Reviews are like busses.

There’s a second review up now on At The Movies with Lim Chang Moh - the online version of movie reviews formerly published in The Malay Mail, arguably the longest running weekly column in Malaysia. The writer was Production Editor of The Malay Mail before retiring in 2006. He now contributes articles to magazines and does free-lance projects.

Have a read as to what he thinks about 5:13…

One thing we can all appreciate about Abraham's direction is that he does not rely on cheap thrills like sudden loud noises or creaking doors to jolt us. Instead, he carefully shapes the mood and atmosphere so that we can scare ourselves. The whole movie is shot (by Luke Yerbury) in minimal lighting, heightening our sense of dread and foreboding. As we accompany Viv and Ash at the semi-furnished house, we keep expecting demons and other untold evil to break through the door and wreak havoc.

Read the whole review here.

Labels: 5:13, Blog, Films, News

7:38 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

The first review is now in for 5:13, the horror film that we edited on earlier this year, which is due for release in early 2010.

Abraham’s sophomore feature is a curious blend of politically-minded domestic drama and paranoid invasion flick. It’s not an overtly obvious coupling, but at times it works surprisingly well.

The review has appeared on IndieFlicks and is largely positive.

Have a read here.

Labels: 5:13, Blog, Films, News

10:57 PM 0 Comments Links to this post

Microsoft Tag’s Blog has mentioned our forthcoming horror film, 5:13.

5:13 a thriller movie slated to release in 2010 just implemented Microsoft Tag in their movie poster. Highlighted in yellow bellow, the Microsoft Tag can be snapped allowing the public at large to gain access to mobile content, including mobile trailers and downloads.

Using Microsoft Tag on printed materials creates the opportunity for indie and corporate movie companies to increase the ROI on their print marketing efforts. With Microsoft Tag print advertising can now serve as a real life portal to the online world. Keep an eye out for Microsoft Tag on other print material in your area and for the release of 5:13.

Read the whole article here.

You can read about our experience with using Microsoft Tag here.  We believe it’s going to be a fantastic way to deliver our mobile content to nearly all internet capable mobile phones.

And, whilst we have your attention, feel free to “give the tag a go” – just download the app from http://gettag.mobi and point your phone at our tag (above)!

Labels: 5:13, Blog, Films, News

9:08 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

It’s been a very busy few months here at Chaos Created.  Most of our work has been focussed on a couple of unannounced projects (more on that soon) and finishing up editing on horror thriller movie, 5:13, and the other movie, The Joshua Tapes.

Both films are slated for release early 2010, and Chaos Created has been responsible for post production (editing and sound design).

Yesterday, work was finished on the official film poster.  The film is slated for release in Malaysia first, but it’s also been submitted for London Fright Fest and will be submitted for London Film Festival soon, so we hope that you’ll get a chance to see it!

Here’s the official poster, designed by Luke Yerbury, with photography from Matthew Ong

The official web site will be launching soon.  We’re just waiting on approval of the trailer, and we’ll be good to go.

We’re also using Microsoft Tag to distribute out mobile content, including mobile trailers and downloads.  It’s a fantastic bit of technology that allows users to ‘snap’ the tag using their mobile phone (actually, on most devices, you don’t even need to snap, the moment the application sees a tag, it’ll send users on their way to the content), and automatically be redirected to our mobile content (dynamically).  Not only does it work on most phones (pretty much any phone that can accept applications and has a browser – i.e. nearly all new phones) but the responsiveness is amazing…  Out of focus, no problem…  Too close/too far? No problem.

Tags can tie into mapping services, video, web sites, or simply pop up a message.

We’re even now beginning to think of ways we could use tags…  Take a look at one of our past projects, Gridsearch.  This is an area in which Tags would be very useful.

Take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/tag for more information on the technology.

Labels: 5:13, Blog, Films, News

3:22 AM 1 Comments Links to this post

I’ve spent the last couple of days cutting the trailer for 5:13 with director, Arivind Abraham.

The one thing that actually really annoys me about trailers, in general, is how much they tend to give away.  It’s at the point now where I actually AVOID trailers as much as possible.  Especially when it comes down to scary films – I want to go and see a film and jump at the scary parts.  I want to be surprised.  I don’t want to sit there and know what’s coming up.  I want to experience the film with the characters.

Examples of decent marketing campaigns would be Taken and Cloverfield.  Taken’s trailers tended not to feature anything that happened outside the first 20 minutes of the film (for the most part, they featured just the phone conversation between Liam Neeson and the kidnappers).  Cloverfield was pretty much a teaser campaign – going into the cinema, I didn’t know what the ‘event’ was.

I think it’s been several years since anybody’s gone to see a film solely for the special effects.  That might have washed a few years ago with Jurassic Park, but I think the audiences are (more than) aware that great visuals don’t guarantee a knock out film.  That’s sort of why I don’t understand it when film makers fill trailers with all of the killer moments from the film.  I mean, sometimes trailers are treated like a “3 minute version” of a film.  And that’s bad.

