Production Design
Digital Production, with Minimal CGI, and Maximum Practical Effects
Shot on location in Namibia, Mad Max: Fury Road looks stunningly real, for all its crazy set dressings even crazier story. As we analyze in depth in our "Director" section, George Miller went all out on the practical stunts, hoping to imbue his film with as much physical reality as possible.
That said, there's a fair amount of digital post-production at work here. Check out how the colors are all saturated, which veers away from the typical approach to post-apocalyptic wastelands, so often depicted as totally devoid of color. Looking at the raw footage from Fury Road, you can see just how much color was added post-production. By saturating the scenes—making the browns of the desert almost orange, and the gray of night an eerie blue—Miller imbues the wasteland with a sort of hyper-reality. Everything feels immediate, oppressive, and yes—alive.
For more on the effects of on-location shooting, check out "Setting." And for more on the stunt coordination and CG effects, be sure to give our "Director" section a gander.