The Sound of The Last of Us S2: Inside the Epic Battles, Infected Hordes & Hidden Details

Max’s popular series The Last of Us jacked up the intensity for Season 2, which is much bigger in scale, with bigger conflicts, larger hordes of infected, a wider variety of set pieces, and many new locations that each had to sound unique (even different hallways in the same building sound different). The weather also plays a key sonic role; there are ever-changing rain sounds in Seattle and snowstorm sounds in Jackson. The conflicts between human factions and the battles against the infected are bigger and more sonically complex. The Seraphites’ whistle-based communication was re-created based on the game sound team’s work, and communication between the infected is more geography-based, with off-screen clicks signaling their shifting locations to each other and their human adversaries.

Here, Supervising Sound Editor Michael Benavente, Sound Effects Supervisor/Sound Designer Christopher Battaglia, and Sound Designer Chris Terhune at Formosa Group talk about creating massive hordes of infected using only the three voice actors — Molly Scarpine, Misty Lee and Phil Kovats — who also voiced the infected for The Last of Us games. They talk about recording water drips on different materials, like metal and stone, to create interesting and varied rain sounds. They break down their sound work on the battle in Jackson in Ep. 202, and different infected encounters, such as the subway car scene in Ep. 204, Ep. 205’s warehouse scene and Level B2 of the hospital, and the grocery store scene in Ep. 201. They also talk about designing Tommy’s flamethrower, creating a pack of attacking dogs, crafting quiet scenes, like Ellie performing “Take On Me” on guitar, and much, much more!

The Last of Us Season 2 | Official Trailer | Max

After finishing The Last of Us Season 1, what did you want to update or improve about your approach to sound on Season 2?

Michael Benavente (MB): We all agreed that we loved the way Season 1 ended up sounding. For Season 2, we wanted to streamline the manner in which we created the soundtrack. In Season 1, we were learning the ropes — learning what Craig Mazin was like as a showrunner, and what he expected sound to do to help tell the story of The Last of Us. By Season 2, we had a lot of that down, although it still was incredibly challenging. Season 2 presented its own set of challenges in that most of the episodes took place in different settings, with a variety of set pieces; we were building new and unique worlds every episode.

Chris Terhune (CT): This season was so much bigger in scale, so figuring out how to approach it was a challenge — from the battles to the infected.

Christopher Battaglia (CB): One of the most challenging parts about updating is that there are all these new locations, or a location like Jackson, where we’ve been before, but it’s now expanded in its scope. We have to add so much more and create much more variety and much more detail.

There are all these new locations that we had to visit, like Seattle with its rain. The scope of the action and the scope of the season felt larger in a lot of ways. It was less about updating and more about making sure that we’re keeping with the same level of quality, but also expanding the palette that we had to work with.

 

Much of the action this season unfolds in Seattle. It’s like Forrest Gump says, there’s “little bitty stingin’ rain,” “big ol’ fat rain,” and “rain that flew in sideways.” Basically, lots of rain…

MB: Craig expects everything to sound a little bit different in every location, each having its own sound character, which I believe, for the most part, we achieved. I was watching one of the episodes last night, and in the hallways in these hospitals, each location sounded a little bit different, and hopefully interesting to the audience.

CT: He wants to hear rain on different textures, whether it’s on a boat, or coats, or if there’s a close-up on a gun or whatever. You just have to constantly keep the rain moving and sounding interesting.

each location felt like it was tailored to the amount and the quality of precipitation

CB: In all the different interiors, we had to make sure all of the different hallways, all of the rain, the drips, and everything sounded different. That was pretty similar to the snow we dealt with in the first two episodes. We made sure that there was variety and that it felt like it wasn’t the same sounds used over and over again, but that each location felt like it was tailored to the amount and the quality of precipitation, and that it just felt like where we’re supposed to be for that episode.

MB: Speaking of snow, we also wanted to feel the different degrees that the temperature was dropping in certain locations — that it was colder here than it was in some other place. That’s not always easy to do with sound, but I think we nailed it for the most part.
 

Where did your rain sounds come from? Did you go out and record rain sounds? Did you record water dripping sounds on different objects? How did you build up this library of rain sounds?

CB: It took a lot of gathering. Friends of mine live in Seattle, so I had them record rain. For the snow palette, we built a lot of it for Season 1, but we also needed new sounds that fit what was going on. A lot of the interior winds were new.

I put microphones inside a barbecue grill and sprayed my hose to get rain on metal for a resonant texture.

For the rain specifically, we were gathering as many rain sounds as possible and recording drips on different surfaces. I put microphones inside a barbecue grill and sprayed my hose to get rain on metal for a resonant texture. We were wetting paper towels and putting water through them to get drips. We needed lots of different drips. We would run water through a colander, and that would make it feel like the drips were uneven, and we dripped that onto different surfaces.

The challenging thing with rain is to make it not just sound like noise, but to sound like we’re hearing all these interesting textures for each location in each spot.

We needed lots of different drips. We would run water through a colander, and that would make it feel like the drips were uneven, and we dripped that onto different surfaces.

CT: It had to feel a bit musical, especially with metal, because it can get a little pink-noisy and harsh. So as long as it has interesting textures throughout, your ear can pick up on it.

