Experiencing Interruptions?

Dead Letter

In the world of espionnage, a Dead Letter is a way to deliver an item to another spy. An idiot spy delivers the dead letter (flowers) to a romantic civilian instead of his spy counterpart, who then has to reclaim the flowers without being intercepted by an enemy spy.

  • Patricia Hetherington
    Director
  • Fiona Young
    Writer
  • Patricia Hetherington
    Producer
  • Colm Field
    Producer
  • Ashley Belgrave
    Producer
  • Stine Olsen
    Key Cast
  • Vicky Murdoch
    Key Cast
  • Neil Fitzgerald
    Key Cast
  • Armando Tavares Da Silva
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    spy, comedy
  • Runtime:
    4 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    October 31, 2014
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Cannes Short Film Corner
    Cannes, France
    May 13, 2015
Director Biography - Patricia Hetherington

Patricia Hetherington is a New Zealand filmmaker who has been based in London since 2012. She has worked with Shiftwork Productions, This Big Productions, and her own Production Company, Busy Kiwi Productions. She runs a collaborative filmmaking project named 'Action On The Side' and has taught film production and producing at Hult International Business School.

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Director Statement

When asked to direct this project, I thought of my authorial style. I had directed a couple of shorts and produced many more: this was to be my first directed short in the UK.
The film opens with a series of shots. I have experimented with soundscapes, taking images of locations, editing them with the ambient sound of a location. These serve to orient the viewer: London, brick, a closed off space. This is a common theme in my work.
The color of Dead Letter is key for setting the mood: from the actor's costumes to the color scheme of the location. Splashes of red brighten the metallic grey, brown and beige hues of the film. The flowers - the catalyst for the action - are bright, contrasting against the dreary normality of the character's costumes.
The story is told through subtlety: subtext, small movements, eyes darting, constraint. To me this represents natural life, how people truly interact, a British sensibility.