Bella Ramsey and Isabela Merced, The Last of Us HBO [Warning: The following contains spoilers for The Last of Us Season 2 Episode 4, "Day One." Read at your own risk!] Cinematographer Catherine Goldschmidt had a tall order ahead of her when filming Season 2 of HBO's The Last of Us.

It was the first day of filming for Episode 4, "Day One," and on the schedule was another iconic moment from the game that HBO's drama adapts: Ellie (Bella Ramsey) playing "Take On Me" on the guitar. After arriving in Seattle to avenge Joel's (Pedro Pascal) death, she and Dina (Isabela Merced) share a brief respite from their post-apocalyptic reality as Ellie strums the chords Joel had taught her. The moment is soft and intimate, and pivotal to their relationship, which is the heartbeat of "Day One."

For Goldschmidt and Kate Herron, who directed the episode, it was paramount to adapt this moment to the best of their abilities. But that wasn't the first time Goldschmidt felt the weight of recreating a critical scene from The Last of Us Part II. She was also the cinematographer for Episode 2, "Through the Valley."

"A chief example of us feeling the pressure of an iconic moment in the game was the scene where Joel dies in Episode 2," she told TV Guide. In many ways, his shocking death changed the course of what happens in The Last of Us Part II. "For myself and my director, Mark Mylod, the challenging thing for us was also that this scene was scheduled in our first week of filming together, so that was definitely extra pressure," Goldschmidt recalled of Episode 2.

"It did actually go very well, but it was nerve-wracking." As faithfully as those two scenes were adapted from the game, HBO's The Last of Us has also excelled in adding new layers to characters, settings, and events that only appear briefly in the original story from game publisher Naughty Dog. Episode 4 features some of those expansions, including when Ellie and Dina come face-to-face with a new horde of infected.

Goldschmidt spoke to us about how she shot the action scenes in Seattle's underground subway station, how they compare to moments in Episode 2, and the significance of The Last of Us Season 2 being shot by female cinematographers (herself and Ksenia Sereda). ALSO READ: The Last of Us Season 2 review: HBO's hit drama makes a more provocative return TV Guide: I want to start by asking about the scene of the infected swarming the underground subway station. What did you most want to portray in that scene?

Catherine Goldschmidt: [Co-showrunner] Craig Mazin described wanting to get the right balance between not being able to see too much, but being able to see enough. We know that there are infected in this tunnel, but still, we can use our imagination to amp up the threat further — and that's what the characters are experiencing for themselves. When they first come in the tunnel, they have to look around the place with the flashlight.

Then the flares are the things that illuminate the tunnel, and they start hearing the infected before they even see them. This was a scene that is in the game, so we definitely did refer to what the game looks like. The red flares were really key lighting to get right.

We did some tests using real flares and then tried to mimic the light created by real flares with various different lighting tools. All of that went into the photography of the scene. Those are real train cars that they had to install in a set.

The set they built, it's not actually a sound stage. It's a very long, thin building where the walls are actually tiled, so they knew they could dress it to look like a train station. That meant this set was the entire building, which was very cool but definitely challenging to figure out how to work around.

Since that is a scene from the game, what were your conversations like with Craig Mazin and [co-showrunner] Neil Druckmann about what you wanted to keep similar and what you wanted to do differently in the show? Goldschmidt: How the scene works in our show is slightly different from the game, so I don't think that the story points were as precise as — I'll give you another example — the scene where Ellie finds the guitar and plays the guitar to Dina. That was the scene that they really wanted to replicate quite closely to what the game was.

And my director Kate Herron for Episode 4, she had played the game and she was passionate about that scene in particular and making that scene be as close to the game as possible. But I think the subway tunnels, it was much more, a reference of what it felt like and what it looked like, but the action that happens down there is quite specific just to the show. The Last of Us Season 2 Behind the Scenes HBO / Liane Hentscher The part that was extremely anxiety-inducing was when Ellie and Dina were running inside the train with the infected trying to get in.

How did you create a sense of claustrophobia for that part? Goldschmidt: I think the fact that it was a real train and was actually shaking did a lot of the work for us. And we had all these incredible stunt performers who were physically outside the train, you can see them through the windows.

So that whole scene is in-camera, and that's what I mean about the balance between what you see and what you don't. We knew we didn't want it to be a large VFX number, which is different to when the horde is attacking Jackson, we knew that would need a lot of VFX additional help to sell because it's broad daylight and that scene is all about the numbers. But in the train station underground, we knew through darkness and lighting — and the fact that we really were going to stay with our characters for the most part running down this real train car — that it could be all real.

It was actually scary to film. The sense of claustrophobia Ellie and Dina felt made me think of Abby (Kaitlyn Dever) crawling under the fence in Episode 2, which you also shot. In what ways did you want to give this a different or similar feel?

