Amazon Prime Video’s Fallout is the latest video game franchise to get the live-action treatment as the developers behind the beloved series teamed up with the production staff, and it was not easy bringing these biomes and creatures to life.
The beauty of modern filmmaking is the advanced technology and how it can help amplify what was built by hand, but sometimes things can look a little off.
Production design is not an easy job, the people in charge of that department are responsible for how certain things will look, which is a very critical job for a video game adaptation that fans can get upset about. Actor Aaron Moten recalls his experience and how the filmmakers struggled to balance the practical and real effects.
Prime Video’s Fallout Looks Visually Accurate
The post-apocalyptic vibe is not new in any media, there are a handful of films, television series, and even video games that have mastered the best look for an apocalypse. The official trailer made sure fans received the message that the production team understood their assignment and are planning to deliver.
Other adaptations such as The Last of Us take place 20 years in the future in a world where the world has been taken over by fungal spores and nature and yet this project has more creative freedom because it is not an adaptation but a standalone project that takes place within the same universe, and this series represents a world after years of nuclear war and radiation. Bethesda CEO Todd Howard preferred a new story rather than an adaptation.
Fallout’s Visuals Are a Culmination of Practical and Real Effects
Practical effects and makeup were common back in the early days but have become less relevant because of modern visual effects, in the science fiction genre, filmmakers make the most of it by combining the best of both worlds. It is evident that there are some manmade structures from the trailer, and it was later polished in post-production.
Moten recalls that every day is a different kind of experience, and despite the challenges they had to overcome, the end product looks stunning. Fallout will feature an original story that expands the lore, and the visual language seems to help them state that. Fans of any franchise can get critical and will nitpick adaptations to the very last shred of detail.
Director Jonathan Nolan went into this project and acknowledged that making this with fan service in mind is a fool’s errand. Moten was very pleased to see how real the power armor looked, as if it were removed from the game and printed in reality.
The production department plays an important role when it comes to relaying the atmosphere, and the showrunners didn’t waste time or enter this project blindly, Prime is well aware of the impact this game series has and the love fans have, and they want Fallout to be translated into live-action faithfully and visually accurate.
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