<P> Originally, filming was scheduled to take ten weeks--six weeks of first unit, and four weeks on stunt and chase sequences . However, four days into shooting, Rosie Bailey, who was originally cast as Max's wife, was injured in a bike accident . Production was halted, and Bailey was replaced by Joanne Samuel, causing a two - week delay . </P> <P> In the end, the shoot took six weeks over November and December 1977, with a further six - week second unit . The unit reconvened two months later, in May 1978, and spent another two weeks doing second unit shots and re-staging some stunts . Miller described the whole experience as "guerrilla filmmaking", where the crew would close roads without filming permits, not use walkie - talkies because their frequency coincided with the police radio, and after filming was done Miller and Kennedy would even sweep down the roads . Still, as filming progressed the Victoria Police became interested in the production, helping the crew by closing down roads and escorting the vehicles . Because of the film's low budget, all but one of the police uniforms in the film were made of vinyl leather, with only one genuine leather uniform made for stunt sequences involving Bisley and Gibson . </P> <P> Shooting took place in and around Melbourne . Many of the car chase scenes for Mad Max were filmed near the town of Little River, northeast of Geelong . The early town scenes with the Toe Cutter Gang were filmed in the main street of Clunes, north of Ballarat . Much of the streetscape remains unchanged . Some scenes were filmed at Tin City at Stockton Beach . The "execution of the mannequin" scene was filmed at Seaford Beach in Seaford, Victoria . </P> <P> Mad Max was one of the first Australian films to be shot with a widescreen anamorphic lens, although Peter Weir's The Cars That Ate Paris (1974) was shot in anamorphic four years earlier . Miller's desire to shoot in anamorphic made him seek a set of Todd - AO wide angle lenses used by Sam Peckinpah to film The Getaway (1972), which were damaged enough in that shoot to get discarded in Australia . The only one which worked properly was a 35mm lens which was employed in the whole of Mad Max . </P>

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