Goldschmidt: It's cool that you mentioned Abby crawling under the fence because there are obvious similarities in terms of a character feeling quite claustrophobic and having all these infected bearing down upon them. For the fence, though, we literally just wanted that fence to fall as low as it possibly could and still have her be able to crawl through. So that was the limiting factor was, what is that height?

We did tests with her stunt double to figure that out. I think it was something like 14 inches? And then I had to make sure that I could get a camera through that hole.

So for the fence sequence, we wound up using a different camera to our hero camera. We shot most of the series on the ALEXA 35 but those few shots where the fence is so low and we're with Abby, those I did on a Ronin 4D which is a very small camera and gimbal head combined. And that we put on that arm, the F27, and we took it off its base and we laid that on the ground so that the camera could just skate over the top of the snow.

How much pressure do you feel when it comes to recreating iconic moments from the game? Goldschmidt: A chief example of us feeling the pressure of an iconic moment in the game was the scene where Joel (Pedro Pascal) dies in Episode 2, because that is obviously such a huge moment. And we knew that people who played the game would see it coming, but people who didn't play the game might not.

So it might be quite shocking to a lot of people. For myself and my director, Mark Mylod, the challenging thing for us was also that this scene was scheduled in our first week of filming together, so that was definitely extra pressure for us, because we hadn't yet gotten into a rhythm with each other or with the crew or with the cast, so we were sort of thrown in at the deep end. But everybody brought their A-game to the table, and we had a very good plan which we executed.

It did actually go very well, but it was nerve-wracking. I also wanted to ask about the scene in Episode 4 of Ellie playing "Take On Me" on the guitar. What did you want to get right about that scene?

Goldschmidt: The relationship between Ellie and Dina, we've seen it progress all the way up until this point. But what's really happening in that scene is love blooming. So again, we definitely had the game to reference.

The set design stuck fairly closely to the game. And I would say, I did the same with the lighting. But I knew I wanted it to feel really beautiful, really romantic, and this moment of calm-before-the-storm kind of a thing.

So that's the atmosphere we were trying to create. And that was also our first day of filming Episode 4 — that was Kate's first day, was getting to do that. It sounds like there are a lot of huge moments being filmed on directors' first days or weeks.

What are your first conversations with the directors you meet in-person? Goldschmidt: I want to try to get in their head and hear from them what they think either the heart of the episode is, or their priorities for the episode. It's a process of sharing inspiration and references and obviously looking at the game together, in this case, which is a key reference point.

And then we start meeting with other departments and drilling down into more complicated sequences that involve everyone's stunts and special effects and visual effects. Something else that happens at the beginning is that Craig Mazin takes the director through the script, and everybody is invited to sit and listen so that we hear their conversation about what's important in each scene and what's important overall. The Last of Us Season 2 Behind the Scenes HBO / Liane Hentscher For Episode 4, what scene are you most proud of shooting?

Goldschmidt: The train station was amazing to film. I also think the TV station where [Ellie and Dina] first come in and they discover those hanging bodies, that set was another incredible set by Don Macaulay, the production designer. And those bodies again, those are real stunt performers who are hanging.

Oh wow, so it was all makeup and prosthetics for the guts? Goldschmidt: Yes. That was very impressive that everybody could do that.

There's lots of good scenes in Episode 4. The scene where they're in the theater, and Dina reveals that she's pregnant. Everything in Episode 4 — I have a very special place in my heart for Episode 4.

I really love the balance of action and emotion, but that scene between Ellie and Dina is very powerful. I should also say, in Episode 4, going to Nanaimo, which is where we shot when they're first on the horse, and they're seeing the pride flags and rainbows, and they see the tank. That was this incredible main street of Nanaimo, which is a town on Vancouver Island, and they let us completely take over their main street.

Our greens department came in and dressed the entire street. And it was really remarkable to have that reality in camera. The Last of Us Season 2 was shot by female cinematographers.

Can you talk about what that means to you? Goldschmidt: Really cool. Ksenia Sereda, she started off this season, she also started off last season.

She's a wonderful leader, she put together an incredible crew and set a really strong look. And her relationship with Craig and Neil is incredibly collaborative. I met her before I started on the project, and she said all the things that a [director of photography] wants to hear, which is, 'Each episode is pretty standalone.

You'll have a lot of freedom to do your own thing and work with your director and the crew will be there to support you.' It was really wonderful working alongside her, and we were constantly alternating, so when she was shooting, I was prepping, and then vice versa. Hopefully there's more and more shows shot by women.

I think it's very fitting this season because this season is about, broadly speaking, these two women on a journey. Maybe it's three, if you count Abby. Or maybe you should just be counting Abby and Ellie — the story's about two to three women.

So I think it was meaningful to have our input and our stamp on the show. More on HBO and Max: The Last of Us Season 2 is available to stream on Max.