The Last Of Us Filming Locations

the whole world is talking about the last of  us the hit 2013 video game that spun off into   a TV series HBO spent more than 10 million  dollars per episode making it one of the   most expensive TV shows to shoot and the episodes  are averaging over 30 million viewers and while   you've heard of the show you probably didn't  know it was entirely filmed in Alberta Canada Alberta is the perfect place to film a show like  this it's home to the beautiful cities of Calgary   and Edmonton the Rocky Mountains and the prairies  HBO used as many existing locations as they could   but what we're about to see is that many of those  scenes were constructed from scratch [Music]   this is where the quarantine Zone was filmed  right over here is where the Fortress wall   was constructed somewhere over here is where  the bodies were being burned and this is where   the people were being hung I'm sure this  entire area was filled with blue screens   to make it look more post-apocalyptic some of  the other shots from this location required a   lot less construction and special effects  like when Joel met the guard all right Alberta may not be known as the  Hollywood of Canada but with its   diverse locations and distinct Seasons  you'll see why that's about to change   I'm Davey and I love taking you guys behind  the scenes and today it's for The Last of Us this is the Fourth Avenue flyover I plan  to go on this road but it's pretty busy   and I don't think it's very safe without  getting on the road we can see that this   is where that scene was filmed Memorial Drive  and the flyover were closed and hundreds of   cars were brought in the skyline of Calgary  was changed to make it look more like Boston this building was used as the Bostonian Museum  I'm pretty sure most of the buildings from episode   2 were CGI but this guy right here is pretty  recognizable this building is in Victoria Park   which is actually just across the street from some  of my favorite places to eat and drink I remember   walking on this street when HBO was filming  but I had no idea that it would actually be   for The Last of Us I'm not going to be showing you  inside because we all know what happened in there next on our tour of Alberta we're headed  north to the capital of our Province Edmonton   so we're in Edmonton Alberta and this  is the Alberta legislature building or   as edmontonians call it the ledge I  believe most of the Interior scenes   were filmed in here but it's closed today  so we can't go inside I think it's one of   the most beautiful buildings in the whole  Province so I can see why they used it   I think I found where Ellie was standing when  the building was burning down but I do think   that this part of the building is CGI episode 3  back to Calgary so you've booked your tickets to   Alberta maybe you're coming for the Calgary  Stampede and you've got a couple extra days   to kill and want to see some of these locations  well I got you covered I made a map that shows   all the locations I'll be visiting with photos  of what scenes were filmed there on top of that   the map includes a few of my personal favorite  cafes restaurants and places to visit if that   sounds interesting to you you can find the link to  the map in the description of this video [Music]   this is Fish Creek Provincial Park and  I hope I'm in the right place there's a   lot of bridges in this area and I've  gone to the wrong one a couple times this might be it this is looking good I'm pretty  sure this is the same Bridge we're looking for   Curtis is a small community Southwest of Calgary   I did manage to find the gas station I was looking  for and it looks like HBO painted the whole thing   white or maybe they use CGI and they removed the  building behind it as well Prentice is right next   to San Diego Provincial Park which is an area with  a lot of fields and Rolling Hills I have a feeling   this is where that plane crash scene was filmed  but there's no hope of me finding this exact frame this is where Bill and Frank's house was filmed  from what I can tell an entire neighborhood was   built right here this area is called Beechwood and  the Alberta flood of 2013 destroyed this area and   it's now abandoned the once pristine Prairie  River Community covered in water completely   at the mercy of the river I'm actually walking  on a road the old homes would have been here it's tough to know exactly where  everything was built especially   in the snow but I believe that the  majority of the homes were constructed there was a quick shot of a Home Depot that  I did manage to find in the neighborhood   of Shaughnessy since filming I think  they're turning this into a different   kind of store and we can see that they've  already changed the front of the building foreign [Music] Strathmore and I'm looking for this gas station  I've been driving around and using Google Maps   and it is