For season one, Jackson, Wyoming, was built in Canmore. How did you do it this time?
We built it from scratch in a parking lot in Britannia Beach, which is just north of Vancouver. Canmore felt like the game, but we had a lot more we needed to control this time. We leaned into the game to a point, but we didn’t want it to be too old Western feeling so we also leaned into actual Jackson. It became a combo of what’s in the game and Jackson itself.
Did you have to destroy the set when the hoard invades in Episode Two?
We burned things and broke things. Once Mark Mylod, who was the director of that episode, landed there was a lot of retro-fitting. We ended up building a whole network of roofs so there could be action on top of the buildings and people could fall off. But we knew that scene was coming when we laid out and built the town. It was a massive build.
Was the house where Abby kills Joel a real house?
That was someone’s actual home out in Mission, which is east of Vancouver. It was such a match to the game. Typically, on a show like this we would just build that, but we didn’t want to have to blue screen out the windows, which you would have to do on a set. It was amongst some trees so we could use what was outside the windows.
Was Ellie and Joel’s house also someone’s home?
It was a real house in Langley. We built the porch for the porch scene and built out the interior. We brought snow in for the whole street.
How did you create the version of Seattle we see this season?
It’s a combination of locations and sets. I have to give credit where credit is due to our location manager, Nicole. She got us into places that are traditionally very difficult or where you’re not allowed to shoot. We were going to shoot in Gastown, but it’s super touristy and busy. So we ended up going to a little town called Nanaimo, which is a 20-minute float plane ride from Vancouver. There’s a beautiful strip of old, appropriate buildings and we were able to take over. They allowed us to strip out all the storefronts and break windows and change awnings. We brought in all the [plants].
