FRIDGE AFFAIR was done in the EUROPEAN ANIMATION MASTERCLASS – EAM PLUS! in Halle (Saale), Germany. The Masterclass was a training program of the International Academy of Media and Arts. The 4-months course challenged seven talented animators from different countries to get involved in the whole process of create a short film in coproduction with Istituto Europeo di Design (Milan/Italy).
The EAM was supported by MEDIA Training Program, Mitteldeutsche Medienförderung (MDM) and MSA.
The Team was formed by seven animators (Sara Barbas (Portugal), Annika Huskamp and Verena Maul (Germany) and Samuel Viñolo(Spain) were in Halle; and Teodolinda Cotti Gelati, Cristina Poggioli and Filippo Letizi (Italy) were in Milan, and two supervisors, Paola Piozzi in Halle and Alexandra Grosse in Milan.
After the scripting and storyboarding phase, done in two weeks, the team was split in two separated groups, remaining in Halle the whole layout, sound and animation process, leaving the color and character design part for the team in Milan.
The italian team returned to Halle after the layout to check the new backgrounds. The team in Halle also went to Milan before and after the compositing process. This coordination was vital for the good understanding of the project.Finally, the 23-11-2007 the film was screened in theMutimediazentrum Projection Room in Halle, with an audience of 300 people.
The story was conceived very fast, in just one week, and chosen among other two storylines. The first rough ideas were about a product who becomes worried when he gets to know about when he's going to die, thanks to the expiring date on his back. This story line was rejected because it didn't promote the main idea in the story: the solidarity between the members of a community.
From this concept evolved the love story between a tupperware and his content.
The film was called "The Fridge" until the very end of the project. The name "Fridge Affair" came up as possible title within the last two weeks of the project.
The look of the film is deeply 2D, but trying to get further away from classical aproaches, as Disney influences.
Some earlier aesthetic decissions were, for example, avoid human-like products. This bring the film the challenge to animate the characters without using handsor feet for them. Other decissions were to give the film a dusty look to distance and give some irony over the cuteness of the story; how to separate the inner world from the outside, and if the human characters should be shown or not.
Although it was thought to mix 3D effects in the film, at the end, this were done in 2D, as the initial pan,with the help of compositing software.
The music was created by a spanish composer, Francisco Cuadrado.
The guideline was to bring a distinctive european accent to the film,trying at the same time to make people laugh just with the music. The reference were the interwar 20's popular german music, with Bertolt Brecht and the cabaret music as main influence. This decission brought a mocking voice to the film, as the music comments as a distant narrator the action in the story. The score was aimed to be played as a drunken orchest could do it.
The sound ambience was aimed to reinforce the impression of acommunity joined against the external foe.
This film was done with the inestimable help of some animation specialists, who supervised different phases in the project.
Paola Piozzi coordinated the whole process and helped to take very important creative decissions; Alexandra Grosse was responsible for the italian team; Doris Umschaden helped having the storyboard finished in a very short time; Gyula Szabo taught the team the layout process; Petr Fasianok brought his experience and gave a lot of animation advices. Some other collaborators were: Sasha Borchert(3D consultant), Alexander Sorge (technical advisor), Christian Schunke(sound editor), Lutz Garmsen (animatics consultant) and Tony Loeser,who allowed the team to pitch the different ideas.