Norway’s Masters Degree In Horror Screenwriting Produces First Feature

Archipelago (Skjærgården) is a Norwegian horror movie due to hit cinemas 8th January 2016. Media and Communications lecturer at Oslo University College, Frode Nordås, filmed, directed, edited and distributed the film, whilst the script was written by Jon Anders Klausen as part of his Masters degree in horror screenwriting.

Klausen says: “I wrote my Master’s thesis in Spring 2010. It is a practical and theoretical study, so half of the course requires some form of (movie) production. When I chose to write a horror script it was inspired by the movies that I grew up with, such as Scream and Friday The 13th and Italian Dario Argento’s films (“Tenebrae” in particular) – bloody and glorious films.”

“As far as I know this is the first Norwegian horror film script to be written as part of a Master’s thesis. Utburd, which came out last year, was written after I went there so even if they got released before us I like to believe that I was the first.”

“We must be honest that this is a really low-budget film. In total it cost two million crowns but Nordås hopes that he has created a new cool. The goal is to sell ten thousand movie tickets but you never know…”

“What appealed to me the script was it was exciting and had several surprising twists. I was intrigued by the opportunity to create create a horror unfolding in the archipelago, not in a dark forest, and with a slightly different type of villain. Not one of those running around with an axe,” says Nordås.