"Crash Course In Being A Road Warrior": Furiosa's Practical Action Sequence & Its BTS Filming Explained
Summary Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga features practical filming methods to create jaw-dropping action sequences.
The "Stowaway" action sequence showcases Furiosa's improvisation and quick thinking skills under pressure.
Safety is a top priority in filming action sequences, with meticulous preparation to prevent any accidents.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga director and action designer Guy Norris break down the practical methods used to film one of the movie's biggest set pieces. Serving as a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, the latest installment in Miller's popular apocalyptic franchise serves as an origin story for the character of Furiosa, who is played this time by Anya Taylor-Joy. Like it's predecessor, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has earned glowing reviews and features a handful of jaw-dropping action sequences.
In a recent interview with Men's Health, Miller and Norris explain how Furiosa's "Stowaway" action sequence came together and why it's important for Taylor-Joy's character. The sequence sees the title character clinging to the bottom of the War Rig before revealing herself and helping to fend off an assault, and the whole thing involved some impressive practical filming methods. Norris' son, Harlan, was a key stunt performer involved. Check out comments from Miller and both Norris family members below:
George Miller: “Basically, it’s a crash course in being a road warrior. She has to learn on the run. She has no time to think—she’s got to improvise her way through it, and we see what she’s made of.” Guy Norris: “It was like a digital sandbox. We could bring in all of the vehicles, cars, and people, and we could design all the action live, in real time, inside this digital 3D world.” George Miller: “These are films where we don’t defy the laws of physics. There are no flying humans or flying vehicles. The physics of bodies, and vehicles, is much more convincing when we render it realistically.” Guy Norris: “When it was time to fly, they would pop him off the bike, he'd be skiing, and when he went up in the air and pulled his chute, that was all in-camera. Then, they would be able to pick him up in the air and take him over to the tanker. It was all a big choreographed sequence.” Harlan Norris: “My performance was only a small cog to the workings of successfully executing the stunt. All credit goes to the talented stunt rigging department, and Tik-Tok [a polecat operated by six riggers] driver and operators who are responsible for my safety, and the stunt taking flight. Any marginal error would cause a ripple effect throughout the working elements, causing the action to fall apart.” Miller: “There’s no question—the biggest anxiety I have on a movie is everybody’s safety. When you’re doing an action movie, particularly on a remote location with lots of people, when there are big stunts most days, it’s ‘preparation, preparation, preparation.’ And then making sure you’re several degrees removed from catastrophic error.”
More to come...
Source: Men's Health
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