CB: And specific textures, too. We’re seeing rain on wood, so let’s get rain on wood. We’re seeing rain on rock, so let’s get rain on rock or cement. There’s rain on leaves and we’re moving through a space, so let’s hear rain on different leaf textures, so it feels like we’re moving through that space. Or, let’s hear different metal textures, different pitches, and different densities of how much rain is going on.
 

Were the rain sounds on the dialogue from set an issue for you in post-production?

MB: It was a bit of an issue. We had to ADR a bit of dialogue. There were a few locations in Ep. 205 or Ep. 207 that had rain on the set, but nothing was horrendous. We didn’t have to loop an entire scene.

We did have a lot of generators for the snow, so we did some ADR in Ep. 201 for that. When they’re leaving Jackson, you could hear all these fans.

We did ADR most often for Bella’s accent. She nails the American accent so well, but now and then, an English accent on a word will slip by.

We did have a lot of generators for the snow, so we did some ADR in Ep. 201 for that. When they’re leaving Jackson, you could hear all these fans. But, again, it wasn’t horrible. We didn’t have to loop entire scenes. If we did, it was only four lines, and that’s easy to do. As great as our cast is at ADR, you don’t want to change the performance too much by doing 20 lines of ADR in a scene.
 

This season, a new form of infected is introduced in the series: Stalkers. They are more evolved and strategically intelligent. How is this reflected in your choices for sound?

CT: For the Stalkers, we brought back voice actress Molly Scarpine, who is amazing. We have voice actors Misty Lee and Phil Kovats performing the Clickers, and then we got Molly in to do the Stalkers. As soon as she started getting into character and performing, right away Craig and I looked at each other and said, “Yup, that sounds like the game.”

For the Stalkers, we brought back voice actress Molly Scarpine, who is amazing.

Molly just nails it. It was a team effort between Craig Mazin, Molly, and me. We spent time on the ADR stage going through all the scenes and doing a bunch of wild takes. Craig would pick and choose what he liked most — that reflects the game sound, but also feels more cinematic for the show. Then, he and I would get together to build a toy box for each scene and make those choices together.

Since Stalkers are stealthier, Craig wanted to keep the intention that they’re trying to hold themselves back and mess with you and keep you guessing until they’re ready to attack and pounce. It’s almost like they’re a group of hyenas circling their prey.
 

A large horde of infected attacks Jackson, and you have every type in there: Runners, Stalkers, Clickers, and even a Bloater. I love how the camera moves from ground level amongst the infected, who are being burned and shot, to on top of the wall where the community is trying to stem the tide of the attack. You get two very different perspectives before the breach. Can you talk about your sound work for this conflict?

MB: These guys did amazing work in that episode. One thing that Craig emphasized was that when we’re on the wall with Tommy and the community members, the sounds aren’t too big, so that when we come down to where the infected are attacking below, it gives us more room to play. The sound there can be more dramatic.

CB: A lot of the challenges there were building contrast and making it feel like when we’re on the wall, we’re with Tommy. We’re with those guns. We’re with his snipers, and you hear all of the bullets are raining down.

You hear screaming and the fire, and you hear their burning flesh.

And then when we’re with the infected, we’re with their voices. We’re in the snow. We’re with the barrels, and you can hear all of the bullets hitting that metal. You hear screaming and the fire, and you hear their burning flesh. To feel that shift was really important.

There was such a huge variety of sounds in that. And not only the wall sequence, but the whole attack on Jackson was such a complicated sequence with so many different, specific moments that needed to be fleshed out and have the quality that we’ve done throughout the entire show. That sequence was really difficult, but the wall sequence was particularly hard with the shifts in perspective.
 

After the wall breach, Tommy uses a flamethrower to fight off the Bloater. This was so tense. Can you talk about your sound work here?

MB: Actor Gabriel Luna, who plays Tommy, was great. We looped almost that entire sequence because there were fans on set. Gabe is an amazing looper for the action sequences, with his grunts and groans, and also dialogue. That is almost all ADR, except for a couple of lines when he is on the ground and the Bloater is in front of him.

Also, we brought in the voice actor who played the Bloater in the game, Jon Olson. He did a whole performance of the Bloater for us, and Craig Mazin seemed really happy with that. You never know if what you’re going to record with game actors will translate the way you want it to for live action. But Jon did great stuff. His voice had a unique quality, and after Chris Terhune worked with it in editorial, we were really happy with how the Bloater vocals all came together.

the flamethrower bursts are very long, so it was challenging to keep them interesting for a minute and a half

CB: That sequence was really tough. Firstly, the flamethrower bursts are very long, so it was challenging to keep them interesting for a minute and a half, and to keep up the intensity to make it feel like Tommy is winning the fight against the Bloater.

The Bloater had to feel heavy. We needed to hear him screaming and roaring, to feel the pain, and feel like it had overcome the flames as the gas was running out.

I put contact mics on some compressed air cans and sprayed them until they ran out and fizzed.

