Weaponising composition, colour, and editing to create story.
Filming
Cuts every 1.8 seconds, frenetic movement, multiple threads – and yet you can always follow the action. The film’s director of photography, John Seale ASC, reveals the secret – the action is always in the middle of the frame, so your eye never has to wander (via Vashi Nedomansky):
Jorge Luengo Ruiz cuts together a bunch of the film’s push-ins, pull-outs and fast-motion shots:
Colour and Editing
Fandor breaks down the film’s stunning colour palette (going, funnily enough, in the opposite direction to director George Miller):
“This is what the director shot. He might have intended something else, but this is what I feel about this footage.”
Margaret Sixel to NPR
In this 5-minute clip, editor Margaret Sixel‘s chat to NPR is revealing about both Fury Road and film editing more universally:
This Guy Edits compares and contrasts with the Bayhem of Transformers to demonstrate how center-framed shots cut together coherently:
Further Viewing
Maria Lewis‘ glorious thread spans everything from the bananas production to the powerfully feminist significance of Fury Road (alternatively, here it is in reader form):
Pre-CGI Fury Road production Mad-ness:
Willa Harlow Ross‘s thread elaborates on the centre-framing technique, explaining axial cuts and visual landmarks – these are just some highlights:
Further Viewing
Fair enough, Quentin Tarantino (via VerticalScope):
Nine years later, George Miller takes us back in time to explore and expand on, to varying degrees of success, the world of Fury Road in its prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024):