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Ellen Page on resemblance in The Last of Us: "flattered" but "it was not appreciated"

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The biggest surprise of this thread for me is that people just assumed that it was Ellen Page from the beginning without spending the 10 seconds necessary to chase it up on Wikipedia.

Also, I'm a little surprised that people think the character being called Ellie is some damning proof of Naughty Dog's identity theft. I mean, there was definitely a resemblance back at the unveiling, but would ND really be silly enough to steal a well-known actress' image and then virtually name their character after her?

It really surprises you that most people didn't look up this game on Wikipedia to determine if Ellen Page was invovled? Most people don't care that much. I can't remember the last time I looked up any game on Wikipedia, and I spend my days posting on a gaming forum!

I don't think anyone is really "damning" Naughty Dog here. The game has had a great reception, and most people think Ellie is a great character. Who cares if she looks a little like Ellen Page? Well, maybe Ellen Page kind of does but that's understandable.
 

Manu

Member
The old model is Ellen Page. The new model is a slightly younger version of Ellen Page.

The old model? Yes, it was blatantly her.

New one? Nah, a "slightly younger" Ellen Page looks exactly like she does now.

Ellen Page, 2007
ellenpage.jpg


'New' Ellie
Ellie_with_bow1-610x400.jpg


There's obviously traces of Page in there, but she doesn't look like a younger Page anymore imo.
 
Yeah but she wasn't in the role.
If people are that dumb it's not anyone's fault, and Naughty Dog was in the wrong using the first design, because as i said was basically a 1:1 resemblance.
Pretending no one to look even similar though? That's simply absurdity.

It's impossible to make a fictional character who doesn't resemble anyone in the first place, let alone a character with a distinctive look.

The character doesn't have to resemble no one ever, just not one of the extremely small handful of people whose living depends on their public image and who currently do that exact type of work.
 

Anustart

Member
While were on the subject, does anyone else think rare ripped off pierce brosnan in golden eye 007? Player character looks exactly like him!
 
i just watched citizen kane and as far as I can tell all the comparisons come from jealous nobodies who want to latch onto the last of us's artistry and acclaim

CK doesn't even have a single mushroom zombie in it
 

MYE

Member
i just watched citizen kane and as far as I can tell all the comparisons come from jealous nobodies who want to latch onto the last of us's artistry and acclaim

CK doesn't even have a single mushroom zombie in it

What about the black and white gimmick? Talk about being full of shit.
You aint fooling me with that hipster nonsense, Orson.
 

UrbanRats

Member
The character doesn't have to resemble no one ever, just not one of the extremely small handful of people whose living depends on their public image and who currently do that exact type of work.

Right, and that's what i don't agree with.
I think a resemblance is fine, as long as it's not extremely close.

Besides, even if the artist behind Ellie's design were to come out and say "Ellie is modeled after my niece" (and i'm not saying that is the case) it wouldn't change the people's perception of her "being" Ellen Page.
 

Trey

Member
Looked and sounded like Ellen Page in all the media I've seen of the game. Perhaps it's a different story playing it.
 

Manu

Member
Ellen Page at 16:

It's similar but not nearly as much. Ellie's eyes are bigger and more distanced. They're also blue, versus Page's brown eyes.

Ellie is also a redhead, not Carrot Top red but her hair has a reddish tone. Someone even says "red hair" at one point in the game.
 

sappyday

Member
that's what I thought, figured she had her hand in both.
I wonder why Naughty Gods didn't just hit her up.

They probably didn't feel the need to. Unlike David Cage, where the only reason Beyond has gotten more attention is because it has Ellen Page as the main character.
 

Madness

Member
Wow. I was under the impression she did the voice acting and motion capture. Holy shit, lmao. I had no idea they just ripped off her likeness.

Isn't that kinda illegal?

No. Because they never said it was Ellen Page, they never promoted it by saying it was Ellen Page etc. Plus it's kind of hard to get into the legality of it.

There are probably millions of girls who resemble her, can they sue for ripping off likeness?

It's different than say Crispin Glover suing for Back to the Future Part II, they portrayed Marty's dad, used a lookalike who looks like Crispin thereby implying he was in the film. When I first saw it, I never knew it wasn't Crispin.

I just think it's the American celebrity enamored culture at work here. How many people outside of America will play Last of Us and not know it's Ellen Page? I didn't even think about her when I played.

And for all intents and purposes they probably did rip off her likeness. But it's hard to prove. They'll say they used another model, which they probably did for facial capture work.
 

zeopower6

Member
They probably didn't feel the need to. Unlike David Cage, where the only reason Beyond has gotten more attention is because it has Ellen Page as the main character.

