Madness and Cinema

Abstract

Madness is insanity, imprudence, delusion, foolishness, crazy or stupid, dangerous behaviour. Madness is a sociological phenomenon that affects not only oneself and one's immediate environment but also society. Popular cinema has largely portrayed madness as violent, dangerous, dysfunctional and, at worst, insane. In all these films, directors and cinematographers have different cinematographic approaches to mad characters and madness. In this study, the contributions of cinematography in Mad Max films to the film's narrative structure are analyzed. The lens angle, focus and depth of field, camera angle, camera movement, shooting scale, composition, lighting, and exposure in the four Mad Max movies were analyzed in terms of how they play a role in the reception of the madness that the director tries to convey to the audience in all films.