Getting Used to the Landscape

I was curious to see if there are any locations in the vicintiy of Malmö, Sweden that could possibly serve as the stage for our upcoming film The Sea. Our production will most likely be based in Malmö, therefore it is of utmost importance to see if we can find the envisioned landscape in this region. Moreover, visiting a prospective setting for your film energizes your mind. You start to think of the aesthetic and practical possiblities - as well as problems that the project can encounter.

On October 10, 2015, I took advantage of the still autumn air and headed to Kullaberg Nature Reserve. Located in Höganäs municipality, the cliffs and rocky shores of the reserve offer majestic vistas of the Kattegat.

For the unitiated, The Sea is a memory puzzle, a horror film for children about how we use fantasy to deal with the aftermath of a trauma. Leo, the story's 9-year-old protagonist, scours the shore and the cliffs raising above the sea with his metal detector. He searches for artefacts and objects that could lead to his vanished sister - a sort of finders-keepers that he plays with the dead. But when he encounters the Visitors from the sea, the terror makes the task unattainable for Leo. Few weeks ago, Leo and his sister were playing near the cliffs, when a fatal error caused the sister to tumble into the sea.

Looking at the landscape around the tip of the peninsula, one is immediately struck by the variety of vistas that this relatively small area offers.

What struck me the most is the foreboding and the intimaditing atmosphere conjured up in the mind by this formation of rocks and the seascape. With some imagination and technical savvy, this place can be turned from paradise to nightmare and back.

I'm sure I will be visiting this place again some time soon. Even though we end up not shooting the film here, there is a tonne of inspiration and ideas waiting to be borne.

Stay tuned for updates from this spot!