Stunts › Sequences › Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) ›
Pole-cat swing-between-vehicles sequence
Performers ride long carbon-fibre poles fitted to picture vehicles, swinging cab-to-cab while the convoy travels at speed. The pole-cat rig was designed in collaboration with Australian rigger Glenn Suter (ARK Stunts) — a rear-mounted carbon-fibre pole, counterweighted at the base, with the performer harnessed to a sliding ring along the pole length. A safety cable ran from the harness to a winch-controlled tether mounted on the chase vehicle.
Credits
Stunt team
Coordinator
Performer
Rigging
Equipment + technique
Pole-cat carbon-fibre pole
Mfr ARK Stunts (Glenn Suter)14-foot rear-mount with sliding harness ring; performers swung between the Doof Wagon, War Rig, and chase trucks at convoy speed.
Counterweight base
Welded chassis-mount with tuned counterweight matching performer + harness mass.
Winch tether
Independent safety cable from performer harness to a winch-controlled mount on the photography chase vehicle.
Vehicles
Picture car + tow rig
Picture car
Modifications
- ·rear-mounted pole-cat rig
- ·chassis counterweight
- ·winch tether mount
Towing rig
Self-Driven (Chase + Lead Vehicles In Convoy)
Prep company
ARK Stunts
Safety
Officer + bulletins
Bulletins observed
- SAG-AFTRA Bulletin #19 (Vehicles)
Rigging glossary
4 rigs used in this sequence
Each entry explains how the rig works mechanically and the safety bulletin that governs it. Click through for the full glossary detail.
wire
Wire-flying rig
The harness-and-pulley system that lifts a performer through prolonged airborne action — the workhorse rig of the post-Crouching Tiger martial-arts era.
wire
Descender wire (controlled rappel)
The single-line rig used for sustained vertical descents at narrative speed — the rig under most "elevator shaft" and "skyscraper window" frames.
vehicle
Cannon-roll
The pyrotechnic-driven barrel roll that sends a picture-car flipping end-over-end. The signature shot of the Bond and Mission: Impossible chase tradition.
vehicle
Pipe-ramp
The buried steel-ramp gag that lifts a moving vehicle into a barrel-roll without a cannon. Lower-budget cousin of the cannon-roll, used for chases where the rotation is less violent.
References
Further reading
- Mad Max: Fury Road — pole-cats and the convoyfxguidefxguide
- Guy Norris on coordinating Fury RoadThe Hollywood Reporterinterview