Emmanuel Dubois
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Your webmaster was delighted to receive this article from Emmanuel Dubois. BIAFF regulars will remember with pleasure many of Emmanuel's earlier movies. He has been sending films to BIAFF since 2005.
Emmanuel Dubois on making Fridgemania
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I am still very passionate about cinema and I am still making short films as an independent (amateur) film maker. But as I work very slowly and I have a very busy life (3 children aged 7, 9 and 11 plus a job as Software Engineer in Aeronautics), I need between 2 and 3 years to write, shoot, edit and distribute a film! I am part of an association in Toulouse city called Image'In 31 which is affiliated to the FFCV (French Federation of Cinema and Video, a member of UNICA). Each film maker in the association has a web page dedicated to his films. My page is: http://image-in-31.wifeo.com/emmanuel-dubois.php . |
If I remember correctly, these are the films that I have entered in BIAFF since 2005:
2005: The Middle Way, fiction romance. Awarded Best Camerawork and an International Medallion.
2006: 6885, fiction documentary. Awarded Gold Standard.
2007: For the Sheik's Spirits, co-directed by Jean-Pierre Hué, documentary. Awarded Silver Plus Standard.
2009: A Man, a Desert, documentary. Awarded Three Stars.
2014: Dies Irae, Day of Wrath, fiction drama. Awarded Four Stars.
2017: Fridgemania, fiction comedy. Awarded BIAFF Diamond and Best Comedy.
Fridgemania is very different from my previous films. I began making documentaries around the world (Chile, Ethiopia, Algeria...) but these films were a result of opportunities when I travelled in these countries. Now I travel a bit less so I am more attracted to fiction films.
After Dies Irae, Day of Wrath, which is a dark drama shot in the large landscapes of a mountain range, I wanted to challenge myself and try something completely different. So I imagined a comedy that would take place in a small apartment (a closed door story). I also wanted to make my friend Jacques Canet play in that movie and the character of René Auffret was written especially for him. It was really a challenge because comedy is the most difficult genre in cinema. The story, the dialogue, the rhythm and the acting are all crucial. You need to have many, many, many funny ideas... So it took a long time to reach the result that we can see today on the screen.
The first idea for Fridgemania came from a novel which is called "Givrée" in French, "Frosted" in English. It is the story of a young woman whose apartment fills inexorably with fridges. My writer friend Eric Ettouati (who also wrote Dies Irae, Day of Wrath) and I decided to keep this main idea and to adapt it to another character - a retired and lonely old man. Of course, as in many comedies, we added more serious background ideas such as global warming, the ruthless world of consumption and after-sales service.
2005: The Middle Way, fiction romance. Awarded Best Camerawork and an International Medallion.
2006: 6885, fiction documentary. Awarded Gold Standard.
2007: For the Sheik's Spirits, co-directed by Jean-Pierre Hué, documentary. Awarded Silver Plus Standard.
2009: A Man, a Desert, documentary. Awarded Three Stars.
2014: Dies Irae, Day of Wrath, fiction drama. Awarded Four Stars.
2017: Fridgemania, fiction comedy. Awarded BIAFF Diamond and Best Comedy.
Fridgemania is very different from my previous films. I began making documentaries around the world (Chile, Ethiopia, Algeria...) but these films were a result of opportunities when I travelled in these countries. Now I travel a bit less so I am more attracted to fiction films.
After Dies Irae, Day of Wrath, which is a dark drama shot in the large landscapes of a mountain range, I wanted to challenge myself and try something completely different. So I imagined a comedy that would take place in a small apartment (a closed door story). I also wanted to make my friend Jacques Canet play in that movie and the character of René Auffret was written especially for him. It was really a challenge because comedy is the most difficult genre in cinema. The story, the dialogue, the rhythm and the acting are all crucial. You need to have many, many, many funny ideas... So it took a long time to reach the result that we can see today on the screen.
The first idea for Fridgemania came from a novel which is called "Givrée" in French, "Frosted" in English. It is the story of a young woman whose apartment fills inexorably with fridges. My writer friend Eric Ettouati (who also wrote Dies Irae, Day of Wrath) and I decided to keep this main idea and to adapt it to another character - a retired and lonely old man. Of course, as in many comedies, we added more serious background ideas such as global warming, the ruthless world of consumption and after-sales service.
Jacques Canet and Solange Meysonnet
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The living room was redecorated with wallpaper better suited to René Auffret's home.
