Finse

It needed to be, well, icy, free of trees, and near popular areas for amenities.

It was Fox employee Norman Reynolds who suggested Finse in Norway, a mountain hamlet not reachable by road, only by rail.

While they originally planned to film the Dagobah scenes on location, eventually George Lucas would fund construction of the Star Wars stage at Elstree Studios just outside London.

Construction for the stage, which measured 1.25 million cubic feet and cost $2 million, began at the end of August 1978.

The Hollywood Reporter leaked the title of The Empire Strikes Back in January 1978, and the title was officially announced in August 1978, just as construction at Elstree began.

Principal photography began on the 5th of March 1979, and was originally scheduled to conclude on the 22nd of June.

The first shooting location was the Hardangerjøkulen Glacier near Finse in Norway.

By the end of the first week of filming, it was obvious that principal photography was going to take longer and cost more than initially planned.

So on like that.

But actually for me, from my point of view, like where I was in Finse in Norway, that area is covered at a certain altitude with the glacial boulders, which are definitely part of the living community of the land.

So they don't breathe and they don't have blood, but they are absolutely an integral part of the living landscape.

So that's...