So, going into the 5:13 trailer edit, the idea was to make the audience want to go see the movie.  We didn’t want to give away the story, we didn’t want to blow the “jumpy bits” in a trailer.  The goal was to present a minute-or-so teaser that leaves the audience wanting more.

Trailer to follow soon.

Labels: 5:13, Blog, Films

1:34 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

It’s been crazy busy on the Chaos Created front over the past few weeks, and there’s lots of exciting projects in the pipe line.

We’re cutting the trailer for 5:13 over the weekend.  I was hoping to have some video blogs for you on this one, but there’s been all sorts of issues with codecs, editing software and formats, that it’s been a little bit crazy.  I’ll blog on this at some point in the near future, but I guess the down side of using the latest technology is that you’re often in uncharted waters – that’s certainly been the case here, with all sorts of issues early on in the edit, typically regarding brand new camera, the format they output to, incompatibility between PCs and Macs, codecs, how editing software handles file formats…  You name it, we’ve come across it.  And of course, using the latest technology means that there’s very little documentation out there (even on the interweb).

The end result is that we’re using a Sony Vegas suite now, and the edit is running smoothly at long last.  In fact, we’re about two scenes away from having the first rough cut of the film (minus sound treatment), which is pretty exciting.

Sony Vegas itself is rather new (relatively speaking), and certainly not nearly as well known as, say, Final Cut, Adobe Premiere and Avid.  But, rather oddly, it’s the only suite that’s been capable of handling what we’re throwing at it.  It’s audio facilities, incidentally, outclass any editing suite I’ve come across, which – seeing as we’re working on a horror film, warrants its usage alone.  It’s also creeping its way up the Hollywood ladder at the moment.  For me, the way it has allowed me to cut in HD without the need for rendering, and to run with such a smooth frame rate on an external monitor, has been a treat.

The edit on the Joshua Tapes will be starting the week after next, so hopefully, now that we’ve ironed out the teething problems with 5:13, there should be a bit more time on The Joshua Tapes to write about the processes involved.

Anyway, expect the trailers on both films within the next few weeks.  The marketing is being discussed at the moment – I think the plan is to launch the viral sites very early next year.

Labels: 5:13, Blog, Films, The Joshua Tapes

1:43 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

5:13, the film that we are currently editing on, is now available in Teaser Trailer form.  The trailer doesn't give much away about the story, rather it demonstrates the style and the claustrophobia that the film conveys.  Having broken ground on the edit this week (video blogs coming soon), I'm looking forward to getting stuck in, as there's a really great script and some fantastic work behind it already and, obviously, I'm a big horror movie fan.

Embedded trailer below...

You can also view the video in magical Silverlight high(er) definition at:
http://befour.co.uk/513/

You can also catch the video in the following places, where video blogs, etc, will follow:
YouTube
MSN Video

Be sure to pass the link around, and if you fancy sharing the video on your own web sites, the embed code is included on both the MSN Video and YouTube versions.

Or, for Facebook fans, click below to share the trailer with your loved ones...

Share (the 5:13 Teaser Page)

Labels: 5:13, Blog, Films, News

6:23 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

A few details have been released via a cast advert for the first of the two feature films that Chaos Created will be editing this year.

Perantauan Pictures and Befour Media UK, the team behind S'kali are now casting for their new feature-length horror/drama, written by Arivind Abraham and Keith Leong and to be directed by the former.

The film now has a name, 5:13, and I received an almost-final draft of the script last week and I think it's going to turn out to be a great film.  It has a far more universal appeal than S'kali and horror/thriller films from smaller film companies seem to be doing rather well as of late.

The film begins shooting on 5th May.

Labels: 5:13, Blog, Films

4:52 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Chaos Created has been commissioned to edit 5:13, a horror film for Perantauan Pictures.

The film, which is scheduled for a May 2008 shoot in Malaysia, is set for release later this year.

The film is the second collaboration between Befour (made up of Chaos Created's Alastair Maggs, Luke Yerbury and Perantauan's Arivind Abraham) and Perantauan Pictures, the first being 2006 film S'kali.

Visit the project page

Labels: 5:13, Films, News

3:51 AM 0 Comments Links to this post

Chaos Created will be editing on two films in early 2008.
The films are being shot back to back by Perantauan Pictures in Malaysia and the material will be edited in the UK by Chaos Created/Befour.

More details will follow shortly, but we've already cut the teaser trailer for one of these films.

Keep an eye on the blog for up to the minute information.

About Chaos Created
Chaos Created is an all-in-one media group creating software for the PC market along with cutting edge web sites and film. Chaos was the runner up in the HP Award for Media Design in 2005 for its Melloweh demonstration and, since late 2005, Alastair Maggs of Chaos has been working for Electronic Blackboard Ltd developing an educational subscription service providing interactive applications for its i-board product.

About Perantauan
Perantauan Pictures are responsible for S'kali, released in 2006, which looked at relationships between the different class and racial mixes in Malaysia. The film received a theatrical release in Malaysia, with limited international screenings. Perantauan Pictures have two films green-lit for 2008.

Labels: 5:13, Films, News

2:48 AM 0 Comments Links to this post