab
  • Sign Up
  • Sign In
To See More Search Results, Hit Enter...
Showing 1–10 of 235 for “nab”
< Previous
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
Next >
August 2, 2023
Posted April 17, 2023

What It Takes to Translate a Game to a Series: Production and Post on “The Last of Us”

author
NAB Show Daily

Watch the NAB Show session above.

Team effort helped HBO drama recreate the source video game’s rich look

BY Michael Malone, Broadcasting+Cable

Craig Mazin, co-creator/executive producer/writer/director on The Last of Us, played up the teamwork aspect on the hit HBO drama on the Main NAB Show Stage. The panel “American Cinema Editors Presents HBO’s The Last of Us,” saw Mazin speak about seeing film credits where the director gets essentially the lone credit for making the feature.

Mazin said, “There’s no way for a film to be by one person. There’s hundreds of people — in our case, thousands of people.”

Mazin described The Last of Us producers, cast and crew as “a big family.”

“The Last of Us,” courtesy of HBO
“The Last of Us,” courtesy of HBO

Carolyn Giardina, tech editor at The Hollywood Reporter, moderated the panel. The Main Stage crowd was standing room only.

Mazin spoke of the “luck” involved in gathering the right producers to work on the show and how listening to them in interviews and chats tells him a lot more than their credits do. “I like talking to people,” he said, “and hearing their passion for things.”

Challenges of Adapting

Season one was shot in Alberta, Canada. The producers discussed the challenges of adapting the popular video game to series.

Alex Wang, VFX supervisor, described the game’s look as “so beautiful and so immersive. How do we use that as inspiration?”

Cinematographer Ksenia Sereda said the producers aimed for a balance between borrowing from the game and giving viewers something fresh. “We wanted to preserve the most iconic parts,” Sereda said, “but at the same time, we did not want to exactly copy the look.”

She spoke of the “massive” variety of choices for cameras and lenses, and said the ARRI ALEXA Mini gave the shots a realistic feel and helped the viewers get closer to the characters.

Mazin quipped: “I don’t understand any of that. I’m glad you do.”

L-R: Carolyn Giardina, panel moderator; Craig Mazin, co-creator/executive producer/writer/director; Kesenia Sareda, cinematographer; Timothy Good, editor; Emily Mendez, editor; Alex Wang, VFX supervisor; and Michael J. Benavente, sound supervisor, on an NAB Show panel on HBO’s “The Last of Us.”
L-R: Carolyn Giardina, panel moderator; Craig Mazin, co-creator/executive producer/writer/director; Kesenia Sareda, cinematographer; Timothy Good, editor; Emily Mendez, editor; Alex Wang, VFX supervisor; and Michael J. Benavente, sound supervisor, on an NAB Show panel on HBO’s “The Last of Us.” Click here to view a larger image.

The Last of Us is set in a post-apocalyptic America, 20 years after a fungal infection has turned much of the population into zombies. Neil Druckmann created the show alongside Mazin. It premiered on HBO in January.

Editor Timothy Good said he’d never played the video game before. Editor Emily Mendez, on the other hand, was a big fan. The two brought together their different perspectives to give the show a distinctive feel.

Key Moments

The editors spoke of the key moments in season one. Pedro Pascal’s Joel lost his teenage daughter in the pilot, and is reluctant to open himself up to another teen girl as he gets to know Bella Ramsey’s Ellie. Ellie’s book of puns makes him smile for the first time in eons. “You can see the transformation between the two characters and how they sort of come together,” Good said.

Mendez mentioned Ellie stitching up Joel’s stomach later in the season, and the effort the producers went through to give the scene extra impact. “You’re with her in that moment,” she said.

Michael J. Benavente, sound supervisor, spoke of “a quiet world” in the show with no freeways, no kids on playgrounds, no airplanes. The viewer hears snowfall in one episode. “It really helps the story of the people,” Benavente said of the hushed vibe. “When you hear what they’re hearing, when you feel what they’re feeling.”

Mazin said sound is a vital “helper” in terms of delivering emotions and plot. He mentioned frequently writing sounds into his scripts. “I don’t understand what spherical lenses do,” Mazin said. “But I definitely understand sound.”

Season two will shoot in British Columbia. “This is what I do — I do The Last of Us,” said Mazin with a smile. “I couldn’t be happier.”

Next, Watch This

Editing in the Apocalypse: “The Last of Us” Editors Timothy Good and Emily Mendez
Click here or on the image above to see the Monday, April 17 edition of the NAB Show Daily!
Click here or on the image above to see the Monday, April 17 edition of the NAB Show Daily!

  • Content Creation
  • Create
  • NAB Show Daily

Subscribe

for more content like this sent directly to your inbox:

Sign Up
Related Article
When It’s All an Action Sequence: Editing “John Wick Chapter 4”
When It’s All an Action Sequence: Editing “John Wick Chapter 4”

Director Chad Stahelski chose to work with editor Nathan Orloff on “John Wick 4” because he had no preconceptions about action films.

  • #NABAmplify
Editors
  • More NAB:
  • NAB Amplify
  • NAB Show
  • NAB Show New York
  • Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Code of Conduct
  • Cookie Policy
  • Quick Links
  • Advertising & Thought Leadership
  • NAB Amplify Press
  • FAQs
  • Technical Difficulties
  • Contact
  • Cookie Preferences
  • RSS Feed
The Angle Newsletter

Weekly editorial newsletter covering the latest content, events and more taking place on NAB Amplify.

Subscribe

The thoughts and opinions expressed on NAB Amplify do not constitute official statements or positions by the National Association of Broadcasters.

© 2025 National Association of Broadcasters. All Rights Reserved.