The Last of Us Part II: Naughty Dog Wraps Up Ellie & Joel’s Scenes; “Most Ambitious Cinematic Shoot”

The Last of Us Part II Director Neil Druckmann and his team at Naughty Dog are continuing to tease the progress of the development of the game, including a major milestone.

Today we learn from Druckmann himself that Ellie and Joel’s scenes (played by Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker respectively) have been wrapped up, alongside “the most ambitious cinematic shoot” the team has ever done.

And that’s a wrap on Ellie, Joel, and the most ambitious cinematic shoot we’ve ever done. Tears were shed… #TheLastOfUsPartII pic.twitter.com/mRnlP54u4N

— Neil Druckmann (@Neil_Druckmann) April 18, 2019

The Naughty Dog official Twitter account also doubled down on the teasing, mentioning that this was the last planned cinematic shoot. That being said, there is still work ahead, including actually implementing these cinematics in the game.

… and we’ve wrapped all of the planned cinematic shoots today for The Last of Us Part II!

We still have work ahead of us, including putting these cinematics in the game, but this is a nice little milestone.

Congrats to all on stage today, and to the entire cast and crew!! https://t.co/HZAYIUnMkc

— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) April 19, 2019

As Naughty Dog mentioned, it’s hard to say how much more work there is to be done, as we don’t have any specific knowledge of the developer’s procedures. That being said, it’s a relevant milestone that should be celebrated.

The studio concluded performance capture of the game’s ending just a couple of days ago, but apparently, there was a bit more to be done before putting the capture gear back in storage.

Over the past few months, the team shared that the game’s writer Halley Gross will also have a role in the game, while Druckmann himself mentioned another tease about “one of the most complicated and heart-wrenching scenes” Naughty Dog has ever worked on. We also heard how friendly competition between Sony’s first-party studios helps the folks at Naughty Dog improve their own games.

Unfortunately, we haven’t seen much of the game since the latest reveal at E3 2018. Yet, during the Holidays, Sony Interactive Entertainment released a brand new dynamic theme dedicated to the game and a two-hour-long video showing the same scene with a burning car. That was Naughty Dog’s humorous (and appropriately dark) take on a Yule Log for the Holidays.