Mad Max Fury Road Scene Analysis

Australian director George Miller’s 2015 blockbuster, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, is an action filled, post-apocalyptic film. The Mad Max universe is a set in a stark, desert landscape filmed in Namibia, with an oil and water crisis, which forces humanity to revert back to a state of war and isolation. One of the main characters, Max is captured by the “war boys” who live in the Citadel run by tyrannical Immortan Joe, and eventually finds Furiosa and her rig. In the ‘Furiosa’ scene, he attempts to steal it and a fight between them breaks out along with the wives of Immortan joe who were escaping with Furiosa, and one of the war boys, Nux. Characterisation and narrative advancements are achieved effectively using cinematography, mise en scene, editing and soundtrack, bringing ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ out as a progressive action film. In this ‘Furiosa’ scene, the camera always seems to follow the movements. Furiosa has tackled Max to the …show more content…
Bordwell and Thompson (2008) explain that in order for the movement to be smooth and realistic, the number of frames per second (fps) must be the same as that of the rate of projection. Fury Road is shot under 24 fps and when played on the standard 24 fps projector, the result shows action sequences are chaotic and fast-paced, with choppiness and jumpy movements (Tapley, 2016). In the ‘Furiosa’ scene, Max sprints to get to the gun on the war rig with a rushed, wild motion that is amplified with the lack of a few frames to increase his speed and adrenaline-driven movement. Throughout this entire scene Max is chained to Nux with a blood transfusion and wears a metal mask, obscuring the bottom half of his face. This reinforces the idea he is a caged animal who is angry that Nux was using his blood. To communicate in grunts seems animalistic and primitive, as if he is withdrawn from