“So lots of our conversations have been about that scene,” Bolter revealed. “We storyboarded the entire thing, we had a mannequin constructed within the workplace, with little plastic individuals and plastic automobiles. And all of it was continually like, ‘I do know, the sniper must be right here, after which it ought to are available in right here. After which the truck wants to return right here.'” The filmmaker additionally notes that different difficult pictures within the scene, like one by which clickers standing behind Ellie get hit by a automotive, required VFX pre-vis. Particular results groups have been tasked with creating mock-ups of precisely how the automobiles would work together with Ramsey and the remainder of the actors concerned.

When it lastly got here time to shoot the explosion, Bolter mentioned the crew had 4 cameras educated on the situation “to ensure we bought all of our angles.” As is typical with main stunt scenes, the stakes have been excessive. “We had the power to take two, however it will have taken them three days to reset it over a protracted weekend, so we actually did not need to do this,” Bolter mentioned. “So we put quite a lot of emphasis on rehearsal, be certain all the pieces’s excellent in order that we do that as soon as.”

The rehearsal paid off — Bolter mentioned the home explosion was a wrap after only one take: “We bought it. We nailed it. It was a one-and-done.” On display screen, the scene appears to be like nice, with an orange fireball lighting up the night time sky and preserving Ellie and Joel’s faces aglow as they witness the devastation unfolding round them. “As soon as the hearth occurs, all bets are off,” Bolter mentioned, and it is a assertion that seemingly applies to each the managed chaos of filming and the harrowing mayhem of the scene itself.