Ever since the likes of Sin City and 300 hit theatres, I have wanted to make a film that was shot entirely on greenscreen. Pairing my
love for live action storytelling with my skills and experience in visual effects had me creatively excited and brimming with ideas.
At the same time, my position as Professor of Digital Video at the University of Advancing Technology had presented me with the challenge
of reinventing the Digital Video major and finding its “innovative niche.” Re-working the DV program as a “visual effects” major
was the obvious path for this.
Thus “Fallout” was born. It was a story that had been cooking inside my head for years and a film that would require a very laborintensive
effort to create an entire world. So I recruited a team of top-notch video and animation students, and finally sat down to write
the screenplay that would signal the start of a new era for all of us. With “Fallout” now becoming a signature piece to represent the
UAT DV program, I made an effort to infuse the script with the spirit and culture of the University.
UAT is a very niche school - an environment designed to cultivate geek culture and prepare students to become innovators of the
future in areas of technology. Our students and faculty love science fiction, videogames, theoretical physics, robotics, computers, role
playing games, movies, and much more. Our computers and servers are named after the planets and races of Frank Herbert’s Dune
series. We play John Williams’ “Imperial March” at commencement. And we’ve had science luminaries such as Dr. Michio Kaku speak
on campus.
And so “Fallout” became filled with references to all these things which make up our unique and diverse culture at UAT. Videogamestyle
imagery is used to create the military tech of this embattled future. Table-top gaming inspires the holographic recreations of the
battle later in the movie. Dialogue that references Dune and Star Wars is sprinkled throughout. And character names borrowed from
the Stargate TV series reveal some of our inspiration for the team dynamic among the “Wild Cards.”
“Fallout” stands as a cinematic snapshot of the University at a particular time in its history. But more importantly it was designed to
stand alone as a piece of entertainment which shows the possibilities of filming on greenscreen and also the professional potential of
the students who spent more than a year creating it. As a result, I am supremely proud of “Fallout” both as a film and as a representation
of the new direction for the Digital Video major I have helped build.
