When Prime Video’s “Fallout” premiered in 2024, it faced a challenge that has derailed countless video game adaptations before it. Bethesda’s beloved franchise had spent nearly three decades building one of gaming’s most distinctive worlds, complete with iconic locations, creatures, factions, and a visual identity instantly recognizable to millions of players. Adapting that world for television meant satisfying longtime fans while still creating a series that could stand on its own. Against the odds, “Fallout” accomplished both.
Created by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner and executive produced by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the series follows Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), Maximus (Aaron Moten), and the Ghoul (Walton Goggins) as their stories intersect across a post-apocalyptic America centuries after nuclear war. Alongside a cast that includes Kyle MacLachlan, Moisés Arias, Frances Turner, and Aaron Clifton Moten, the series quickly became one of Prime Video’s biggest successes, earning praise from critics and gamers alike for capturing the tone, humor, and unpredictability that have defined the franchise for decades.
The show’s second season raises the degree of difficulty even further. With the story moving toward New Vegas, one of the most iconic settings in the franchise’s history, the creative team faced the challenge of bringing a fan-favorite location to life while continuing to expand the show’s own version of the wasteland. For visual effects supervisor Jay Worth, that meant balancing reverence for the games with the creative freedom necessary to build something new.
It’s a challenge Worth understands better than most. Having previously collaborated with Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy on “Westworld” and “Reminiscence,” he helped establish the visual language of “Fallout” from the very beginning alongside production designer Howard Cummings. What started as a question of whether something felt like “Fallout” has evolved into something more specific: whether it feels like this version of “Fallout.”
The result is a series where visual effects rarely call attention to themselves despite being present in nearly every frame. Whether audiences are exploring New Vegas, encountering creatures like the Radscorpion, or simply taking in the vast wasteland landscapes, the work succeeds because it feels tangible. As Worth explains, the philosophy remains the same one he has carried throughout much of his career: “I’ve always viewed visual effects as the icing on top, never the cake itself.”
During our conversation, Worth discussed building New Vegas for Season 2, collaborating with Bethesda and longtime fans of the franchise, blending practical and digital effects, the evolving conversation around AI in visual effects, and why some of the most impressive work on “Fallout” may be the shots audiences never realize were created by artists in the first place.
Jay Worth recently spoke with Awards Focus about the challenge of translating one of gaming’s most beloved worlds to television, how the team earned the trust of longtime “Fallout” fans, building New Vegas for Season 2, the philosophy behind the show’s grounded visual effects, and why storytelling always takes precedence over spectacle.
Awards Focus: With “Fallout” coming from a modern video game franchise with a very defined visual language. How did you approach building a show that had to honor the games while still creating its own cinematic identity?
Worth: That was one of the really enjoyable parts, especially in Season 1. Jonah has such a great relationship with Bethesda, Todd Howard, and that whole crew that there was a lot of freedom. We weren’t restricted to doing a shot-for-shot adaptation or simply emulating something from the games. They gave us the freedom to partner with them and create new canon within the world. That was a privilege and gave us a lot of creative freedom.
The other part is that I’ve worked with Howard Cummings, our production designer, for so many years, going all the way back to “Westworld” and then “Reminiscence” with Lisa. There was so much synergy between us regarding our vision. It’s a really fun dance when you know where his work starts, where mine starts, where his ends, and where mine begins.
Season 1 had its challenges. We were shooting New York, Utah, and Namibia and making it all look like Los Angeles. That was its own challenge, but a fun one. By Season 2, we felt like we had developed a visual language for our version of this world. Initially, the question was, “Does it feel like Fallout?” Now the question is, “Does it feel like our version of Fallout?”
AF: How did that evolve once Season 2 moved more directly into New Vegas?
Worth: At first, we were interpreting the games and figuring out what that looked like in reality. Now we’re asking whether something feels true to what we’ve already established. Then we had the fun of exploring an actual location from the games with New Vegas. We had to create the Southern Gate, the Strip with the Lucky 38, and Freeside across three separate locations in Los Angeles, including different sections of an abandoned shopping mall and Melody Ranch. It was incredibly fun to return to Melody Ranch, where we shot so much of “Westworld,” and transform it into Freeside. As we continue living in the games and living in the show, we’re constantly exploring new possibilities. What if we did this? What if we did that? What if we designed our own Deathclaw? The Deathclaw isn’t a singular creature. It’s been around since the earliest games. That gave us the freedom to create our own version while still honoring the roots of the franchise and making it feel specific to our show and this particular point in the canon.
AF: You mentioned asking whether something feels like “Fallout.” How much of that comes from the showrunners and production team, and how much comes from the expectations of fans who have spent nearly three decades with these games?
Worth: The fans thankfully got on board quickly in Season 1. When the show was announced, I had plenty of people telling me, “Hey man, don’t screw this up.” I was glad we earned their trust. I think Amazon did a really smart thing when they released the show a few days early. The gamers got to it first, and thankfully they embraced it. Once they endorsed the show, everybody else followed. That gave us a tremendous amount of confidence.
