Locked Down

This is a project born out of failure and frustration. We had spent the first lockdown together, during which we tried making a short film. We failed miserably. We were most likely a bit traumatized by the void of being an unemployed film student in lockdown; that sense of being full of energetic passion that wants to be released, yet, finds no outlet. This period, rather predictably, turned out to be an often dark, dull and miserable time for us both. That being said, we made it through (barely). Which brings us to the fateful night of January xx when Boris Johnson announced a national lockdown once again. We sat in front of the screen, thunderstruck. The announcement came right at the end of Christmas break, when our expectations for going back to school and finally resuming our lives were at an all-time high. Instead, the horror of descending into another void is all we got. Then Rob said, half-jokingly, “okay, if we stay then let’s make a feature film”. And Flo said “sure”. And the rest, as they say, is history. This frustration at a lack of possibilities and the feeling of simply floating along is something we wanted to explore with this film. First of all, in order to say that you are not alone in thinking that this pandemic sucks. Secondly, we wanted to let film students and enthusiasts know that all you need to make your feature film is 5 weeks, a good friend, 1100.- pounds and a lot of heart.

We said ‘semi-autobiographical’ in the beginning, since a lot of what you see in this film is in one way or another based on actual events that happened to us over the course of those three lockdowns. It was clear from the beginning, with us not being professional actors, that there was no way we could write this film in the traditional sense. We knew that basing these characters on ourselves would be the easiest way for us to say lines without sounding like we're saying lines. Both of us are allergic to contrived dialogue, so a primary goal was to find ways in which we could speak freely and simply be ourselves, because we’re pretty good at that. This was one piece in an overall framework we created for ourselves, in which we could successfully pull this film off (a bit like the Dogma manifesto). We said no written lines, only improvisation, minimal camera movement and minimal amount of takes, to force us to be precise and have less work in post-production. Story-wise, a key ingredient was the romantic relationship in the film. We knew that the story needed a direction, a narrative momentum, something that drives the audience forward. This is where Flo's experience with his own lockdown long-distance-relationship came in handy, and where the idea of showing the rise and fall of an entire relationship with nothing but Zoom calls was born. These calls and the moments shared between Flo and Rob make up the entirety of the film.

Ultimately, what was created though this approach and it's personal undergirding reflects our own complex experiences of this pandemic. Of course, there were times filled with boredom (lots of them), times filled with hopelessness and heartbreak, but also moments of deep connection, and a sense of the power and resilience of friendship and the human spirit. In retrospect, there's been more humor and love over the past year than it may have seemed as we were living it. At the end of the day, when all else was lost, one thing remained: each other. And that is far from nothing. We trust that this will prove true for others, and hope that Locked Down can help even just a handful of people to see their past, present and future in a more positive and hopeful light.