Las Vegas Academy of the Art’s video production 3 class (VP3) is in full swing as students work on creating either an episode of an existing TV series or a fictional one. One group of students is making an episode of The Last of Us centered around two girls and their moral battles during the apocalypse. The project is called “The Last of Us: Foundation.”

Jacob Weiss, a junior film major, is directing the episode. “My goal is to create a piece of film that looks, feels, sounds exactly like the actual The Last of Us show,” said Weiss. “I think the best thing to do is to light every shot– it will increase the production value greatly.” 

The episode centers around two young girls who meet at the beginning of the apocalypse, and their own moral battles. “It’s a story of family and revenge,” said Weiss. “It’s 12 pages long, about 14 scenes. So, we’ve been working in production meetings every day in film, sitting around a table, shooting ideas back and forth, standing up, acting out scenes, doing the dialog, and working on the characters.”

The team working on “The Last of Us: Foundation” consists of 16 students and 5 adults: writers, actors, editors, and more. “If I had to sit down with my team and do something right now, we would finish our scheduling,” said Weiss. 

Ezra Weatherholt, the assistant director and director of photography on “The Last of Us: Foundation” said, “It’s a really great film, full of heart and made by people who are fans of both the video game and the TV show.” As the director of photography, Weatherholt is in charge of much of the storyboards and on-site cinematography. “The main thing you should be looking forward to is seeing the performance by our amazing cast and the prosthetics and VFX we have done to bring the quality of the HBO show to the student film.”

On his favorite part of film production, Weiss said, “Getting to watch the episode in full with music, the sound, the color correction, just everything, that’s going to be really magical, considering how much work me and my team are putting in.”

“I want everyone to know that me and my team are all very already involved with the universe of The Last of Us, so don’t worry about continuity from the games, and the show. We’re all really passionate about the material. So, the project is in great hands,” said Weiss.

VP3’s passion is strong with this quarter’s film project. The episodes are due at the end of the quarter and it’s safe to say Video Production 3 is not holding back. To watch the finished episode of “The Last of Us: Foundation,” go to @ThePictureRoost on YouTube.