It’s been nine years since Mad Max: Fury Road hit theaters, and the positive vibes around the film have not gone away. Many people I’ve talked to can still remember how blown away they were when they first saw (and heard) George Miller’s Mad Max sequel on the big screen, and with the long-awaited follow-up Furiosa finally hitting theaters today, that rush of adrenaline and pounding of the pulse is flooding back.
Ahead of Furiosa’s release, we visited IMAX’s headquarters to ask about movies like this, and learn the science behind how this premium format works. What we learned was fascinating. The creative team at IMAX told us about the immersive sound design completed by Miller and his team, which is tailor-made for the sound systems inside of an IMAX theater.
Jeff Dunant, Senior Manager Digital Mastering at IMAX, spoke of the special sound for a movie like Furiosa, and explained:
The sound is way more punchy. It really fills the auditorium, and moves your seats. One of my favorite things about the IMAX sound system is it can be loud without hurting your ears. I feel like with other premium, large formats, they just crank up the volume, and everyone leaves with their ears ringing. But IMAX has the dynamic range in the audio to give you huge sound without disorienting you.
This is incredibly important for a movie like George Miller’s Furiosa, which takes audiences back into the Wastelands, where precious resources such as fuel and water are traded between warring communities, and soldiers engage in battles across barren desert landscapes. As you know, if you have seen any Mad Max movie, the automobiles and aircraft are booming, noisy characters themselves, and the roar of an engine often replaces key passages of dialogue. When you see Furiosa, you want to hear it, and feel it. And that’s only possible in IMAX.
The interview was part of a larger partnership with AMC Theatres and IMAX. We sent camera crews and editors to the premium format juggernaut’s headquarters in Los Angeles and Toronto and got the details on everything from how the cameras work to theories in sound quality to how closely they work with filmmakers. We were so fascinated and had so many good conversations we actually went back again earlier this month and got some footage we’ll drop very soon.
You can check out some of our favorite quotes from the first round of interviews below…
You can check out Furiosa, which is at AMC Theatres in IMAX starting on May 24th. It’s the type of movie that’s best seen on the biggest and best screen possible, which makes it a perfect candidate for IMAX at AMC Theatres.