No, Wind Gap, Missouri is not a real place – ‘Sharp Objects’ Filming Locations Explained

HBO Sharp objects The story takes place in the idyllic American town of Wind Gap, Missouri, but since it is a fictional location, the miniseries had to be filmed elsewhere. Based on the novel Sharp objects The 2018 HBO miniseries, created by author Gillian Flynn, follows Camille Preaker (Amy Adams), a crime reporter who has recently been released from a mental hospital after battling alcoholism. To get back on her feet, Camilla returns to her quintessentially Middle American hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri. open a new case.

There’s no shortage of charming fictional small towns on television, and these stand-ins for entire parts of the country are easily recognizable and recognizable, but also, as is the case with Sharp objectsslightly unnerving. Wind Gap, Missouri is a semblance of the Midwestern towns that are scattered across Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa, and its loneliness and isolation are key to setting the tone of the show. There is a side to Wind Gap that is picturesque and beautiful, and then there is another side that is unknowable and menacing, so the crew had to find a real location that fit that description.

Barnesville, Georgia replaced Wind Gap, Missouri due to sharp objects

Location manager Gregory Alpert scoured the state for the right city

Like Wind Gap, Missouri, it is a fictional town. Sharp objects had to film elsewhere, and location manager Gregory Alpert managed to find the perfect location (via Vulture). First of all, there wasn’t much for the crew to do, considering that Flynn pretty much invented the city, stating (via TheWichitaEagle),

“This [Wind Gap] was largely imaginary. It is not tied to any specific city. But I knew what I wanted [Wind Gap] to be the violent city that Camille grew up in.”

This vague description also gave Alpert and his team greater freedom in filming and Sharp objects he ended up being shot for two days in St. Louis, Missouri; 15 days in Georgia; 10 days in Northern California; and 66 days in Southern California. Set in downtown Wind Gap, Missouri, Alpert, executive producer and director Jean-Marc Vallée, production designer John Paino and executive producer Gregg Feinberg toured Georgia trying to find the right location. On the way to the hog farm, they passed through Barnesville, which is 60 miles south of Atlanta.

They had previously toured Barnesville and thought the place was too “nice”, but after driving through it, Alpert recalled that everyone immediately agreed that this was the right place.,

“John and I looked at each other and said, ‘So be it. This is a city.” Jean-Marc really liked this city.”

Alpert met with Barnesville officials, who kindly opened their town to the film crew. In turn, the team paid compensation to all businesses that were closed. They turned out to be a friendly couple: the people who lived there were happy to work around a filming schedule that often left the town feeling empty. The forests surrounding Barnesville were also used for filming.

Sharp Objects’ Crellin Estate is located in Redwood, California

Gregory Alpert made changes to the house to mimic a house in Missouri

Another key place in Sharp objects is Crellin Manor, home of Adora (Patricia Clarkson), Amma (Eliza Scanlen) and Alan Crellin (Henry Czerny). Valle had a special vision for the house, and he told Alpert:

“I want a house where if someone screamed, you would never hear them.”

Alpert first searched Los Angeles but found nothing. He then received a photograph from the Mendocino County Film Commission of a $6.2 million home in Redwood Valley, California, that had recently sold. On the way to the house, Alpert immediately realized that it was perfect.

“As I drove up and the house opened up in front of me, I had one of those epiphany moments that are unfortunately rare. My God! This is the Crellin estate! I just fell in love with him. it’s a short 30-second video of me standing in front of him and doing a 360-degree panorama, and when I finally showed it to Jean-Marc, he said, “Boom!”

Alpert had to make some changes to make it look more like a traditional Missouri home. The color of the house changed from yellow to blue, a gate and fence were added to the site, and some landscaping was done to give it a true Midwestern Ozark feel.. As for the interiors, an entire set was built in Los Angeles. It took a lot of time and effort to find locations. Sharp objectsbut Alpert’s efforts proved crucial in making Wind Gap, Missouri feel like a real place with history and maybe a few secrets.