Craig wanted to get the sound of the gas running out just right, to feel the gauge ticking, and to hear the pressure of the gas running through the tube of the flamethrower as it’s getting lower. We’re hearing the tank get emptier and emptier as the fire becomes less intense. There was just a lot of design work to make that feel natural and to feel the drama of Tommy trying to win this flamethrower fight, to feel the flames, to feel the Bloater trying to overcome the fire, and to feel the gas running out. There were a lot of moving parts in just that short sequence.

For the sound of the gas running out, one of the simplest solutions was recording a can of compressed air (the compressed air can you’d use to clean your keyboard). I put contact mics on some compressed air cans and sprayed them until they ran out and fizzed. I got all these really interesting textures that worked as a good layer for the tank draining.

It’s important to keep your ears open for those moments of serendipity. Why try to do more when the perfect sound is right in front of me?

Craig liked that sound, but it was still missing the sound of gas running through the tube and becoming more resonant as there’s less and less pressure. That ended up being the sound of a gas meter on the side of a building that I came across while on a walk. It was a simple sound — one we probably encounter every day. But it was the perfect sound for that moment of hearing the tank from Tommy’s perspective. It’s important to keep your ears open for those moments of serendipity. Why try to do more when the perfect sound is right in front of me?

MB: Some people will carry around Zoom recorders in their backpacks or pockets all the time.

CB: Our team definitely does that. There are sounds that came from recordings on-the-go throughout the entire series.
 

Just after the flamethrower fight, Maria releases the hounds on the infected. This had to be challenging to design. There are so many different dogs; they run into the fight and attack this horde of infected that’s scattered all along the street. Where did you get all of those attacking dog sounds?

CB: It was challenging. We had to make sure the dogs felt aggressive and excited that Maria was coming, like they were anticipating this chance to protect Jackson. Then, once they actually started attacking those infected, we had to make sure they felt impactful, felt strong and powerful.

I’ve done a recording of my friend’s Labrador playing tug of war. It sounds so aggressive and growly, and so that’s in there.

This whole attack on Jackson was so ambitious due to the variety of sounds. For this moment, the challenge was gathering a large collection of dog sounds. I recorded people’s dogs playing tug of war, the attacks, growls, and bites. I’ve done a recording of my friend’s Labrador playing tug of war. It sounds so aggressive and growly, and so that’s in there. It is a lot of ingredients from different friends’ dogs. It was fun to text those friends and ask, “Do you hear your dog in there? Your pup helped to save the people of Jackson!”

We made sure that each moment of that attack hit, and that it felt dramatically impactful. That was the most important part.

MB: That sequence had a lot of visual effects of dogs, and some didn’t come in until the last minute. All the dogs are doing different things, attacking the infected. We did the sound in layers as the visual effects came in: from what we could originally see, when the dogs are let out of their cages, through to when they’re attacking on Main Street.

We wanted to make each dog feel like a character and that they were their own little hero […] Even though it was happening so quickly, it was a different dog voice for each dog

CB: We wanted to make each dog feel like a character and that they were their own little hero. We didn’t want it to sound like there were six of the same dog. We tried to make each dog that was running by, and each dog that was attacking, have its own moment. Even though it was happening so quickly, it was a different dog voice for each dog, so that it felt like there was a big variety in this pack of dogs that were unleashed to help protect the city.

CT: Because of that, it sold the idea of the turning point of Jackson. The community of Jackson was losing, but now it’s surviving the battle. Having that variety of dogs, you can feel the scope of the battle and how wide it was.

I love the foley of the dogs in the snow, too. By hearing their varied footsteps, we got a feeling of them moving and running fast to save Jackson

MB: I love the foley of the dogs in the snow, too. By hearing their varied footsteps, we got a feeling of them moving and running fast to save Jackson. I saw a pretty major feature film this weekend that featured dogs, and they didn’t have any foley footsteps, and they were also in snow. I think it was an artistic choice, but I kept watching, thinking, “How come we don’t hear that? That sound could really help tell the story.”
 

Who was your foley team this season?

MB: We had Randy Wilson and his team in Toronto. They did Season 1 as well.

We had Randy Wilson and his team in Toronto […] They do excellent work.

They do excellent work. I started working with them about five years ago, and I would hire them anytime, for any project. Now, they’re high in demand because they’re so good. We throw a lot of stuff at them, and they cover everything beautifully. I’ve never heard re-recording mixers compliment the foley so consistently.

CB: From the sound effects side, it’s fantastic to know that the foley team is going to do such a good job for what they’re covering. There are times when you get foley that doesn’t work, and you end up having to add a lot just to make it feel right.

we knew what Craig wanted, what he liked, and the foley team just nailed it

Randy and his team do such a beautiful job on the foley. You know it’s going to be good, it’s going to work, and it’s going to help tell the story and help our scenes.

MB: This season, we only asked for a couple of sweeteners. Season 1, we asked for more sweeteners, and that’s because we were feeling out what Craig Mazin’s sound sensibilities were. But this season, for the most part, we knew what Craig wanted, what he liked, and the foley team just nailed it.
 

In Ep. 202, there’s the important scene in which Abby confronts Joel. This was gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. Can you talk about your approach to sound here?

