At IndiaJoy’s VFX Summit, DNEG India showcased the VFX breakdown of the fifth installment of the Mad Max franchise – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
VFX Summit is a sub-event of IndiaJoy – an annual digital entertainment festival which includes other sub-events from the gaming, animation, comics, filmmaking and technology sectors. VFX Summit was held at HICC, Hyderabad on 16 and 17 November 2024.
The Mad Max session titled Fury is Born | The VFX of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga featured DNEG India’s VFX supervisor Shailendra Swarnkar and executive producer Michael D’sa. The DNEG India team behind Furiosa (2024) has previously contributed to films like DC’s The Flash, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer and the Ryan Gosling-starrer Blade Runner 2049.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga directed by George Miller (Mad Max: Fury Road, Happy Feet) is a prequel to Fury Road (2015). Set fifteen years earlier, it tells the origin story of Furiosa, portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy (Split, The Super Mario Bros. Movie), charting her rise to become the fearless leader seen in the earlier film. The VFX for Furiosa was supervised by DNEG’s Andrew Jackson, Dan Bethell and creative director Xavier Bernasconi. Featuring a plethora of action sequences, explosions and CG elements, the film included a total of 880 VFX shots, 24 VFX sequences, 16 signature environments, 100 character assets, 50 vehicles assets and involved the efforts of 1866 professionals worldwide. The VFX work was primarily handled by DNEG’s Sydney studio, with additional support from its facilities in London, USA and India. The film premiered in May 2024 in Cannes, France.
DNEG India’s Swarnkar emphasised that the VFX served the story rather than being merely a visual spectacle. Major locations such as the Wasteland (used as filler environments), the Citadel (home to Dr. Dementus, played by Chris Hemsworth), Gas Town, and the Bullet Farm were integral to the narrative. The Bullet Farm, in particular, featured heavily VFX-driven chase sequences, destruction, and CG crowd generation, making it the most labor-intensive location. The Mortiflyers, an enemy faction, were created primarily using crowd simulation techniques. Interestingly, the film’s working title was “Peach,” inspired by a scene in which Furiosa picks fruits in the opening sequence.
The post-production utilised DNEG’s proprietary software including custom roto tools, ageing and deaging technology and rendering software. DNEG’s exceptional work on Furiosa once again proves India’s ability to deliver world-class VFX and animation for Hollywood’s heavy hitters and the most popular franchises.
Apart from the Furiosa session, the 2024 edition of VFX Summit featured other insightful sessions like:
- Linear Content Creation with Unreal Engine 5 by Epic Games’ solutions architect Gaurav Mathur
- Accelerate Your Creative Vision with AMD by the technology company’s national sales manager Ramesh Babu Pyla
- Presentation: Making of Ayalaan by PhantomFX senior creative head Asif Bhushan and its creative head Chandrashekhar Thanvi
- Making of Hanuman by film director and screenwriter Prasanth Varma and film journalist Ram Venkat Srikar.
The VFX Summit was a two-day celebration of the future of visual effects, CGI and other immersive technologies, held as part of IndiaJoy. Supported by the Government of Telangana and the Telangana VFX Animation and Gaming Association (TVAGA), IndiaJoy was held at HICC from 13 to 17 November 2024.