Deadlock

What is Deadlock?

Deadlock is an independently produced 40-minute no-budget action film by Elias Lehtinen and John Åhman, shot on Super-8mm film.

Synopsis

Deep in a snow-laden forest stands a desolate tower. Within it, a folder lies hidden. John and his two friends have set out on a mission to obtain this folder, but when they get their hands on it, they find themselves trapped.

The relentless Mr. Wincott and his armed group of henchmen have been trailing the three unsuspecting men for some time. He will stop at nothing until he succeeds in his aim to acquire the folder.

The hunt is on...

Production notes

The plan

Deadlock saw its inception way back in late 1997, when we came up with the idea for an action short shot in a wintery forest. We were 15 at the time. Roughly a year passed writing the script and planning the shoot, recruiting friends and acquaintances as actors.

Principal production began around Christmas 1998, with the Lehtinen family cottage serving as base of operations. The two of us spent four months non-stop in this log-heated, electricityless cabin in the middle of the forest a long way from home, about 180 km north-east of Helsinki. The actors drove out mostly on weekends and vacations.

The shoot was to wrap by the end of winter.

Production

As it turned out, several setbacks delayed the shoot. Excessive snowfall often hindered the shooting while temperatures dipped to the lowest in thirty years. The various vehicles used in the film gave in frequently and the actors needed breaks because of the freezing weather. Additionally, the use of Super-8 film, which requires a substantial amount of light, kept the shooting days short.

We ended up shooting the film over three consecutive winters, returning to the cottage on weekends for the latter two. In the spring of 2001 the final roll of film was shot and sent away for development and digitalisation. But the task was far from over.

Post-production

As the 8mm camera lets out a constant clatter, capturing sound on set was impossible. With no one free on set to record reference sound, the entire film had to be dubbed “deaf”. Trading budget and manpower for time and resilience, post-production was to last five years, with long waits for recording and mixing facilities.

Post-production also included the composing of the score, which was made by patching together sound from several sources.

Deadlock finally got its final touches made in the summer of 2006 and the first public screening was held in March 2007. In September 2008 Deadlock recieved the Golden Chainsaw Award for best action film at The 3rd Trash Film Festival in Varaždin, Croatia.

In November 2008 Deadlock was released on DVD, while deadlockfilm.com finally went live in February 2009. The free web version will be released during the spring of 2009.

— Elias Lehtinen & John Åhman