After researching the structure and behavior of multiple fungi species, Elastic CDs Andy Hall and Nadia Tzuo cultivate a chilling planetary invasion for the title sequence of HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama series “The Last of Us”.

Based on the 2013 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, the show was put together by Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin and The Last of Us CD Neil Druckmann.

Elastic CD Nadia Tzuo: “The sequence is built with the concept of a world overtaken by the aggressive expansion of fungus, almost in a manner that resembles the human species. The tide of expansion covers up lands, forming networks of cities gives us familiar visions of a new dominant power, as well as moments that hint at the story.

“The design is based on our research into real-world fungi species. The rich variety and the motion from nature provided great inspiration for our team to naturally outline the story while staying in a realistic environment throughout the journey.

“The project is produced in Cinema 4D with a combination of Houdini simulations to achieve specific growth motions and patterns for different types of fungus.”
 
 

 
Client: HBO

Production: Elastic
Creative Director: Andy Hall, Nadia Tzuo
Designers: Mike Zeng, Min Shi
3D Animator/Compositor: Gryun Kim, Lee Buckley
2D Animation: Lucy Kim, Steve Biggert
Dynamics: Jun Kim, Miguel Salek
CG Animator: Derek Friesenborg, Jonah Austin, Joshua Delaney
Modeler: Mike Dupree
Rigger: Jade Smrz, Alice Panek
Editor: Rachel Fowler
Color Manager: Andrew Young
Production Coordinator: Hannah Rowswell
Head of CG: Kirk Shintani, Andy Wilkoff
Senior Producer/Head of Production: Paul Makowski
Executive Producer: Kate Berry
Managing Director: Jennifer Sofio Hall

Music: Gustavo Santaolalla