DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT:

After Caroline (our EP and DP of the film) told me about the plot of the film and the Scandinavian folktales and Greek Myths they were based on, I was immediately drawn in, and I knew that this was a story that I wanted to tell. Born and raised in Malaysia, we too had our fair share of myths and folktales, and very much like the Scandinavian folktales, they're passed on from generation to generation in hopes of scaring children into making them not do something - whether it be staying out of the forest, steering clear of the sea, wandering outside at night, etc, but furthermore, they also become ingrained in one's culture and heritage. Not only did this piece provide us with the opportunity to revisit the scary folktales of our childhoods, but it also allows us to pass it on for generations to come, keeping that heritage alive. Also, we get the opportunity to scare some children as well (I'm joking).

​

Drawing from Caroline's childhood stories, we used Norwegian and Finnish creatures as inspiration, and we had Maja speaking Icelandic in the film as well. Each character has a color that they're based on to reflect their characteristics - Frank's is blue, signifying his soul-binding tie to the ocean; Martha's is pink, a light in Frank's life; Maja's is green, representing jealousy, viciousness and poison. The more Maja infiltrates throughout the film, the more her presence is felt in their home and the lighthouse through the use of greens in the set design and Frank's tattoo, Maja's imprint on him.

​

The transitions were meticulously crafted to bring us smoothly from one scene to the next, as I wanted Frank to be in a trance, floating from one situation to the next. We pushed that visual idea further with Maja's sequences, and we wanted to show her chaos magic through the use of jump cuts, loops, and trance-y sound design. Frank was in Maja's control and he had no idea when the loop was to be stopped.

Another fun fact: Each character has a screen direction that they stay on, until their world flips upside down, flipping our 180 degree line to the other side.

​

All in all, I hope you enjoy the film as much as we enjoyed bringing it to life!