Mad Max(1979) - Night rider scene contextual analysis

The clip starts with a panning shot of one of the officers rushing to his car. During this shot we can see the landscape and get a clear idea of the mise en scene. The shot moves into a mid shot as he runs around the car showing he is clearly in a hurry and then cuts into a close up as he tries to get in the door. Using shot reverse shot to show the discussion between the driver and the other officer as they are trying to decide who will be driving in the chase. The scene cuts between the two during their dispute and then cuts to a mid shot as the car starts moving and the officer who wanted to drive runs round the car to get in as a passenger. The clip then moves to a low shot of the car as it moves off and quickly cuts to a close up within the car, the officer in the passenger seat asks over the radio about the person they are chasing. The scene cuts to a mid shot of max rubbing something on his hands and getting ready for a chase. We also get to hear some diegetic sound from the radio about the person they are chasing. The scene we see of max also has non diegetic intimidating music which makes the viewer feel that max is a leap ahead of the other officers. The scene cuts to a low shot of his boots and then back to his hands as he rubs his hands with a towel. The next cut shows us who is speaking over the radio as they finish their description of the person they are chasing, the scene then cuts to the night riders car as he screams and laughs madly. The use of the two cuts here show a comparison between the officers chasing the night rider and the night rider himself. The scene moves to a long shot from the road as the cars come flying past and then cuts to perfectly sink up with the other officers car as they are on their way to reinforce the officers in chase. A quick cut to the inside of the car as he asks about the car over the radio and then another quick cut to max zipping up his leather jacket as diegetic audio of the radio message as well as the intimidating audio can be heard again. There is then a mid shot of max putting on his gun holster. The scene cuts back to the chase as we have a low shot of the night riders car coming past the camera and then a mid shot of the night rider laughing from within his car which pans to show the car behind. The scene cuts and shows the car behind as the passenger once again speaks over the radio to inform them that they are close to meeting up. The way that the director (George Miller) shows the difference between the two cars by having one car being shot from the passengers side and the other car from the drivers car, this creates good continuity between the conversations between the two separate police cars. The scene continues with a cut to the police car that's coming to assist arriving at a road, the camera then cuts to a close up inside the car where the passenger yelling for the car to go faster as he loads his shotgun.