“The game is the vision,” production designer John Paino shared with E! News, referring to the critically acclaimed 2013 PlayStation title that serves as the foundation for HBO’s The Last of Us. “The concept art for the game has always exuded a cinematic quality, showcasing a rich sense of place, lighting, and realism that resonates deeply with audiences.”

Despite its visually stunning appearance, it was still fundamentally a video game. The responsibility of Paino, set decorator Paul Healy, and a dedicated team of hundreds of skilled craftspeople was to create physical representations of the game’s contrasting worlds: the subtly retro year of 2003 and its hauntingly frozen version two decades later, after the world as we knew it collapsed into chaos.

“The most significant challenge we faced was navigating a real-life situation while portraying this complex narrative,” Paino elaborated. “We are creating a period piece set against a backdrop of a desolate apocalyptic world, which is also deeply focused on the human experience. There were numerous layers to consider in our design and execution.”

Production commenced in Calgary in July 2021, and while the Canadian city proved suitable for various scenes, Paino noted, “There wasn’t a location that didn’t receive some attention from the art department or a complete reconstruction. Everything around us had been abandoned for 20 years, which meant that even if a spot fit our filming needs, we had to modify anything that appeared too modern, like computerized parking meters.”