My entire VFX team actually has different game playthroughs running constantly in our bullpen. Every day, there’s some different part of the “Fallout” universe playing in the background. I still can’t believe how many corners of that world exist. There have been countless times where we’re working on a shot, I’ll walk into the bullpen, glance at a playthrough, and suddenly remember some little detail about how something moved or looked. We try to live in the games as much as we can because they’re a constant source of inspiration.
For me, I take my cues from Howard and his art department. They’re building the world, and my job is extending that vision. Thankfully, Howard and I work incredibly well together, and I’m involved in many of those conversations from the beginning. We scouted Croatia last year thinking we might shoot there, but ultimately stayed in California. Even when we don’t use a location, it’s valuable because reality gives us a foundation. I almost always start with a real plate, even if I end up replacing 95 percent of it. It grounds me in reality, movement, and scale. The team at ReDefine did masterful work helping us create those environments while still making everything feel like our show.
AF: “Fallout” is one of the most ambitious visual effects productions on television, but the work often feels invisible. The show remains tactile and grounded. Was that philosophy established early with Jonathan Nolan?
Worth: Yeah. We really developed that philosophy back on “Westworld.” I’ve always viewed visual effects as the icing on top, never the cake itself. If we can do something practically, we should do it practically. What can we get into the frame that’s real? With Mr. Handy in Season 1, we had an actual practical rig on set. I still had to replace parts of it and add effects, but we started with something real. That actually makes life harder for the artists because they can’t simply replace the entire thing, but it helps sell the illusion.
When enough elements in a frame are real, the audience stops hunting for the visual effects. Once something feels fake, viewers spend the next ten shots looking for more things that feel fake. We try to avoid that. Shooting on film helps. Building large practical sets helps. We rarely have actors standing in front of a giant blue screen. Even when we shoot on the volume, we generally keep those backgrounds. We don’t replace them later. There’s a reality there that audiences can feel. Even though shooting film on a volume is incredibly challenging, we think the results are worth it because the audience isn’t constantly trying to figure out what’s real and what isn’t.
AF: We’re in a moment where audiences are increasingly critical of CGI, and sometimes people even confuse CGI with AI-generated imagery. Has that discourse changed the way you think about balancing practical and visual effects?
Worth: Not yet, because our methodology remains the same. It’s still artist-driven and creatively driven. I’ve worked with many of these same artists for decades. I know what they do well, and they know how we like to work. There’s a trust there. Whether it’s Important Looking Pirates, ReDefine, Rise, ILM, Refuge, FutureWorks, or any of our partners, we’re all approaching these shots from the same perspective.
We do visual effects in a very non-presentational way. Sometimes I look at awards reels and think, “Well, we’re probably not going to win because we don’t have a giant fully CG city with a camera flying through it.” That’s just not how we tell stories. We’re not trying to build the biggest shot. We’re trying to solve storytelling problems.
The question with AI is whether it becomes a tool like Photoshop became a tool. I honestly don’t know. Right now, I think things like roto, tracking, concept work, depth maps, and atmospherics may become faster. But from a final-pixel storytelling standpoint, our process is still incredibly specific and note-driven. Everything we do is artist-driven. Maybe AI becomes another tool artists use. Maybe it doesn’t. We’re still figuring that out.
AF: As a voter, when you look at visual effects categories during awards season, what stands out to you?
Worth: For me, it’s always about variety and serving the story. The projects that stand out are the ones where visual effects feel integrated with all the other filmmaking disciplines. Sometimes those are smaller shows. Sometimes they’re projects with unusual creative challenges. I’m always impressed when visual effects solve a storytelling problem in a clever way. The work I gravitate toward tends to be the work that exists because there wasn’t another option. Those projects often force people to think creatively instead of just throwing up a blue screen and fixing it later.
AF: Some of my favorite shots this season are the quieter environmental moments. Are there visual effects shots audiences might assume are practical that are especially memorable to you?
Worth: The sequence where Lucy and the Ghoul approach the hospital with the Radscorpion in Episode 2 is one of my favorites. That hospital was based on a real location we scouted in Croatia. Howard and the art department developed concepts from that location, and the team at Haymaker expanded it into something really special. We spent a lot of time thinking about details like what materials would realistically survive in this world. We didn’t want random plastic tarps because they wouldn’t have lasted that long. We wanted everything to feel lived in.
That sequence is a perfect example of all the departments working together. The exterior starts in the hills above Malibu, transitions through visual effects work, then moves into a practical hospital location downtown, then onto a set for the Radscorpion sequence. Sometimes Ella and Walton were acting against puppets. Sometimes they were acting against nothing. Sometimes we used practical elements. Sometimes we used digital creatures. By constantly mixing those approaches, audiences never quite know what is real and what isn’t, and that’s exactly what we want.
AF: Fans were thrilled to see New Vegas this season. As you start thinking about Season 3, are there particular corners of the “Fallout” universe you’re excited to explore?
Worth: I’m not allowed to talk about specifics, but continuing to explore this world is incredibly exciting. I try to know the games as well as I can, and I’m still amazed by how many layers there are. Every time I read a script and someone tells me, “That’s actually from the game,” I’m surprised all over again. The combination of exploring the games while expanding the version of the world we’ve created is hugely satisfying.
AF: Congratulations again and I really appreciate the discussion.
Worth: I appreciate it.