Project Spores
When The Last Of Us Part II came out June 2020, during the pandemic, it hit something of a nerve in the gaming community. And not just for the overwhelming feeling of being in the middle of a plague ourselves. The game took twists and turns that no-one in the fanbase saw coming and lead to some pretty fiery takes online to say the least. It also sparked something in a group of cosplayers from the UK, all passionate about the game, to bring the world of The Last of Us out of its pixel based medium and into the world of fan films.
Project Spores has already made waves with it’s behind the scenes teasers, cosplay snap shots and it’s push for large scale production, but The Cosplay Journal wanted to see what exactly as got this team of creatives blood pumping and minds, well, clicking into place to make such an ambitious project a reality. We spoke with Nieke, Ben and Abi to get the scoop.
Let’s get the big, obvious one out of the way; what made you all want to make this fanfilm?
Nieke: It all started when Sam (our Director) set up photo shoot between Ellie (Abi) and Abby (Nieke). He planned do make a small video of the two characters, and Nieke suggested that we could potentially get a couple more cosplayers involved. She approached several cosplayers, and suddenly we had Joel, Owen and 2 clickers. This led into a semi-improvised short film that we released last September, The Last of Us - Vengeance.
After we saw how incredible the footage and performances were, we started to think “maybe we can do something bigger and better here…”. Our cast grew, followers of our social media began donating to fund the project, a script was written, and Project Spores was born!
You are all obviously big fans of the games, but what is it about The Last of Us that is so inspiring you to as people and creatives?
Ben: I think we all need to answer this one separately, as the answers are so diverse! I adored the first game, I loved playing as both Joel and Ellie, and on my first playthrough, I had Joel down as such a villain. I then played both games early 2020, after the birth of my Son, and the complexity of the emotions in the story hit me so much harder. That really drew me to Joel, and when I’m drawn to a character in any media, that generally leads to a cosplay. This cosplay got a bit out of hand and I’ve ended up writing a script and producing a film. I think next time I identify with a character like that, I might just get a statue or a poster or something…
Some down time with the cast
Nieke: I’ve always absolutely loved the Last of Us story, however I didn’t actually play the first game until the remaster, but most of us played the second game around release. Obviously, this was around lockdown in the UK, and this is how a lot of us found each other. Abby was an immediate connection for me as muscular women are still quite rare in pop culture. Other than this, I’m usually attracted to ‘darker’ stories. The Last of Us is incredibly inclusive and leaves you to think about so many subjects. It’s meant so much to me and this project has just helped fuelled that passion.
Abi: For me personally, I related to Ellie in many ways that I touched on in a BBC 3 documentary I was a part of called “Gaming and Me”. Ellie is very much an empath, taking on other people’s issues and feelings but is unable to properly process her own feelings alongside everyone else’s around hers, and she easily takes that out on other people. Playing as Ellie and seeing the contrast vs Abby’s ability to comprehend her emotions made me take a step back and realise some of my own coping mechanisms were too close to Ellie’s and I needed to re-evaluate them. As a big game development fan, the game is also just incredibly inspiring as a creative with its incredible feats both graphically and mechanics wise. It’s easily one of the most visually/playable pleasing games I’ve played in a while!
This is a really big project to take on, where you worried about that or looking forward to the challenge of it all?
It is a big project, isn’t it?! None of us have ever take on something of this magnitude before, and we honestly didn’t think it would grow this large when we set out; all we wanted to do was improve on what we had already done and make something impressive to show our passion for the game. We released a small teaser after our first shoot (which mainly consisted of B-roll and snippets of about 5% of the finished film), and then, out of the blue, incredibly positive articles started being released about it! It was at this point we became a lot more serious about the organisation, the production, the editing, the music, everything. Almost all of us are complete novices when it comes to creating content like this, and this has pretty much become a second fulltime job, but the challenge and the reward are just so worth it.
Getting intense on set
It seems like you’ve been having a lot of fun with the project, but what has been your favourite experience of filming so far?
