How '10 Cloverfield Lane' Was Inspired by 'Uncharted' and 'The Last of Us'

Landing in theaters today is the excellent 10 Cloverfield Lane. Produced by J.J. Abrams and directed by Dan Trachtenberg, the suspense-driven movie acts as a ‘blood relative’ to the original Cloverfield movie though no one is going as far as calling it a sequel. Having had a chance to watch the flick last night, I can tell you that you’re in for a treat and that you will want to see it before being spoiled on its ending.

Dan Trachtenberg talking about how they were able to make the film feel so personable:

…I did feel like that Cloverfield – its first-person perspective made that movie so much more of an experience. I really wanted this movie to also feel that subjective and feel less like something being watched and more like an experience. So, I actually turned to video games for inspiration.

Not surprisingly, the games Dan and company were inspired by and borrowed from included Uncharted and The Last of Us – two games known for their cinematic scope and feel. More after the jump.

I love the design of a lot of these 3rd person action games, if you think of the Uncharteds or Last of Us. Those games feel as subjective as the first person shooters do, so I think, stealing from some of their design elements, we were able to make this feel – even though it was very classically told, in a more traditional filmmaking style – you still feel like you are vicariously experiencing everything that the protagonist is experiencing and you really feel in her shoes.