It'd probably have gotten attention anyway since it's a new Quantic Dream game. There's just way more buzz with Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe.
 

Courage

Member
No. Because they never said it was Ellen Page, they never promoted it by saying it was Ellen Page etc. Plus it's kind of hard to get into the legality of it.

There are probably millions of girls who resemble her, can they sue for ripping off likeness?

It's different than say Crispin Glover suing for Back to the Future Part II, they portrayed Marty's dad, used a lookalike who looks like Crispin thereby implying he was in the film. When I first saw it, I never knew it wasn't Crispin.

I just think it's the American celebrity enamored culture at work here. How many people outside of America will play Last of Us and not know it's Ellen Page? I didn't even think about her when I played.

And for all intents and purposes they probably did rip off her likeness. But it's hard to prove. They'll say they used another model, which they probably did for facial capture work.

Good post.
 

Madness

Member
You folks need to Google Ellen Page lookalikes. See how many petite brunette white girls actually look like her. It probably was Ellen Page's likeness, but they'll never admit it, nor was it a problem. Besides, she's not even angry. Just said it wasn't appreciated.
 

UrbanRats

Member
No. Because they never said it was Ellen Page, they never promoted it by saying it was Ellen Page etc. Plus it's kind of hard to get into the legality of it.

There are probably millions of girls who resemble her, can they sue for ripping off likeness?

It's different than say Crispin Glover suing for Back to the Future Part II, they portrayed Marty's dad, used a lookalike who looks like Crispin thereby implying he was in the film. When I first saw it, I never knew it wasn't Crispin.

I just think it's the American celebrity enamored culture at work here. How many people outside of America will play Last of Us and not know it's Ellen Page? I didn't even think about her when I played.

And for all intents and purposes they probably did rip off her likeness. But it's hard to prove. They'll say they used another model, which they probably did for facial capture work.
They don't do facial capture, IIRC, they animate faces by hand.
At least in Uncharted, i don't know if they still do that in LoU.
 

denshuu

Member
It is mind blowing to me that there are actually people in this thread trying to say that they couldn't tell that Ellie was based on Ellen.

Naughty Dog even came out and said that the entire reason they changed Ellie's look was so that she wouldn't be identical to Ellen.
 

eorl

Banned
if leela had two eyes, she'd be Ellen Page too.

Also,Ellen Page is a person that changes a LOT depending on the photo. She may look like a tomboy, like a highschool girl, like a sophisticated lady and even like the biggest face I've ever seen
Then why did Naughty Dog draw an Ellen Page lookalike? Why not take inspiration from the millions of other faces?
 

Cipherr

Member
I don't think there's much of a resemblance.

You must be high then... sorry this isn't some long shot at all. There is a clear resemblance. They worked to dull it, but its still there.

You guys are in denial, even after the remodel it is still Ellen Paige. Doesn't help that they kept the name Ellie, lulz.

This. There are plenty of short brunette characters in video games, none of them scream Ellen like Ellie does.... The resemblance is definitely there. On the flip side, I don't think Paige should be upset about it though, I think the timing of it just sucked with her being a model for another game in the press at the time.
 

Hazelhurst

Member
So I guess she's upset because she didn't get compensated for the likeness? Anyone think she will sue? Does she have a case?
 

Valnen

Member
So I guess she's upset because she didn't get compensated for the likeness? Anyone think she will sue? Does she have a case?

I don't think she has a case, personally, but that wouldn't stop her from winning one here. Hopefully she doesn't, though. Wouldn't want Sony's best first party studio to go under because some hollywood actress decided to be greedy.
 
Then why did Naughty Dog draw an Ellen Page lookalike? Why not take inspiration from the millions of other faces?

well, draw is not the correct term.

They did draw concept art

Joel-and-Ellie_Concept-art.png


11264TLOU_Ellie_EarlyConcept.jpg


So anything to blame about Ellie's definitive look is probably on the modellers.
 

Madness

Member
Then why did Naughty Dog draw an Ellen Page lookalike? Why not take inspiration from the millions of other faces?

Simple, it's a face that has tons of images with a variety of hairstyles and clothes and facial captures out there.

So if you're looking for a petite brunette white girl that can convey emotion, and can look 12-17, why not just use Ellen Page.

It's a legitimate technique and a lot of people do this. Many illustrators and artists use model/actor likenesses for their work because it's easy to get a wide variety of images.

