Inside the Visual Effects for Maya Albanese New Short Film, Freeze 

“VFX is not a post-production job” 

Argo had the pleasure to chat with the Visual Effects team from Ingenuity Studios that worked on set for Freeze, Maya Albanese’s new dark comedy about the psychological effects of baby panic. 

In Maya Albanese’s latest ‘twisted fairy tale’ Freeze, the director and writer imbues dark humor and cutting relatability to one woman’s encounter with baby panic. Joy, who is approaching the age of 35, spirals into a crumbling neurosis in her attempt to silence the deafening tic-toc of her biological clock and escape the external pressures from her family, friends, and doctors.

In this interview, the VFX team and Maya discuss how they used visual effects, from pre and post production, to enhance Maya’s vision for the film and for her characters. The key to Maya’s film was sticking to her main message: her female lead must crack under pressure. Each element, from color to sound to visual effects, must work together to hint at her mental breakdown. 

VFX is not limited to post-production. From the beginning stages, Maya had connected with this VFX team with her vision, which is a crucial step in pre-production that many novice filmmakers often overlook.  Together with the graphic artists at Ingenuity, Maya and the team collaborated to build upon her original ideas. This process entailed a strong sense of trust and understanding to work towards the same vision on a multilateral level. 

The VFX team talks growing beards,  fake phone-apps,   and how this helped put their vision to life. We learn that VFX is a job also based in research and ideation – and that sometimes when you know what you don’t want, it will help you create what you do what. 

For all filmmakers, watch this interview to gain must-know information from industry professionals on VFX and how it transforms a film from good to great. 

For more interviews about Freeze, check out our blog. 

Watch Freeze now exclusively on Argo.