CASE STUDY: THE LAST OF US


LONELY HEARTS “We really pay attention to what’s going on in the scene,” says Mendez. “And we’re cutting to support what’s happening in the script.” This is most obvious when portraying


the complex character of Ellie. Her only friend in the Boston Quarantine Zone is fellow orphan Riley (Storm Reid), who she loses before encountering a possible father figure in Joel. Her sense of isolation and longing for connection is expertly highlighted by the editors throughout. “Emily and I play with the characters’


point of view all the time,” says Good. “A lot of the time, we keep Ellie isolated in the frame to focus on her, almost as a separate individual character. We’d create separation visually and sonically to create irregular rhythms with Ellie and Joel; she’s really open to conversing with him and he’s just not.” “We were always trying to build our


scenes in a way that gives a little more emotion, a little more impact, while supporting the script,” agrees Mendez. In Episode 7, ‘Left Behind’, Ellie’s sense


of isolation is very poignant in a scene in a Halloween store. “Ellie finally agrees to let Riley go,


“OUR GOAL IS ALWAYS TO GET THE STORY TO ITS TRUEST PLACE. I THINK


OUR CONNECTION TO THE MATERIAL IS A HUGE PART OF THAT.”


EMILY MENDEZ EDITOR


120 televisual.com Summer 2023


but she’s sad at losing her best friend,” explains Mendez. “There’s a moment where Riley stands up and goes underneath the counter to grab some Halloween masks. We had coverage of what she was doing, but we also had coverage of Ellie, reflecting on this moment: her best friend is leaving. In the cut we stay with Ellie, and we don’t cut away until Riley interrupts her self- reflection, by throwing a wolf mask at Ellie, suddenly entering the frame.”


INFECTIOUS LAUGHTER “I love finding little beats between characters that aren’t scripted,” says Good. “Sometimes they enhance and inform, just because they’re spontaneous. But after I


cut the scene, I would always refer to the script to make sure there was nothing I missed in terms of the intention. “For example, at the end of Episode


Three, Bill and Frank are having their last dinner and when they realise that they’re going to die together, Frank started laughing. It was not scripted. It was almost as if they were celebrating – they’d made a life on their own terms, and they’re going to die together. It only happened on Frank’s side, so I had to cheat on Bill’s side and find a moment where he was chuckling to connect those two together and make it a shared moment. So those are the things I look for, to present to Craig and say, here’s something that I feel will enhance the incredible script that you’ve already written.” “Our goal is always to get the story to


its truest place,” says Mendez. “I think our connection to the material is a huge part of that. It still feels fresh to me in a way because I’m so connected to it.” “I can watch scenes to this day, and I


still feel the same emotion,” agrees Good. “Our job was to make sure that we were decoding what was happening on the screen, in a way that would not just match the script, and sometimes exceed the script, but always be true to the material that we have been given.” Meet Timothy Good ACE at BFE’s VGOW - 8pm BST, July 19th.


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