So I guess she's upset because she didn't get compensated for the likeness? Anyone think she will sue? Does she have a case?

No she probably won't sue, and no she doesn't have a strong case and won't win.
 

zeopower6

Member
I don't think she has a case, personally, but that wouldn't stop her from winning one here. Hopefully she doesn't, though. Wouldn't want Sony's best first party studio to go under because some hollywood actress decided to be greedy.

It's highly unlikely that she'll pursue anything like that. Her Reddit comment just sounded like she was a bit annoyed and that was the end of it.
 

Madness

Member
KXk4t4u.jpg


This was a clear case of infringement on likeness. Crispin Glover won. He was a character in the first Back to the Future. Rather than pay him for the next ones, they just used a random actor that looked like him, made him look like Crispin's character aka George McFly, and even used his mannerisms and voice.

No one was able to tell it wasn't Crispin in the sequels.

Here, naught dog never said it's Ellen Page, it's not a character based on Ellen Page or any character she's done. It's not the same age as Ellen Page. It's some random young white brunette with a similar facial likeness. They probably did rip in off, but it's hard to prove that it was willfully done or that it did damage to Ellen. Outside of America I'm guessing no one even would say, hey that's Ellen Page etc. And it's sad, because I've read a few comments where some people, I'm assuming young girls, said Jasmine from Aladdin looks like Kim Kardashian, no joke.

Google Linda cardellini, Alison pill, rose Byrne etc. They all look somewhat similar to Ellen Page. Anyways I've taken this further than I wanted. She wasn't angry or upset. She just said it wasn't appreciated. I'm sure if she talks to naughty dog they'll say sorry it wasn't deliberate or implied etc. End of discussion. No one is getting sued, no one is going under as a studio.
 

Auto_aim1

MeisaMcCaffrey
Beyond will most likely not reach the critical success TLoU did and I think Page knows that. There's definitely a slight resemblance not only in the character model but in the name too. It's clear that ND were inspired by Page but the redesign was a good move. I wonder what David Cage thinks? I am sure he's pissed off but is holding himself back due to his relationship with Sony.
 

Laughing Banana

Weeping Pickle
You folks getting mad at her for this are so funny. Getting irked/mad by your new favorite video game from your dear beloved game developer getting criticized just a little bit? What a fanboyish thing to do *shakes head*
 
KXk4t4u.jpg


This was a clear case of infringement on likeness. Crispin Glover won. He was a character in the first Back to the Future. Rather than pay him for the next ones, they just used a random actor that looked like him, made him look like Crispin's character aka George McFly, and even used his mannerisms and voice.

I think the true thing was that they used clips from the one he was involved in to make it feel like he was there. Having an actor look like another one for the sake of continuity after the actor doesn't want to take part because he wants as much income as the main character would not be THAT MUCH of a problem. But yeah, taking clips they didn't pay him for in a second movie was dumb.
 

kuppy

Member
KXk4t4u.jpg


This was a clear case of infringement on likeness. Crispin Glover won. He was a character in the first Back to the Future. Rather than pay him for the next ones, they just used a random actor that looked like him, made him look like Crispin's character aka George McFly, and even used his mannerisms and voice.

No one was able to tell it wasn't Crispin in the sequels.

Here, naught dog never said it's Ellen Page, it's not a character based on Ellen Page or any character she's done. It's not the same age as Ellen Page. It's some random young white brunette with a similar facial likeness. They probably did rip in off, but it's hard to prove that it was willfully done or that it did damage to Ellen. Outside of America I'm guessing no one even would say, hey that's Ellen Page etc. And it's sad, because I've read a few comments where some people, I'm assuming young girls, said Jasmine from Aladdin looks like Kim Kardashian, no joke.

Google Linda cardellini, Alison pill, rose Byrne etc. They all look somewhat similar to Ellen Page. Anyways I've taken this further than I wanted. She wasn't angry or upset. She just said it wasn't appreciated. I'm sure if she talks to naughty dog they'll say sorry it wasn't deliberate or implied etc. End of discussion. No one is getting sued, no one is going under as a studio.
Very good points, thank you.
 
KXk4t4u.jpg


This was a clear case of infringement on likeness. Crispin Glover won. He was a character in the first Back to the Future. Rather than pay him for the next ones, they just used a random actor that looked like him, made him look like Crispin's character aka George McFly, and even used his mannerisms and voice.

No one was able to tell it wasn't Crispin in the sequels.

At least in this picture, these two actually look less similar than Ellie to Ellen Page!
 
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