MB: One of Craig’s notes after he watched a first playback of the mix of this scene was that we needed to feel the elements of the storm outside, even though we were inside the cabin, and it was tricky. You want to feel that the wind is getting through any possible cracks in the building, and coming in around the windows. You guys nailed it pretty nicely.

CB: That took some time. One surprising thing about that scene is that we’re in the same lodge at the beginning of the episode, and we designed all of these beautiful winds. You hear the building shifting and the sleet on the window, and the fireplace. And we thought, great, now that we have this location established, let’s bring it into the scene where Abby confronts Joel.

we designed all of these beautiful winds. You hear the building shifting and the sleet on the window, and the fireplace

 
But the ambiences, tonally, didn’t work very well for that later scene. The emotion and story were totally different. So, we had to rethink some of those elements to try to get the emotion and the mood of those winds right, to make it feel dark and intense. We wanted to feel the snow and ice hitting those windows, and that fire is roaring, so it was warm enough in there.

we had to rethink some of those elements to try to get the emotion and the mood of those winds right

I ended up using lots of winds that I recorded in my house and in cabins. Those winds were slowed down to make sure they had these dark tones to envelop the scene while the drama starts to unfold.

MB: The fireplace was interesting because there are long scenes, and the fire sounds can get a bit monotonous. Craig wanted to make sure we knew the fire was there, but he didn’t want it to take over the whole scene. So, in the mix, we were coming back to it in quiet moments.

Craig also wanted to make sure that the other characters who weren’t on camera were present in the room sonically

Craig also wanted to make sure that the other characters who weren’t on camera were present in the room sonically. So, we hear them moving around; we hear the backpacks moving and the characters doing things. That’s great and not something that all filmmakers do. You don’t hear a ton of their sounds, but you hear a little bit, so you know that what we’re seeing isn’t the only thing that’s happening in the room.

After Craig heard the scene the first time and we got our marching orders, we got foley to give us some sweeteners, and we grabbed a few sounds to help keep the movement alive for the characters off-camera.

If sounds are meant to be distant, part of our approach (if we have the opportunity) is to record them with space on the mic.

CB: If sounds are meant to be distant, part of our approach (if we have the opportunity) is to record them with space on the mic. A lot of projects ask for a more “Hollywood style,” with everything sounding clean. For us, if we can get distance, a little dirt, a little life on it, a little grit, then we’ll try to make that happen, whether it’s a floor creak or a door creak. I feel like our sounds are grittier and feel real, which is a totally different challenge.
 

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What about the physical attack? What are the showrunners’ tastes in terms of the sounds of violence?

MB: They wanted the violence to grow; we couldn’t start too big. I’m dating myself here, but you don’t always want to use a cliched “John Wayne chin sock” — something big, over-the-top, and movie-like. We wanted the sound of the violent moments to feel real, yet still be as dramatic and impactful as possible.

CB: Yeah, we tried to make sure the golf club hits felt like Abby was swinging the golf club hard, and the punches felt brutal, but they couldn’t be so cheesy.

There are sounds of punches hitting impossible meat and other meat products, so that it feels real without getting too over the top

We made sure to use actual punches and actual hits to sweeten it. There are sounds of punches hitting impossible meat and other meat products, so that it feels real without getting too over the top. We still wanted the hits to sound hard, so it was a tricky balance.

MB: Pedro Pascal (playing Joel) was great at doing his ADR for that sequence. He came in and redid the bulk of the vocals as he’s beaten, his performance moving towards a character who has been hurt and damaged so badly that he can hardly speak anymore. We only did a couple of takes because he nailed it on the first or second take.

The whimpering and wheezing by Pedro as his character is losing blood is really what sells that scene.

CB: That whimpering was great. It’s easy to focus on all the sounds surrounding the characters, but ultimately, it’s these performances that really help. The whimpering and wheezing by Pedro as his character is losing blood is really what sells that scene.

MB: The ADR scenes that I struggled most with were when Ellie was in the hospital in Ep. 203, and when she gets kicked in the chest at the end of Ep. 202.

Making it sound like it’s hard to breathe is difficult, because it isn’t a big sound

Craig wanted Ellie’s vocals to feel like her lungs had been damaged so badly that she was really struggling to breathe. Making it sound like it’s hard to breathe is difficult, because it isn’t a big sound. That kind of vocal sound isn’t easy for even the greatest of actors to do, but Bella Ramsey [playing Ellie] was terrific. Craig ended up doing some vocals as well, and in the end, we used a combination of both Bella and Craig, and sound effects.
 

Ellie has some beautiful, quiet moments this season, playing guitar and singing. I wasn’t a fan of the A-ha song “Take On Me” until I heard her sing it. Was this production? Any studio recordings and editing?

MB: I heard the original song in a bar the other night, but Bella’s performance is so unique and has such a different vibe that I had almost forgotten that it was the same classic 80’s tune.

Chris B. recorded Ellie’s guitar tuning so it was musically accurate with what we were seeing on the screen

Craig was very specific with what he wanted the guitar to do, so Chris B. recorded Ellie’s guitar tuning so it was musically accurate with what we were seeing on the screen.