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Pascal Sugg and Patrice Ortega (the delivery men)
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Jacques Canet is a friend of mine. He is also a member of the Image'In 31 association. He makes his own fiction films but also likes playing comedy. The two delivery men and the repair man are semi-professional actors who try to earn their living by playing theatre in Toulouse city. Solange Meysonnet plays René Auffret's daughter. When she was younger, she wanted to be an actress, and she learned comedy at the famous course Florent in Paris. So none of my actors are beginners, except the neighbour girl for whom it is her first film experience.
For the locations, I needed an apartment that someone could let me use for nothing for one week. I met Bernadette through a co-worker in the society where I work. She is fond of cinema and she agreed that my team and I could use her small flat for the film. The difficulty was that the flat was on the 8th floor, and we had to bring in 8 fridges ! Luckily there was a lift !
All the fridges were donated for the film. I found most of them on donation websites. The bigger American one was given by a distribution company (DARTY in France). Rene's old fridge that breaks down at the beginning is an authentic Electrolux from the late 1950's. I found it in the cellar of an old Pyrenean farmhouse! The selection criteria for these fridges (except the old one) were that they had to appear new, without a scratch. In real life, all of them were out of order.
For the locations, I needed an apartment that someone could let me use for nothing for one week. I met Bernadette through a co-worker in the society where I work. She is fond of cinema and she agreed that my team and I could use her small flat for the film. The difficulty was that the flat was on the 8th floor, and we had to bring in 8 fridges ! Luckily there was a lift !
All the fridges were donated for the film. I found most of them on donation websites. The bigger American one was given by a distribution company (DARTY in France). Rene's old fridge that breaks down at the beginning is an authentic Electrolux from the late 1950's. I found it in the cellar of an old Pyrenean farmhouse! The selection criteria for these fridges (except the old one) were that they had to appear new, without a scratch. In real life, all of them were out of order.
Shooting the scene with ET fridges
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Rene' Auffret talks to Bubble the fish
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The daughter and father with a wall between them
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The dream with the extra-terrestrial fridges was a very difficult scene to shoot . It was early in the morning, around three a.m. Every body was exhausted and I did not know exactly how I wanted to shoot the scene. We had to introduce smoke in the fridges, open their doors and switch on a light inside them at the same time... so it was complicated for just a few seconds of film in the end. But I wanted this scene which is of course a nod to Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
Something I am very proud of is the English translation of the film. It was done by the scriptwriter Eric Ettouati and checked by an anglophone friend of ours. It was really not easy to translate because in the original version there are many word games that are understandable only in French. For example, the main word game is around the name of the hero René Auffret, the French singer Hugues Aufray and "Au frais" written on the coffin fridge during René's dream. I guess the translation is quite successful because the film has done well abroad and especially in English speaking countries.
This film took 1 year to write the script, 6 months of pre-production (to find and decorate the set, find and prepare the fridges and all the accessories, for rehearsal of the actors, etc.), 10 days to shoot (4 days for the TV reports and the Toutconfort publicity, and 6 days in the apartment), and 7 months of post production.
For my next project. I am writing a scenario that happens in a cave, in the middle of speleology. I had this idea a long time ago when I finished the film The Middle Way in 2000! It will be another challenge for me. I hope to shoot during 2019. Meanwhile I plan to buy a 4K camera and a new Mac.
Emmanuel Dubois
June 2017
Something I am very proud of is the English translation of the film. It was done by the scriptwriter Eric Ettouati and checked by an anglophone friend of ours. It was really not easy to translate because in the original version there are many word games that are understandable only in French. For example, the main word game is around the name of the hero René Auffret, the French singer Hugues Aufray and "Au frais" written on the coffin fridge during René's dream. I guess the translation is quite successful because the film has done well abroad and especially in English speaking countries.
This film took 1 year to write the script, 6 months of pre-production (to find and decorate the set, find and prepare the fridges and all the accessories, for rehearsal of the actors, etc.), 10 days to shoot (4 days for the TV reports and the Toutconfort publicity, and 6 days in the apartment), and 7 months of post production.
For my next project. I am writing a scenario that happens in a cave, in the middle of speleology. I had this idea a long time ago when I finished the film The Middle Way in 2000! It will be another challenge for me. I hope to shoot during 2019. Meanwhile I plan to buy a 4K camera and a new Mac.
Emmanuel Dubois
June 2017
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There is a 'making of Fridgemania in Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/170856773 The password is frigomakingof. The dialogue is all in French but even if you don't understand the language it is worth a look to see how much effort went into Fridgemania and how well the team worked together. |
The Fridgemania team.
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