Based on one of the greatest video game series of all time, “Fallout“ is the story of haves and have-nots in a world in which there’s almost nothing left to have. Two hundred years after the apocalypse, the gentle denizens of luxury fallout shelters are forced to return to the irradiated hellscape their ancestors left behind—and are shocked to discover an incredibly complex, gleefully weird, and highly violent universe waiting for them.
This 3-episode series features talented and seasoned actors like Ella Purnell as Lucy, Aaron Moten as Maximus, Walton Goggins as The Ghoul and more! Here are 5 unanticipated scenarios behind the making of “Fallout” that you may not have seen coming!
1. Diverse Range of Locations– From Desolate Wastelands to Ruined Cities!
The “Fallout” series features a diverse range of locations, and each of them offers unique challenges, resources, and storylines for players to explore, creating a rich and varied world to discover.
Cast and crew travelled from the chilly vault sets on sound stages in New York to a breathtaking, coastline of Namibia where filming took place in and around the famous ghost town and once-bustling diamond mining village Kolmanskop, as well as on the beaches of the Skeleton Coast.
Nolan recalls “That was a unique experience for us. I’ve never shot somewhere so remote, where literally the only things there are hyenas. It’s an incredibly beautiful and strange place.”
Apparently, Nolan, the director wanted to film this amazing abandoned shipwreck that had never been filmed. “We took a bare bones crew of eight – my makeup artist Mike Harvey, he did my makeup, my hair, props and costume that day. Eight of us took two helicopters, we flew five hours to film the shipwreck and it was unbelievable. I think I will remember that for as long as I live, it was truly one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced.”
2. Picture Your Post-Apocalyptic Retrofuture
In order to achieve the right balance of eye-popping and irradiated, production designer Howard Cummings and his team watched a lot of fan-made videos about the game and used real “junk” for Wasteland set pieces.
“We talked about the importance of giving everything a sense of scale, and we shot in distant locations like Africa for the wastelands and we used digital stages to create some of the massive rooms for the vaults and other post-apocalyptic structures.”
The designer is especially proud of a junkyard-like set built with real raw materials. “The set was 48 feet high. We employed a large and talented team of welders to create a steel structure that looked like it was all falling down, but built safely. Set decorator Regina Graves actually got all the real scrap metal we used — doors, windows, signs, jet fuselage and rubbish. Using the real deal really sold the look.”
Cummings’ efforts are a creative feat that also wowed the cast. “When you walked on set, you looked around and you really felt like everything was absolutely practical and real, and you were there,” adds Kyle MacLachlan, the star.
3. Creature features
In the Fallout series, the “creature feature” aspect refers to the diverse and often mutated creatures that inhabit the post-apocalyptic world. These creatures play a significant role in shaping the environment, providing challenges for characters, and adding to the overall atmosphere of the game.
Of the series’ many memorable creations, the variety of inventive (and also terrifying) mutated creatures that pop up throughout the season is a particular point of pride. Once again taking inspiration from fan-loved creatures in the game, Nolan and his team had great fun with their version of the Gulper, a giant mutated salamander.
“The Gulper is a feature of Fallout 4; this kind of grotesque newt kind of amphibian thing and my contribution to it was we wanted to build that practically,” he says.
Nolan’s cast also appreciated the practical monster’s upsetting effect in that it made their reactions to it very realistic. “So with the Gulper, I had this actual physical animal that was being thrown around and shoved towards me… that’s genuinely terrifying.
4. Suiting up for the end of the world: post-apocalypse attire
Given the many different spaces, locations and time periods covered in the series, costume designer Amy Westcott had her own unique challenges in fashioning appropriate clothing for the variety of characters and climates on display.
“So much went into making every character original and right. I’ve never had a more creative experience,” says Westcott. “I am very proud of how the vault suit came out. And of how many we made – hundreds! Also, we made a lot of wearable art from pieces of trash – recycled and reworked items that were given a new life as an accessory or garment, with the idea that everything in the wasteland is collected and salvaged. One of my favourites was a very stylish hat made from a metal strainer with twisted forks.”
5. Trial by fire and flight
In addition to the thrill of bringing this dynamic, subversive story to life, the actors often found themselves doing things they’d never done before.
“My first day on set was a 14-15-hour day. I was strapped in a harness, jumping in and out of a helicopter and being tossed and turned around. A lot of things were easy after that day.”, Aaron Moten says.
Despite the fact that writers and executive producers Robertson-Dworet and Wagner literally wrote the words that led to what was later happening on set, they were both dazzled by what each department and their actors managed to pull off.
“The power armour has turned out pretty damn magnificently,” says Robertson-Dworet. Wagner wholeheartedly agrees. “I’ve been working in lower budget television for a long time, and there was no part of me that thought we’d have a practical suit,” he says.” Nolan was just so diligent about not taking the easy roads. A great example is that we have the power armor suit flying and landing in the Filly town square. Thanks to the people that he knows, we got a real guy in a jetpack flying around. It was amazing.”
