[Editor’s note: This interview contains major spoilers for the film “Lamb.”]

The latest entry in A24’s evolving European folk horror canon is ‘Lamb’, the feature debut by Icelandic director Valdimar Jóhannsson. In the vein of “The Witch” and a more austere “Midsommar”, Jóhannsson brings a moody sensibility to this disturbing fairy tale about a couple of shepherds, Maria and Ingvar (Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snær Guðnason), who make a surprising discovery in their barn one day: a hybrid child, half human, half lamb.

The film is a feat of visual effects as the baby is played in part by real children, with the lamb’s head designed by VFX and the puppeteers working in tandem. IndieWire spoke with Stockholm-based filmmaker and visual effects supervisor Fredrik Nord to bring this strange creature to life.

The movie, as Johannsson would even say, is much closer to drama than outright horror, and that comes from the director’s cinematic DNA. Before working as a special effects technician on films like “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and as an electrician on Darren Aronofsky’s “Noah”, Jóhannsson studied film with Hungarian author Béla Tarr (“Satanango”) . It’s an aesthetic rigor from Eastern Europe just as austere that Jóhannsson brings to “Lamb”, but with a touch of special effects.

First of all, the story had to be sculpted courtesy of the Icelandic poet, Oscar nominated lyricist (“Dancer in the Dark”) and “The Northman” screenwriter Sjón, who Jóhannsson says has brought “mythical” elements of “folklore” to the film. Together, Jóhannsson and Sjón worked to keep the revealing of the baby lamb a mystery (Ada, as she is called, only appears about a third of the film), ultimately choosing to show her less in the final feature. footage. than in their early drafts of the script.

“I had about 200 shots in my head, but we had to cut it down to 70. It went even lower in the editing of the film,” Jóhannsson said. Originally, he envisioned Ada as becoming more and more verbal and testing her limits. But she is, after all, not the main character.

Still, an ambitious technical feint went into the making of Ada, including hiring at least 10 child actors of different age groups, two puppeteers, and several visual effects professionals.

A24

“This team has done incredible things. When we filmed, we started with puppets. Then we remade the scene with children. We worked with 10 children and four lambs. It took a long time to do scenes that Ada was supposed to be in because we had to shoot so many elements, ”Jóhannsson said.

In any given scene, the child actor would wear something best described as a green screen swim cap (or, in other cases, more like a helmet, depending on the actor’s age), as in the finished film, it is mainly that of Ada lamb’s head that we see at the top of a small human body. As for the cast of the replacement children, Jóhannsson recruited children between the ages of six to 12 months and two to three years old, with many children being kicked out of the area of ​​North Iceland where the film was filmed.

As for the puppeteers, they would find clever hiding places. “For example, in the bedroom, they were under the cradle,” Jóhannsson said.

“There have been a lot of attempts to make puppets and real composite shots of lamb, but it’s only a handful of shots. The majority, 90 or 100 shots or something like that, is in CG, ”said Fredrik Nord, who has worked on films like“ Her ”and“ Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ”. This is partly because arguing with children involved not only obeying child labor laws – most can only work a few hours a day – but also because of things like napping and being easily distracted. .

“Initially, the idea was to [Ada] speak lightly. She wasn’t supposed to be fluent or anything, but she was trying to be, with what a lamb can be, and later it was an artistic decision to shut her up during the movie, ” North said. “We had to do a lot with the eyes and nostrils to show if she was restless or scared.”

“Lamb”

A24

Another key element the film’s audiences might not notice at first, though it’s certainly one that lends itself to the overall feeling of thorny and menacing omen that floats through the film, is that every scene takes place during the film. daytime. This is because at this particular time of year (“Lamb” shot in the summer of 2019) Iceland only has two short hours of darkness a day.

“My [director of photography] and I spent so much time on set, sometimes we just slept there, because we were fighting against the most beautiful light. Some of the scenes we did after midnight because you have that magical light, so soft and beautiful, ”Jóhannsson said. “I like that when they go to bed it’s usually nice outside. When you come home, you come to bed, it’s also bright outside. Sometimes it feels like a dream because you are so tired, but the weather is always nice outside. It can be very strange. “

Jóhannsson said shooting the film around this time of year was intentional, as he wanted to subvert the visual style of most horror films, where it’s so dark you can’t see much. “The [daylight] can be scarier, when everyone can see you, and you can see almost everything, ”he said.

An A24 version, “Lamb” is now playing in theaters.

As new films open in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, IndieWire will continue to review them whenever possible. We encourage readers to follow the safety precautions provided by CDC and health authorities. In addition, our coverage will offer alternative viewing options whenever they become available.

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