Mad Max: Fury Road (2022)

Today we’re going high octane with one of the most diesel movies ever made.

We’re entering the world of fire and blood.

We’re talking Fury Road!

Director and real-life doctor George Miller released Mad Max starring Mel Gibson in February of 1979.

It received critical and (light) commercial success, enough to garner a sequel that is basically a remake of that first film but crazier.

Fury Road is his third crack at the apocalyptic wasteland and as they say, the third time's the charm.

And what a shiny, chrome charm it is!

During the 2016 Oscars introduction for Film Editing, presenter Liev Schreiber gave editing a graceful introduction when he said:

“The subtle brilliance of the next group of artists comes through in the almost invisible rhythms of great filmmaking.”

Nearly 10 seconds later, this film, one of the most in-your-face films of all time, took home the award. Even better, it was edited by George Miller’s wife, Margaret Sixel.

Its quick-cut style creates a frantic energy that puts you in the midst of a mindless world.

On top of that, it is speculated that between 60-80% of the film is sped up using an effect called undercranking.

Undercranking is the process of screening footage at 20-22 frames per second as opposed to the typical 24. It makes the footage feel more erratic and herky-jerky.

The world we’re immersed in feels absurd, but then again, this film is a bit of an absurd opus in every facet.

The ASL ( Average Shot Length ) in Hollywood today is about 5.7 sec. That’s down from 10.1 seconds post the year 2000.

You know what the ASL is in Fury Road?

2 seconds.

That’s stupid fast. Even for an action movie.

So how the hell are we able to comprehend what’s happening on screen?

That is because cinematographer John Seale opted to shoot everything in the center of the frame. This may come as a shock to you as it doesn’t at first glance feel like it's center-framed.

It’s not symmetrical like in Wes Anderson films and the background isn’t sparse to create emptiness like a Stanley Kubrick film.

It’s all done for a simple and practical reason, so we as the audience are able to keep our eyes locked on what’s important because it’s always right down the middle.

It’s a miracle that this movie exists.

It’s even more of a miracle that it’s as good as it is!

If you talk to anybody in the cast or crew they will tell you that it was a nightmare to make.

Stars Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy were publicly feuding on set, it was blazing hot in the Australian outbacks. Miller was stressing everyone out with his ‘I can’t fully explain this but trust me it’ll look great when it’s done’ style of directing.

Miller, from the beginning, had a vision that doesn’t fit into a traditional screenplay format. So instead, he built a "comic book" to act as a script.

This goes beyond storyboards. This was their bible.

When you shoot a movie you do what’s called “shooting coverage”.

That basically means you shoot the scene from a bunch of different angles. It makes life way easier on the editor.

Essentially every film does it.

But not Fury Road.

Miller knew what he wanted, he stuck to the comic and got exactly the shots he needed and no more.

Guess Tomorrow’s Film