Video game productions are really interesting reads as there’s plenty that go into an IP before it’s ready for release. For instance, when it comes to script writing, it’s incredibly different than what a standard script looks like for a film. Instead, the development team has to focus on a perspective of how everything would work out during gameplay so when it came to one of their most successful titles, The Last of Us, you might find it a bit odd to hear that the game story was written around the middle point of the game.
During an interview between The Frame and Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann, some more details on the game development process were unveiled. When asked about how Naughty Dog cast their actors for video games, Neil stated the following.
“First, it’s important to note that the stories are written during production. Unlike a film production, where the whole script is written and then you enter production, we will have an outline and then we will start production building the game. The story is written organically as the game is coming together. That’s because you can’t predict what’s going to work for gameplay. You might have some ideas, but until you get it, what we say, “on the stick” and you’re trying it out, that’s where they’re going to prove effective or ineffective. And then you might have to go to do some other ideas. That will inevitably make you go back to the story and rework and change some stuff.
We don’t write the story chronologically, I’ll usually start in the middle. With “The Last Of Us” it was the middle of the journey where Joel and Ellie were already together and we will write several scenes in succession for that area as we’re building a level and as the gameplay mechanics are coming together. That’s when the characters are getting defined for the first time. Then we’ll have a casting call and that’s where we’ll bring, like for the character of Joel, dozens of actors that would come in and read.
We bring them to a soundstage where we usually do our performance capture. Unlike a normal audition where you’re sitting down reading lines, we want to see how they move. What’s their body signature like? Ultimately, all of that is going to be translated back to the character that the player is controlling. Then it becomes this very intimate relationship between the director and actors. The story is very personal to me and here is another person that is going to interpret the material and make it their own and there is a form of trust and letting go and being open to different interpretations that I might have. Troy Baker, who played Joel, his interpretation ended up being different than mine. At first I had a lot of resistance to that but once I opened up to it, I thought Joel became much more interesting because of it. Then you’re open to improvisation and letting actors give input to the script and if there’s a way to make the script even tighter. That’s an organic relationship that lasts for two or three years during production of the game.”
It’s pretty incredible to see that one of the most cherished video games to have release recently was still very much being written out during its production. Regardless, the development team was able to deliver a masterpiece.