nowhere to be found however I did find  a tweet from the DP of this episode saying that   everything was built on site so we're going to  leave this one up to our imagination [Music] this is the airport tunnel and this is where  Joel and Ellie were looking to get through to   Kansas City I posted online that I found out which  tunnel was used and I got a surprising amount of   responses from people who were really passionate  about racing their loud cars through here [Music]   this might be one of the most recognizable  shots of Calgary in the whole show and   that's because of the globe Cinema I have some  theories about this specific scene and to hear   those you can head over to my Instagram  account to see what I'm talking about [Music] the Kansas City alley where the majority of  this episode was filmed was not hard to find   an entire block of downtown Calgary  was completely transformed and the   laundromat the truck crashed  into was built from scratch   my friend Jacob actually watched a scene  being filmed from his apartment [Music]   after finding all these locations in  downtown Calgary I don't know if I   can look at these locations the same again [Music] remember that building that had its door  broken down it's all a construction site   now it would have been right here episode  5 started with a ride in the streets my best guess is that Sixth Ave downtown Calgary  needed to be shut down for this to happen right next to the riots is the Calgary  Court Center Parkade building and the   front of this was transformed to look like  a government building a new front of the   building was added along with lampposts  sandbags and a bunch of vehicles I'm sure   that setting up this area took weeks and  it's only on screen for like 45 seconds not too far from where Sam and Henry were hiding   was the building that had  the entrance to the tunnel spot looked like any old Office  Building inside it had a food   court a bunch of people walking  around in suits and the entrance   to the tunnel was actually a doorway  to the Bike Room and the loading dock that leads us to one of the most exciting scenes  in the entire series the Kansas City Showdown the scene was Unreal and I couldn't wait  to see what this location looked like well this is the spot as amazing as Calgary  as not everything could be shot at an existing   location which is why things were shot here on  this empty lot this space was transformed into   a neighborhood thanks to Eben on Twitter again  he shared that these homes were built there was   elaborate lighting setups that were used and the  goal was to capture as much in camera as possible I think something that makes  shows like the last of us so   powerful is that we grow to love the  characters and then they're killed off   this Motel is in Nanton and it's where one  of the most devastating scenes took place episode 6 starts with a cabin in the wilderness  which is a common thing to find in the mountains   of Alberta but I did some searching and found  that this one's part of Cl western town and   backlot where there's all kinds of western  homes and cabins that can be rented for movies I think the location Scouts did a great job  choosing this bridge this is the Canmore   engine bridge and it's in Canmore Alberta on  a popular walking path if I had to give some   feedback to the editors of the scene I'd say keep  an eye out for the crew members in the corner   or maybe I'm the only one that noticed this just  over an hour away from Calgary is the town of   Canmore Canmore is great because you can still  enjoy the mountains and avoid the crowds of band   it's a great spot for weekend mountain  getaways outdoor activities like climbing   cross-country skiing and hiking and they also  have amazing Bagels the main street in Kanor   was closed for a few weeks and the Fortress  gate was built right here it looks like many   of the buildings had false fronts added  to them to make the town look more Western   it was nice to see that thing from  The Adams Family made a cameo as well this is sate the Southern Alberta Institute of   Technology the first half of the  University scenes were shot here thank you if you do happen to make it  to State there's a really killer view   of downtown Calgary that I recommend you check out   the second half of the scene is actually filmed in  a different location called Mount Royal University what did you think of the chasing  on the horse during this episode did the horse look a little off  I found this behind the scenes   photo on Reddit which confirmed my  suspicions that this horse was fake uh this isn't good I don't know what happened but this used to be a  mall maybe this still is a mall this says entrance   from what I can tell the mall was  being revitalized and turned into   an open-air Shopping Center which means that  the majority of this mall has been torn down   that used to be the mall but they've blocked  it off