“A lot of it are very, very dark”: Fallout Show’s Success Hinged Heavily on its Insane Soundtrack, Todd Howard Reveals How They Were Chosen
In the expansive realm of video games, few manage to stand out and inspire as much admiration as Fallout. The adaptation of the game into a show has also been quite a successful endeavor.
Many building blocks make media great, and one of the most important ones is music. The score of the game and especially the show have contributed immensely to creating an immersive experience for the consumers.
The soundtrack tends to evoke a sense of nostalgia which makes everything all the more iconic. As revealed by series creator Todd Howard, the process behind the music selection was quite a meticulous one.
How Did Fallout’s Iconic Soundtrack Come To Be?
Set in the post-apocalyptic world where few survived the nuclear war, Fallout’s music truly sets the tone for the storyline, and achieving that was not an easy endeavor.
Speaking on the subject in an interview with HeyUGuys, game director Todd Howard, who served as an executive producer on the show, revealed how he discovered the distinctive sort of music that decorates the scenes. He said:
“I heard one at a radio station in the game where you could hear the past, you could just tune it in and also change the emotional nature of what you were doing. So you have the game soundtrack and it can be very dramatic. Then you decide, you know what, I’m in this video.”
He further elaborated on his choice, saying,
“You put the radio on and going through all these songs from the ’40s that have this romanticism of the past, and they sound like these, you know, a lot of these love songs, these are, listen to the lyrics and a lot of it very very dark”
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Howard further said that there are different flavours to the music and its impact was not lost on him.
Fallout’s Music As A Narrative Tool
This soundtrack is a change that the creators made in the third installment of the video game. It fits so well that it naturally transitioned into the show as well. The right background music can enhance anything and Fallout is a testament to that.
Howard shared his similar sentiments during the interview, saying:
“And, you know, I think it’s a, you [the interviewer] mention it is a good example of what makes Fallout special. You know, you see these action scenes in the show sets of some of these tracks, it’s really unique.”
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The music in Fallout, created by Lisa Joy and Jonathan Nolan, surely holds a lot of power in enriching the viewers’ experience. It not only serves to create an ambiance, but the context of each song chosen in different situations is something that proves thought-provoking for the audience.
There is something poetic about tunes from way back, when there had been no world war, being used in a society that has seen immense destruction.
Fallout is available to watch on Prime Video.
