The real magic happens behind two heavy sound-proofed doors a big light identifies when the cameras are rolling. It’s been, by far, the team’s biggest and longest ever shoot.

You know the one where Ellie’s playing guitar and promises Joel that she’s going to find and kill 'every last one of them'. Even since before Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End came out in 2016, the team used the stage to create the game’s 2016 announcement. It’s been a long road to get here the Naughty Dog team has been using this facility to create The Last of Us Part 2 on and off for the past few years. It’s April 2019, more than a year before the game will finally come out, but this is still a momentous week in the making of any game – let alone one of Part 2’s cinematic ambitions. The number of people on set is limited compared to the 350 developers back at the studio because time spent here is expensive. Then the rest arrive: Ashley Johnson (Ellie) Shannon Woodward (who plays Ellie’s girlfriend Dina), Jeffrey Pierce (Tommy) and the game’s co-writer, Halley Gross. The actor is friendly, and talks effusively about what The Last of Us means to him. A few cameramen, some animators, voice coaches and one Troy Baker (Joel) eventually show up to get their badges and grab a drink before the day starts proper. I briefly consider sneaking in to try and get a glimpse.Ī security guy signs me in, gives me a badge, and I’m in. Across the way from the set, Sony Santa Monica is busy working on whatever will follow God of War. The business lot itself is enormous and unassuming. A few hours later, I grab an Uber across town early to dodge the traffic – I fail, because LA. Against my own stupid brain’s ability to comprehend how, I’ve persuaded the development team to let me come along for the ride. I’m here because Naughty Dog is hard at work on the final week of motion capture filming for The Last of Us Part 2.

I try to stay calm.īut Lance Reddick is not why I’m here. Lance Reddick, the eternal badass that he is, shows up for a day of filming. On one, Guerrilla Games is hard at work filming scenes for the recently announced Horizon Forbidden West. It’s where some of the greatest developers in the world bring to life their interactive stories. In Playa Vista, Los Angeles, a massive and unassuming business lot is home to PlayStation’s suite of motion capture volumes. From the outside, you wouldn’t even know it was there.

Last of us 2 model