DEFINITION THE VIRTUAL FRONTIER
SKIN IN THE GAME Walton Goggins’ Ghoul gets his unique look via a mix of prosthetics and visual effects
through. McCleery and his gaffers opted for Fiilex K40s and K10s to create that false sense of sunlight. “We did other interesting things,” continues McCleery, including creating digi-doubles and atmospheric elements, such as engine exhaust. “There are puffs of smoke blowing through the practical set, and then you see them in the distance in the virtual set. Those kinds of connections are important to make, visually,” to ensure both sets are functioning as a single unit. While blending practical sets, Unreal environments and plates, potentially for the first time, that wasn’t Fallout ’s only record achievement. “We streamed 16K resolution drone footage directly into the game engine over SMPTE 2110,” explains Smiczek. “It was challenging. We were always on the edge of everything falling apart, but it worked.” STICKING TO THE SOURCE Fallout is just one addition to a growing series of video-game adaptations, but its
Blending analogue and digital workflows IS NO EASY FEAT”
success comes down to its “respect for the source material,” argues Smiczek. “It’s faithful to the original.” While the show is rooted in its predecessor, it expands the story significantly without removing it from the Fallout universe that fans and players are familiar with. Certain sets, such as the abandoned Vault and the New Vegas Strip, should make viewers feel right at home. Fallout excels thanks to its technical ambition too. Blending analogue and digital workflows – virtual ones too, for that matter – is no easy feat. “ Fallout is one of a few TV shows shot on film,”
says McCleery, who believes there’s a real resurgence of the medium. “It’s reassuring.” The downside, of course, is cost, with film being more expensive due to the extra processes and materials. “There can be a significant cost to doing film and VP in particular,” says Smiczek, “just because there’s a lot of testing to make sure everything’s going to come out correctly. You can hope for the best and fix it in post, but we really wanted to nail it this season.” And so they did. Fallout is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
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