Chrome and polished steel look elegant, sexy and powerful. On screen, they really stand out.
But the team that built the War Rig —the menacingly dazzling 12-wheel tractor-trailer on which rests a crucial action scene in “Furiosa: from the Mad Max Saga”, says that these materials can also be a real headache.
“The metal heats up in the Australian sun,” said Guy Norris, the film’s action designer.
That became a challenge for the stuntmen, who threw their bodies in all directions around the truck as it sped down a highway near Hay, a rural town in southeastern Australia.
“They would blow them up or shoot them and they would go down,” Norris said. “And they had guy wires so they wouldn’t hit the ground, but they would make a complete fall, hit the side of the truck, and they would be hanging.” Worse still: “Everyone is bare-chested.”
“Furiosa” is an origin story of its main character (played by Anya Taylor-Joy), the post-apocalyptic warrior in 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road.” But it’s also an origin story for the War Rig, where most of “Fury Road” takes place. That movie is essentially one long chase, as Furiosa escapes from Immortan Joe, a tyrant who controls a kingdom in a wasteland and owner of a black War Rig. The Immortan Joe of “Furiosa” is younger and richer. Consequently, his War Rig is more eye-catching.
“He’s putting everything he has into this big commercial for the new world of Immortan Joe,” said Colin Gibson, production designer on both films.
The story of Immortan Joe’s rise to power is etched into the sides of “Furiosa’s” War Rig. While it appears to be made of metal, it is actually resin with a faux steel coating. Gibson explained that the panels had to be put on and taken off quickly so that staff could access devices hidden in the truck, including generators and hydraulic power packs.
The engravings also helped combat the mirror truck’s tendency to reflect technical personnel. The remaining reflections were removed via digital effects and replaced with a desert horizon. “We could reflect, reiterate and see the wasteland in the vehicle,” Gibson said.
The technical team built the truck to facilitate specific shots. An example: the vehicle’s imposing front grille was originally conceived with vertical slats. They were changed to horizontal after the director, George Miller, came up with a shot of Furiosa’s eyes peering through them.
The War Rig was also equipped with huge tires, opening up the chassis as an area to choreograph action.
“It was a beautiful chrome stage,” Norris said.
Like “Fury Road,” “Furiosa” incorporates animal howls into its vehicles. Robert Mackenzie, the supervising sound editor, explained that the sounds of tigers and lions were mixed with real engine noises to create the War Rig’s revs. The animals’ audio is altered to the point of being unrecognizable, but Mackenzie maintained that it affects listeners subconsciously.
“On a primary level, the public really reacts to that,” he said.
At the top of the new War Rig is another element not present in “Fury Road”: metal railings that run almost the entire length of the trailer.
“We used them to get really nice effects that people fell into,” Norris said.