CB: It’s that realism I was talking about, making sure that everything feels like it’s actually happening and grounded. Even though we’re surrounded by this infected apocalypse, the actual world they live in should feel authentic and lived in, like the world has collapsed. In that music shop in that sequence, it’s feeling the outside world of Seattle come in with those beautiful birds, and the creaking of the floors — not everything is perfect.

Even though we’re surrounded by this infected apocalypse, the actual world they live in should feel authentic and lived in, like the world has collapsed

That’s one of the challenges for this show, that we have those quiet moments where you need to feel all this detail, and then we have these giant moments like the attack on Jackson where it’s chaotic and the sounds are big, and we’re trying to get clarity while there’s so much sound. There’s this contrast of finding these moments to play beautiful birds and beautiful winds and let the characters be enveloped in nature, and then switching gears so quickly to something like the subway sequence, which I think is later in that episode.

MB: As for the playing and singing, I think that’s production. We didn’t loop that, and I don’t think they did that in music, so it must all be production. No one ever asked us to work on that because it just worked.
 

Let’s look at that subway scene. So in Ep. 204, Ellie and Dina try to escape the WLF by going into the subway, but there are tons of infected down there, so they make a desperate escape out of the subway car. Can you talk about your sound work for this scene?

CT: That scene was a process. Craig wanted to make sure every frame of that scene was right. There was a lot of failure, a lot of trying to get the feel right for the characters.

As they make their way through the accordion-style connection between the cars, you hear that new texture and what it sounds like when the infected are punching and clawing at that material

So in the beginning, he wanted it to feel safe inside the subway car, and then have this buildup of all the windows breaking, and then all hell breaks loose. He wanted to be very specific about the progression because there’s so much sound in that scene.

In the beginning, they drop in, and you hear all the bones from the dead bodies cracking. As they make their way through the accordion-style connection between the cars, you hear that new texture and what it sounds like when the infected are punching and clawing at that material. Then the car starts to wronk and creak as the infected start to build up on the sides. You want to feel the claustrophobic-ness of that scene up until they get to the top of the subway car roof and escape — almost like running out of breath underwater just before surfacing.

It was a huge palette of different textures to give it as much color as possible because the music was banging, too

That was challenging. We recorded a bunch of loop group, and we pulled some sounds from Season 1. We used sounds that Chris and I recorded. It was a huge palette of different textures to give it as much color as possible because the music was banging, too. So there was a bit of competition there that we had to work out on the stage. It took us a few days, but I feel like we nailed it.

CB: One of the hard things, too, was feeling the space, feeling the movement through the subway cars, and feeling the right muffling from the glass.

CT: The space in this season with the infected was challenging because there were far fewer infected in Season 1.

In Season 2, there were more infected, and also more storytelling with the geography of where the Clickers are — one announces itself, and then another announces itself. One had to sound female, and the other had to sound male. We needed to have different-sounding female-infected, and different-sounding male-infected, so it sounded like a huge group. Then, we had to put them in a very specific space.

We needed to have different-sounding female-infected, and different-sounding male-infected, so it sounded like a huge group.

Craig kept reminding us of that, over and over. He would get out a notepad for all these scenes, like the subway, and draw the set out and time the story as he’s drawing it out for us, like, “This Clicker is here, and now this Clicker is here. This Clicker is behind the Burger King, and this Clicker is on the other side of the subway car.” He was orchestrating us in terms of sound, so we knew when we were supposed to feel these events from the infected. It took a few tries, and every time we did it, we got closer and closer until we did a playback, and I saw him put down his pencil. Then, I knew we were good.

MB: For a sound team, when we’re doing playback for the creatives (e.g., showrunner, director, producer, etc.), the worst thing is to see them pick up their pen, or you hear the sound of a page turning, and you think, okay, that’s one whole page of notes. If you hear that ten times, it’s like, “ugh.” I think the creatives went through way fewer legal pads this season!

CT: Or, we’ll see him write something down, and when we get to that spot in the notes, he’ll turn to Tim and ask, “Hey, are we missing this VFX?” And you’re thinking, “Phew. Okay. That wasn’t for us.”

I’ve worked on a lot of challenging scenes, and I will say that’s probably up there as far as how complicated it was.

The great thing about Craig, though, is that he knows that’s the process. There’s no anger or disappointment

MB: The great thing about Craig, though, is that he knows that’s the process. There’s no anger or disappointment. It’s just one of those things where, okay, we did it once, now let’s do it again. He even comes up with new ideas as he’s watching it.

CT: That’s what impresses me most about Craig: if he knew how to cut sound and use Pro Tools and do what we do, he’d be amazing. There are so many stories in this season that are like radio plays. We don’t see what’s happening, we hear it.

We’re hyper-specific about where this Clicker is and that Clicker is, how they’re communicating with each other, and the kind of communication they’re having without ever seeing them.

For example, in Ep. 1, when Ellie and Dina are going through the grocery store, sneaking around the two Clickers, that was the first time I realized this season was different. We’re hyper-specific about where this Clicker is and that Clicker is, how they’re communicating with each other, and the kind of communication they’re having without ever seeing them. We have to choose the right kinds of sounds to make it feel not so scary, and maybe a little funny. The girls are confident. The sounds we create have to make all those pieces come together. Craig knew that was something that had to land.