We really have! We’re still yet to have the entire cast in one place (it’s just grown too much for the calendars to match up for each shoot), but the big collaborative shoots have been incredible. We’ve been able to explore some amazing locations all over the UK (Ben: “Normally a minimum of 4 hours from me though!”), and that’s only been possible from the donations and support we’ve received from followers of the Project. We do, however, all agree that the most fun part of this whole experience has been working with so many incredibly talented people. Everyone has pushed themselves so much, and we have all learnt an incredible amount from each other.
Looking at the practicalities of making a film like this, what challenges have you come across that you didn’t expect?
First and foremost, the most challenging practicality is the organisation required. All up, we have about 25 people actively involved in the filming process. Transport and accommodation for all the people required for the larger shoots was a nightmare.
Another challenge was finding suitable locations. Finding a large enough location to house 20+ people, whilst being legal, safe and secure, as well as being versatile enough to shoot a variety of scenes… yeah, that has been very tough!
Raw emotion on camera
The final challenge worth noting is the performances themselves. We started this as a small fan project which was essentially a showcase of cosplays and cinematography. What this has evolved into requires much more performance from each of the characters, and the emotional toll some of the scenes have had on the cast has been very intense. There are two separate moments in the film where we see Abi and Nieke break down, and the whole room was silent afterwards. The raw emotion in these moments was something to behold, and for two non-actors… yeah, it got intense!
In regards of the costumes, where did you start putting all the different outfits together for the survivor (is this the correct way to refer to them?) characters?
We refer to them as the living! While they are alive, we would argue that some of the living characters are barely surviving…
As for the costumes, fortunately, a fair few of us were all cosplayers who had TLOU cosplays already available. There was no audition or casting process, everyone involved know each other through social media and were keen to get involved! The full cast are all cosplayers, so have a vast experience between them of finding second-hand clothes and cheap deals to bring a full costume together. Charity shops are a wonderful, affordable resource that make it a lot easier to destroy the clothes and make them look filthy!
The prosthetics for the zombies are intense, who made them/did the make and where do you even start with making pieces like that?
For the hauntingly impressive head pieces both, Hattie and Clara (our resident clickers) made them out of expanding foam. After this, the foam was sculpted into a rough shape, then decorated with foam clay for detail.
Hattie is very extra, so she also made her full leg and arm prosthetic to really bring that cordyceps to life. This was sculpted in clay and cast in latex prior to painting and covering blood and gore.
The fights in The Last of Us are known for being intense, how did you go about bringing those to life and choreographing some iconic moments from the games?
First and foremost, we purchased a ridiculous amount of fake blood. Did you know it’s mint flavoured for when you have to put it in your mouth?!
A lot of the fight mechanics came down to 3 things; the camera angles used, the key shots that we needed to capture and fake blood! We would have a rough idea behind the scenes of how we wanted the fights to come out, but we had no location scouting, no choreography and no practise runs, so the lions share of the fight would be choreographed as soon as we got to the location. Then it’s all about quick camera cuts and perspective changes to simulate fast, violent action and plenty of fake blood to bring the violence to life! This definitely isn’t a kid friendly fan film!!
Blood, blood and more blood; might be one to watch from behind the sofa!
And the final, slightly cliché question; would you all do something like this again? Have you got the bug for film making?
Ben: 100%. I’m already writing an original script that I want to have filmed and ready to show in the next 18 months.
Nieke: HELL YES!! We have already started looking into what’s next and even though we will need a bit of a break. This definitely won’t be the last project.
Abi: A lot of us are involved with other projects, personally I am involved in a Critical Role showcase video and am planning a God of War video based on Atreus; I can promise you this isn’t the last you’ve seen of us all… Whilst the Last of Us may not be a universe we come back to anytime soon, I can promise you we will be back in other ways thanks to the incredible support of everyone!
If you are as excited about Project Spores as we are and this interview has wetted your appetite, here’s a look at their official teaser trailer.