I remember visiting this mall when I was   younger and I don't think there was a second floor  which I'm guessing was added with special effects   I found the color scheme in this scene  very interesting is this a nod to the   lesbian flag from what I understand  the carousel that was used was real   and was borrowed from Spruce Meadows  which is a equestrian facility in town in one of the most beautiful  locations in Alberta we meet the   ugliest character yet this is Waterton  Lakes National Park and it's one of   Alberta's most underrated Parks which  is why you've probably never heard of it the opening shot was taken beside  the iconic Prince of Wales Hotel   it's very quiet and snowy in the winter months  which makes sense why HBO would want to shoot here when I saw this specific shot of Joel I felt  like I was actually watching the video game   I know the creators of the show did their best to  keep it as true to the game as possible well I've   been finding all these locations in Alberta Andrew  Levitt has been running around the U.S finding the   real-life locations that the game was modeled  after I gotta say I'm impressed with capital   is pretty close to the real thing but I'm even  more impressed at how realistic the capital is   in the game they copied real life more than high  schoolers using chat gbt so I'm gonna real quick   run you through it there's the building the roof  the fence the signs Andrew's made some incredible   videos many of which compare video games to real  life locations you're not going to want to miss   his video so head over to his channel to watch or  click the link in the description of this video   there okotok's previous movie claimed to fame  was when their baseball stadium was used in   interstellar now they have a post-apocalyptic  Thriller drama to add to that list   the neighborhood of Suntree was  used for many of these shots [Music]   the last episode follows Joel and Ellie on  the final leg of their journey to Salt Lake   City [Music] the alley that they walk through  is once again in downtown Calgary [Music]   well I believe that a lot of Salt Lake  City was created with blue screens the   building that Joel and Ellie enter is  actually real and is under construction   so I imagine that set dressing  wasn't that difficult [Music] like we've seen many times before  the show has transformed Another   Empty lot and this time it was made  to look like a field Hospital [Music]   I did find it interesting that  many of the buildings in the   background were still recognizable though [Music] this Epic Hospital scene was filmed in the  northern City of Grand Prairie Alberta and   the hospital had just finished being built  around the time of filming I imagine I would   not be able to roam around the hospital with my  camera for obvious reasons [Music] final scene   of the Season takes us back to one of the best  places in Alberta the mountains and this time   we're in kananascus I've parked at barrier Lake  and I'm about to do a short hike to the lookout   usually you can drive right up to the lookout  but the road is closed for the winter [Music] I can't believe that we did it we visited every  single location that The Last of Us was filmed in   in Alberta this passion project has been a great  reminder at how beautiful and inspiring my home   province of Alberta is don't forget to check out  the map I've made for you it's in the description   it has directions to all of the locations in  this video and more hit subscribe to follow   me on this YouTube journey and don't forget that  every like on this video means that I'm one step   closer to working with HBO or on something bigger  otherwise I'll see you when you come visit Alberta thank you

Channel: Davey Gravy

Views: 289,195

Keywords: the last of us, hbo, video game, tlou, calgary, alberta, canada, edmonton, scene breakdown, joel, ellie, high river, canmore, real life, reality, locations, yyc, waterton, pedro pascal, bella ramsey, downtown, behind the scenes, bts, visual effects, side by side, breakdown, Neil Druckmann, Craig Mazin, the last of us interview, episode, hbo max, season finale, game, boston, capital building salt lake city, andrew levitt, google map, road trip, travel alberta

Id: Tyz-WAQRNTw

Length: 15min 7sec (907 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 16 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/Filter_Out_More_Cats]

That was well done.

[u/Headso123]

So cool, completely missed it during the show. At 1:15 the restaurant is pho anh huyen. Famous for its “crack” soup. A fantastic spicy coconut curry chicken noodle soup.

[u/lumberjake1]

Great video, thanks for this!

[u/yycalex]

This was a very well done video! Thanks for sharing! Great to see all these places highlighted.

[u/Whetiko]

I'm surprised they didn't use AUA/ACAD at all, the building has so many spaces that would have been amazing for creepy claustrophobic basements.