CB: Especially because that sequence is right before the Stalker, which is a really scary sequence. I remember Chris working super hard on the variety of voices for the infected, whether that was a Runner in a horde, or the two voices for the Clickers, or multiple Clickers off-screen in the subway sequence. Making sure each of these infected feels unique and individual is like what we had to do for the dogs we talked about earlier. Each infected needed to have a voice; they are a real person who is emoting in this really unique, monstrous way.

CT: And Craig knows that we only recorded Mitzy and Phil for the Clickers, so we only have these two voices: one male and one female. He left it up to me to figure out how to turn two voices into a horde.

we only recorded Mitzy and Phil for the Clickers, so we only have these two voices: one male and one female. He left it up to me to figure out how to turn two voices into a horde

We would get as much range as possible, so maybe this Clicker has less vocal fry, and this Clicker has more clicks. Maybe one Clicker doesn’t have clicks, but has more vocal fry. This one is screechier. This one is deeper.

The subway scene was especially tough because it was a hollow cave. As sound people, we want to have fun with reverb, but as soon as you start doing too much of that, it loses intelligibility.

CB: So, that’s for the Clickers, but for the whole horde of infected, we have a loop group that we recorded and that worked really well.

CT: Also, Sound Particles has been my hero in all of these horde scenes, giving me the ability to create the variety and density that we needed sound-wise.

CB: Sound Particles, and also Soundminer Radium.
 

You had mentioned in the subway scene that it starts out feeling safe, like a cocoon, and then the windows start to break, and the sound is completely different. You used minimal reverb, but I loved the sound inside this space, both before and after the windows break. It was so convincing…

CT: Thank you. The reverb was a baked-in mono reverb, just to sell that narrowness. Then, when Ellie starts shooting, it spreads to more of a stereo reverb so it can get around your ears a bit to make it feel bigger, as if the gunshots are exciting the space more. We wanted to keep it as narrow as possible until the glass starts to spider-web open. Then, everything opens up.

The reverb was a baked-in mono reverb, just to sell that narrowness. Then, when Ellie starts shooting, it spreads to more of a stereo reverb

CB: This is a good place to shout out our re-recording mixers, Samuel Ejnes and Marc Fishman, who helped with that, too. They took a lot of our material and gave it even more shape, making it work in the context of the whole scene. Each of us was working in a vacuum, but once you put it all together and get the puzzle pieced together, they are the ones who elevated what we were giving them to help tell the story.
 

In Ep. 205 “Feel Her Love,” Ellie and Dina break into a warehouse that the WLF don’t patrol, only to find infected. Ellie takes the brunt of the attacks while Dina hides in a caged area, and Jesse comes to the rescue. Again, a huge number of infected in an interesting space. Can you talk about your sound work for this scene?

CT: They’re all Stalkers in that sequence, and believe it or not, that was done by one voice actor: Molly. She did an incredible job. Her vocal range is insane. She did a variety of male Stalkers and female Stalkers, in different pain performances, and held-back straining sort of sounds. She could do hundreds of different sounds for the Stalkers. So, having her help us with that was invaluable. I couldn’t have done what I did without her.

They’re all Stalkers in that sequence, and believe it or not, that was done by one voice actor: Molly.

MB: Molly’s voice was great, as well as her enthusiasm. She would try anything. When Craig was directing her, they really bonded. They seemed to speak a language they both understood; it was really fun watching the two of them communicate with each other.

CT: It was funny, too. We’d be on the couch and she’d be looking at the screen, and Craig would stop and she’d turn around and he’d give her direction. He’d say, “Try this,” but we wouldn’t be recording. She’d nail it, and she’d keep nailing it every time that we weren’t recording. We kept chasing the same performance, but it was a blast. She’s a super-talented voice actor.

it was another geography-based scene where you’d feel the one over there, and then feel another three, and then feel the five behind you, and they’re circling

For this sequence, too, it was another geography-based scene where you’d feel the one over there, and then feel another three, and then feel the five behind you, and they’re circling. There’s this constant circling, and then Dina is overrun in the cage, and Ellie gets overrun on the ground. It’s chaos, and there are so many Stalker sounds that even when you see one on camera, it’s so chaotic that you can’t hear that specific one. It just builds to this crescendo until the giant rifle gunshot happens. That was all orchestrated by Craig. I thought it was genius.
 

The sound of the rifle there is subjective, with that long ringout. Was that Craig’s idea, to have the rifle sound completely blanket over everything?

CT: Yeah, he wanted Dina and Ellie’s guns to feel weak, so when the rifle comes in, it feels like a cannon.

That rifle was a combination of an actual rifle, a big, compressed firework in a canyon, and cannon fire, just to give it this ethereal moment

That rifle was a combination of an actual rifle, a big, compressed firework in a canyon, and cannon fire, just to give it this ethereal moment, so that Ellie is confused. Is this Joel?? It gives it this dreamlike quality.

CB: There’s a cool parallel there with Joel saving Abby in Ep. 202, which is a similar moment of a big ethereal gunshot where you’re not quite sure what’s happening. It’s also telling the story of Jesse playing the protector in a similar yet mysterious way until he’s revealed. It’s really effective for telling that story.
 

