On diving station in Schleswig-Holstein

Burning wreckage, twitching cones of light, strong waves - and in the middle of the action, actor Michael B. Jordan, who is giving his all in the water for Tom Clancy's action thriller "Without Remorse". However, the superstar is not in a Hollywood studio somewhere in the USA, but in tranquil Enge-Sande, not far from the North Sea. This is where the OffTEC company's water basin is located on the site of a former German army base. The cast and crew travelled here with around 200 employees for the filming of "Without remorse". "This was the biggest film production on our site to date. Including set-up and dismantling, the team was on site for twelve days," reveals OffTEC CEO Klaus Loesmann. Normally, Loesmann and his team have less to do with the film industry. OffTEC's focus is on safety training for the wind energy industry, rescue teams on the high seas or even special police units. In addition to the aforementioned water basin, there is also a fire protection training centre and a high-altitude rescue, technical and medical training centre on the 130-hectare site. From rescue operations including helicopters to sea survival training, numerous situations can be practised under real conditions.

In recent years, however, word of mouth has drawn the attention of more and more film productions to the site, which offers a whole range of advantages for film crews. The first advantage is that the GreenTEC Campus (the name of the entire site, OffTEC is just one of several companies based here) is a private site. This means that the film crew hardly has to worry about permits for shooting or passers-by. Sustainability is also a key issue: from green electricity to waste heat utilisation (spirulina cultivation), care is taken to minimise the CO2 footprint. There are also extensive nature conservation requirements for the site - so the name "GreenTEC" Campus is no coincidence.

Anyone looking for long lines of sight for their outdoor shots will also find what they are looking for: The team behind the Oscar-nominated film "Land of Mine" discovered the site back in 2014. The memorable opening scene of the World War II drama was shot on the former airbase in Schleswig-Holstein. The focus of this production was on the long paths and roads outside. Other scenes were also shot on the site. This was followed around four years later by "Tides", an international co-production with Nora Arnezeder in the leading role. The film crew led by Director and Script Writer Tim Fehlbaum spent several days filming in the 15x25x5 metre water basin and shot the crash of a space capsule into the open sea. "The film crews naturally bring all kinds of equipment for their shoots themselves. But our water basin is very well equipped for lifting and lowering a wide variety of props thanks to a permanently installed crane runway," says Loesmann.

Directors Maximilian Erlenwein was recently a guest at Enge Sande with his diving thriller "The Dive". "At OffTEC, we shot the scenes that take place in a cave and underwater in the film. Shooting underwater is really extreme. And if you're going to do it, you should definitely work with specialists like the people at OffTEC, who gave us great support," says "The Dive" Executive Producer Maximilian Leo from the Munich-based company Augenschein.

"Two to three OffTEC safety experts are in the pool with us on every shoot to provide support in the event of an emergency. Filming in water is usually a real physical challenge for actors too - so it's all the more important that each individual feels safe," adds Klaus Loesmann.

However, many questions need to be clarified months in advance rather than on site: For example, what colour should the foil be that is used to line the pool to simulate open water as realistically as possible? How long will the performers be in the water for (because the water temperature to which the pool is heated depends on this)? Will the film crew need the overhead crane to lift and lower props and film equipment? The list goes on and on. In the best case scenario, the film team approaches OffTEC about a year before shooting begins. This ensures that the desired time slot is available and that all other conditions on location are right. Smaller slots of just a few days are also possible at short notice.

And when a long and exhausting day of filming comes to an end, 36 beds are available in the guest house on the GreenTEC Campus - thanks to the good infrastructure, the surrounding hotels can also be reached quickly.

In future, film crews would like to make filming in and under water even easier. The pool is to be equipped with underwater loudspeakers for better communication - the colour of the pool is also currently being considered to create a more realistic sea look OffTEC also wants to offer "water familiarisation training" in future so that actors without previous experience in the water can be introduced to the element very carefully. These are the best prerequisites for seeing the GreenTEC Campus water basin on the big screen even more often in the future.