The Sound in Mad Max
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ScribdTranslationsThe Sound in Mad Max
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ScribdTranslationsSound in Mad Max: Fury Road
Ivan Stevens
Sound editing and post-production
Film School
University of Valparaiso
The sound in Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road, a 2015 film directed by George Miller, is presented from the
beginning as a cinema of grandiloquence and spectacle, exacerbating all the senses of
the spectator, among which hearing is not far behind, presenting a sound mix of great
clarity and power. One of the goals of sound in Mad Max is to introduce us to this post-
apocalyptic world in which, in the words of one of its characters, Imperator Furiosa,
“everything hurts.” This hypersensitivity can be found in various sound arrangements
that, for the purposes of analysis, I will divide between foleys, ambient sound, special
effects, music and dialogue.
Foleys: Any sound that in real life might be subtle and soft is made harsh and powerful
in Mad Max, often putting many sounds that would normally be used more softly on par
in terms of decibels or modifying them to sound louder. For example, the sand, whether
in the characters' footsteps, when removing it from cars, or when our main character
digs himself up after the storm, sounds as if it were made of rocks that are larger than
they really are, giving sensations of aridity and dryness. Other aspects that are
important to the film's narrative and are accentuated in this way are fire and water, the
first by adding sparkling sounds to every appearance of this element, increasing its
presence, and the second by exacerbating it in the mix, transmitting to the audience the
same sensation of constant thirst that the characters suffer.
Ambient sound: The film's atmosphere is greatly nourished by the off-screen sound
suggested. For example, several scenes include insects, which we know are flying
nearby only by their sound, since we don't see them.
Special Effects: Actions are often enhanced through the use of sound effects that
accentuate movements such as punches or things flying through the air. They also
make us empathize with certain characters, such as Max, at one point when he is shot
near the ear, we can hear a loud beeping sound as if it were our ear that had been
stressed in the scene. On the other hand, the use of silence as an effect is also
common, alternating scenes of great acoustic chaos and high volume, with extracts of
silence while maintaining the suspense before an explosion or before a character
achieves his goal, giving an important dynamism to the sound that contributes to
capturing the viewer's attention.
It is also important to highlight in this category the use of delay and reverb, mainly in
moments that express hopelessness, in which the characters receive bad news (such
as the loss of the Green Place) and these seem to resonate in the arid desert with
drama, or also to accentuate the ghostly nature of Max's memories.
Music: The music goes through some games between being diegetic and extra-diegetic
several times. This happens mainly with the musicians that come in Immortan Joe's
trucks, including War Boys playing timpani or even an electric guitarist, which serve as
diegetic justification on several occasions for the music that indicates the antagonist's
approach to the place. While at certain points it could be argued that these musicians
are being purely diegetic, a closer look will lead us to notice that the sound mix
maintains their music at more moments than are diegetically credible, putting it in the
realm of extra-diegetic music. On the other hand, there are accent games by the music
very well orchestrated with the image, such as the moment when Immortan Joe opens
the pipes through which the water comes out for the townspeople, in which the music is
in charge of dramatizing the scene in a positive and hopeful way, up to the point where
Immortan Joe closes the pipes again, and this hopeful music suddenly stops.
Dialogues: The sound of the voices is something very important in Mad Max, allowing
characters like Max to have a greater weight in their character due to, in this case, his
raspy and deep voice, or the whispers to have a greater impact by being able to be
heard with total clarity.