The Seraphites use whistles to communicate over distances. Where did those whistles come from? Who did the whistles? They’re pretty complex for loud whistles!

MB: I know we had to loop some whistles since a few were a little catcall-ish.

CB: It’s a mixture of sources.

The game sound team established this language for the whistles, and […] we had to recreate and re-record them

The game sound team established this language for the whistles, and we had all those sounds for reference, but we weren’t allowed to use them. So, we had to recreate and re-record them. Michael recorded those. A couple of those whistles are me whistling. Chris also did some whistles, like the “fingers in mouth” whistles.

The most difficult thing with the whistles was getting the distances right, to feel like it was in these forests, and also trying to keep as much of that language that Naughty Dog so brilliantly established in the game. Being able to say, “Hey, we spotted somebody.” Or, “Where did they go?” through whistling sounds is intimidating. You’re not sure what the communication is, but you know the Seraphites are talking to each other. We wanted to maintain that in the show.

The most difficult thing with the whistles was getting the distances right, to feel like it was in these forests

There’s something unsettling about just hearing a whistle come from one spot and then another one come from another spot. That goes back to the geography we were talking about. You don’t know if they’re about to attack, like when they shoot the crossbow and the bolt hits Dina, or if they’re saying someone is in trouble. Having this mystery of what they’re communicating is what helps that sequence so much.

All of the whistling we recorded custom for the show, recreating a lot of the material that the game sound team had brilliantly come up with.
 

Nora ‘rides’ the top of the elevator down to Level B2 of the hospital. What a cool sound for the elevator falling! What went into that?

CB: That was a lot of metal. We wanted to feel the stress of that elevator before the actual collapse happens, and also to feel the size of it. So there’s that creak and the sound of it shifting before it starts to screech down the elevator shaft to a halt. And then there’s the impact of that.

When it’s screeching down, I used train breaks and train couplers — anything to get as much size and impact on that elevator as possible

I used a lot of metal creaks, little metal doors, and little metal tension sounds. When it’s screeching down, I used train breaks and train couplers — anything to get as much size and impact on that elevator as possible to make it feel large and industrial. We wanted to feel the size and the intensity of that moment. Like, Nora has lost all control. This elevator is free-falling down. It’s huge. You don’t know how far it’s going. It’s fast. And when that thing hits the ground, it is a moment. So, I tried to build each part of that sequence to have so much impact and to sell that it’s this old rusty elevator that’s actually collapsing.
 

I love the contrast between that huge sound and what follows, which is the guys in the hallway saying, “Oh crap, the elevator door is open; Level B2 is down there. Seal it all off!” as Ellie’s climbing down the elevator shaft toward whatever is down there…

MB: I’m glad you got all of that because that was a struggle. We didn’t want it to be too clear, but Craig knew those were plot points. We shot that in group ADR. We needed to hear the lines. And we struggled a bit with the mix, trying to make sure we heard it but not too clearly, but that the audience would understand what they were saying.
 

I love that you hear the voices, and it sounds like they’re coming from down the hall and down the elevator shaft. Great job mix team on the dialogue processing there!

This leads to Ellie exploring Level B2, where she discovers the spores, and she sees the people in the Cordyceps, exhaling those spores. Can you talk about your sound work for this sequence?

CB: I loved the spore room with the infected breathing out all the spores as they’re attached to the walls.

The wheezing sounds were all Craig. He was on the stage and grabbed a mic. He put his stamp on it.

MB: Those visual effects are amazing. Alex Wang and his team did a great job.

CT: The wheezing sounds were all Craig. He was on the stage and grabbed a mic. He put his stamp on it. He always gives me a guide of what something should sound like, such as with the lung sickness. He always does an impersonation of a sound, and so I told him, “Just do it.” And he did it.
 

What about the spore sounds? How do you create the sound of dust?

CB: Chris and I both worked on the spores. The spores were tricky because they needed to be subtle but present with lots of movement. We were trying to make it interesting, but not actually bring attention to it. It needed to just be wallpaper, but wallpaper that you’ve never heard before.

I ended up using filtered recordings of Alka Seltzer.

CT: I did something similar with a Coca-Cola fizz. We had different tasks like that throughout the whole season, whether it was the snow or the spores.

MB: That’s funny because I was thinking of the snow in Ep. 201 when Ellie and Dina are in the supermarket trying to avoid the Stalker. There are shots of snow falling from the first floor to the basement where they are. How much sound can a little bit of snow make? But, I think it sounds very cool and interesting.

It needed to just be wallpaper, but wallpaper that you’ve never heard before

CT: Usually it’s not the sound of snow; it’s EQ’d tree leaves or sand — things that will poke out more. I think Chris nailed the spore stuff because it needed to have a roundness to it, and not be as transient as snow would be. It had to feel more floaty than falling.

CB: Chris touched on this a bit but one of the advantages of our team on this show, and one of the things I’m so appreciative of, is how we can rely on our effects editors to bring their own style to sounds sounds like snow or rain. Those kinds of sounds can easily start to feel repetitive, but because everyone has a different approach we get a ton of dynamics and variety. And when your entire episode is a snowstorm or rainstorm, it’s super important just to keep the momentum going and to feel the shifts in all these different locations.
 

