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How an Abandoned Shopping Mall Was Transformed into the Las Vegas Strip for ‘Fallout’ Season Two
‘Fallout’ season two recreated the pre-war Las Vegas Strip largely with physical sets rather than relying on visual effects. Production designer Howard Cummings converted an abandoned San Fernando Valley shopping mall into a retro-futuristic version of New Vegas, reflecting the setting of the game ‘Fallout: New Vegas’.
The former Regal cinema was redesigned as the Gomorrah casino, while the production built a 27-foot Lucky 38 Resort and Casino sign. The Lucky 38 penthouse control centre used 3D-printed LED monitors, real footage and vintage televisions; after filming flashbacks, the crew distressed the sets with dead palms, wrecked cars and sand for post-war scenes. Freeside was filmed at an Old West town set in Santa Clarita, with buildings refaced and some elements added digitally.
In short
- An abandoned mall became pre-war New Vegas.
- Most major Las Vegas sets were built practically.
- The same sets were later transformed into ruins.
Explained simply
Fallout is a television series based on a video game world devastated by nuclear war. Its story moves between the wasteland left behind and memories of life before the bombs fell. New Vegas, the setting of the game Fallout: New Vegas, is a version of Las Vegas in this world.
Production designer Howard Cummings and the series crew build the settings viewers see. For this season, they used an abandoned shopping mall in California to create parts of the old Strip, including a casino and a towering hotel sign. They also altered the sets to show how the city looked after years of destruction.
The locations help connect the series to the game's New Vegas while giving its imagined past and post-war present a physical setting. Freeside, a district in New Vegas, was filmed at an Old West town set, with some digital additions.
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