Develop adaption

1. LO2a – Merit
Develop one adaptation idea
into a treatment or proposal
Vishal Bhatia

2. Contents
• Title
• Genre
• Running time
• Plot synopsis
• Identify three key scenes
• Core audience and at least one secondary
audience
• Constraints on adaptation
• Opportunities provided by adaptation

3. Title
• I will keep the title of video game and name
the movie adaptation ‘The Last Of Us’.
• This helps attract fans of the original game
and people who have heard about it. It also
implies a lonely feel which relates to the
movies post-apocalyptic plot, and the lonely
characters of Joel and Ellie.

4. Genre
• The adaptation will
be a post-
apocalyptic science-
fiction, action
adventure drama.
• It will also feature
elements of
suspense horror
because of the
Infected characters.

5. Running time
• 2 hours/120 minute running time.
• This allows for the story to be told at a good
pace without rushing, and allows for some of
the artistic intricacies of the video game to be
included. Also, it is not too long for an
average movie goer.

6. Plot Synopsis
• In a post-apocalyptic world, ravaged by mutated
cannibalistic humans called the Infected, a tough survivor
called Joel with a broken past unwillingly travels across the
country with the teenage Ellie, who’s DNA may contain the
cure for the human race.
• As the two travel from city to city, encountering various
allies and enemies over the course of 4 seasons, a loving
father-daughter bond is built.
• However Joel’s strong love for Ellie leads to him killing
many innocent men and women in order to save the life of
Ellie from doctors trying to find a cure within her. He
subsequently lies to Ellie on the outskirts of a protected
settlement saying there is no cure. She makes him swear
it’s the truth; he does, and Ellie believes him.

7. Key Scene 1
• The first key scene is the death of Sarah. This is an
extremely important scene which is placed at the start of
the movie. It introduces the basis of Joel’s rough, single-
minded personality that we see later on, and foreshadows
his relationship with Ellie. The action is very quick and
realistic. There are no stylistic embellishments which
makes the scene hit harder. The soldier is portrayed as a
human character who unwillingly has to kill Sarah. The
harsh torch light of the soldier contrasts against the
darkness of the serene night which lights the actors very
harshly which gives the scene a sense of urgency and
danger. When Joel holds the dead Sarah and breaks down
there is no music or cuts; only a single long shot. The scene
abruptly ends with a smash cut to the titles.

8. Key Scene 2
• The second key scene is the death of Sam. Similarly to
the first key scene, there is no music. There is an
emphasis on realistic emotion. Harsh sound effects are
used to shock the audience when the infected Sam
attacks Ellie and gunshots. Furthermore the look of
Sam must be very minimum but effective enough to
make him look threatening. There are only a small
number of shots which are cut together very quickly to
further shock the audience. Also there is a contrast in
performances between the rabid Sam, scared Ellie,
emotional Henry, and Joel trying to calmly deal with
the situation. This hits the viewer with a bunch of
realistic emotions.

9. Key Scene 3
• The third is Joel saving Ellie from rape. David (the man who
attempts the rape) is portrayed as a desperate and menacing
character, but is not an over-the –top Hollywood villain so remains
grounded which makes him even more threatening as he is
realistic. The scene is framed very tightly on the actors at a low
angle to emphasize the tension, which gets closer and closer as
the scene progresses.
• Ellie still tries to fight back against David and succeeds in saving
herself with his knife just as Joel finds her. When Ellie repeatedly
stabs David the camera must be kept on her to capture her anger
and emotion with blood splattering on to her. Furthermore the
reverse of Ellie being above David instead of the other way around
symbolizes the character overcoming her own obstacles.
• When Joel embraces the emotional Ellie, lush music deafens the
in-camera sound (e.g. actors, sound effects etc.) which represents
the breaking point of all the tension in the scene.

10. Core Audience and Secondary
Audience
• Key audience will be genre fans (e.g. sci-fi, horror
fans) and fans of original video game.
• It will appeal to both genders because of the
male/female leads (Joel and Ellie).
• The age range is also quite broad. The older
character of Joel and mature emotional aspects
of the movie will attract 29-49. Whilst the young
Ellie and action/horror aspects of the genre will
attract teens, who enjoy movies such as The
Hunger Games. This also covers the secondary
audience.

11. Constraints
• Technical issues of bringing
the post-apocalyptic world
and the Infected to life.
• Budgetary for funding of the
above.
• Use of expansive locations
• Ethical issues concerning
the young characters (e.g.
death of Sarah, Ellie’s
violence, Sam).
• Ethical issues concerning
the violence of Joel.
• Certification and censorship
of hyper-realistic violence,
and strong emotional
weight.
Opportunities
• Advancements in filmmaking
technology which can help
bring the setting/Infected to
life (e.g. CGI, green screen and
motion capture).
• Explore Joel’s complex
character and violence to
avoid ethical concerns through
artistic merit and
presentation.
• Raise the age of Sarah Ellie
and Sam to avoid major ethical
concerns.
• Aim for a 15 certificate rating
to allow for the violence and
adult themes to be adapted
accurately without making
major aesthetic, thematic and
atmospheric changes.