What was your biggest creative challenge for sound this season?

CT: I’d say it was getting inside Craig’s head a bit more about his off-screen storytelling. It was learning that side of his brain a bit more, and his directing as far as what we’re hearing and what we don’t see. And I learned a lot. I’ve learned a ton from him. I learned a bunch of new panning techniques for myself that I never used before.

it was getting inside Craig’s head a bit more about his off-screen storytelling […] and his directing as far as what we’re hearing and what we don’t see.

Everything had its own big challenge. A show like this, that has those challenges, you come out on the other end more knowledgeable and with better material. I’m always grateful.

MB: As I’ve mentioned earlier, I believe the biggest challenge of creating the sounds for Season 2 is that there were so many locations in this season. Even within a hospital, we find ourselves in multiple hallways, and we wanted them to all sound different.

every 10 minutes or so, we had to come up with a new world. And that took time, it took detailed work, and it took imagination to figure out how to make this sound different

This also isn’t a show where you’re in the same location every week (nothing against those shows), but that was a bit of a struggle with budget and manpower, because we couldn’t just use the same material from previous episodes. And so every 10 minutes or so, we had to come up with a new world, generally. And that took time, it took detailed work, and it took imagination to figure out how to make this sound different than the place we were in just a scene ago.

The sound effects and foley teams had their work cut out for them. Every footstep on every surface seemed to change constantly — sometimes you’re walking on glass, sometimes you’re on snow, and sometimes you’re walking in mud, all within a few seconds. It is so much work. It’s really challenging, but nailing the detail is incredibly rewarding as well.

CT: Horses. Lots of horses.

MB: Lots of horses.

CB: Horses are always a challenge. Snow is always a challenge. Rain is always a challenge. Giant hordes of infected are always a challenge.

it’s just a huge amount of variety. And to make it all feel real and grounded and dramatic and have the shape of a show like this is the biggest challenge and biggest reward

But as Michael mentioned, one of the biggest difficulties with this show is that it’s not singular. It’s the variety of material that we have to prepare and that we have to approach. The difference between a blizzard and a rocket ship is pretty immense in terms of the sounds that you’re going to use. And whether you’re in a quiet, abandoned building or you’re in a thunderstorm with a tidal wave, it’s just a huge amount of variety. And to make it all feel real and grounded and dramatic and have the shape of a show like this is the biggest challenge and biggest reward. It’s incredible how much work has to go into it, and approaching each moment in each episode comes with its own set of challenges.
 

What was your favorite scene for sound this season? Is there a scene that you’re most proud of sound-wise? What went into it?

CT: I really like in Ep. 201, the two Clicker scenes with Dina and Ellie. For me, foley nailed it. The music took a beat as Dina and Ellie sneak inside the window, and you really hear the communication of their movement and the subtlety of Ellie putting the knife on her throat and the creaking sounds of them stopping. You hear the call and response off-screen of the Clickers. The way that whole scene was orchestrated makes it the scene I’m most proud of this season.

MB: The scene I love, that I actually watched again last night, was when Joel takes Ellie to the rocket in the museum in Ep. 206. Obviously, the sound was a cheat since it was the sound of a real rocket taking off in all the speakers, but as an audience, we feel like we’re actually lifting off, just like Ellie.

The voices on the tape, saying, ‘This is Cape Canaveral’ […] had a lot of noise underneath it because it was an actual period recording

It’s a great sounding scene. Chris, you guys nailed it. Neil, who directed that episode, was so happy the first time he heard it. We didn’t have to change a lot of stuff in that. It just really worked beautifully..

The voices on the tape, saying, “This is Cape Canaveral” or whatever, were so great. I loved how Marc Fishman treated them. It’s funny because they had a really old recording — I was with him on the stage when he was working on that scene — and it had a lot of noise underneath it because it was an actual period recording. Marc cleaned it up, and then, of course, we dirtied it up again.

CB: I love that scene. It’s such a beautiful moment, and such an honoring of what Neil has done for that second game, too.

the horde attack on Jackson […] felt like a true accomplishment to get through it and to make sure that it was the quality that it turned out at

I think the one I’m most proud of is the horde attack on Jackson. It’s such a huge, momentous scene. There’s so much going on. Getting a true “organized chaos” feeling for it with all of the gunshots, all of the bullets, all of those infected getting hit and screaming, and the Bloater, and the wall collapsing, and the barrels rolling and exploding, and the dogs was so challenging. The scope of that was so huge and so massive that it felt like a true accomplishment to get through it and to make sure that it was the quality that it turned out at. I’m very proud of that scene.

CT: That was definitely a big feat. And if you run it back a little more, the whole avalanche sequence with Abby and the gate falling. It was basically just pulling the rubber band back, and then you have all of Jackson. It was just a lot. After that final playback of it, we all felt relieved but also pretty stoked on what we accomplished.
 

A big thanks to Michael Benavente, Christopher Battaglia, and Chris Terhune for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of The Last of Us Season 2 and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!

 

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