Creating Chaos in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Motion Poster
For my final project in the Emerging Multimedia Practice class at Humber College, I created a motion poster for the A24 film, Everything Everywhere All at Once. It is incredibly timely that this article is being written as the film has recently won seven awards, including Best Picture, in a significant night for representation of Asian-American community. It is truly exciting to see the film receive recognition for its unique and creative storytelling, and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to create a motion poster that captures its essence.
🌟 Final Deliverable
🎞 Little Background
At the start of the winter semester in January, I began searching for a project that would challenge me and allow me to showcase my creativity. When I stumbled upon the movie poster for Everything Everywhere All at Once, it immediately sparked my imagination and inspired me to create a dynamic and engaging motion poster. After sharing my ideas with our professor, Kris Ohlendorf, he encouraged me to pursue this direction for my final project.
The film itself left a lasting impression on me when I saw it in the theater. I was struck by its unique blend of various genres, which initially left me unsure of how to categorize it. Despite this, the film’s core story remained a family drama about a mother attempting to reconnect with her family amidst the chaos of the multiverse.
To provide context for those who haven’t seen the film, I want to share a quote from the director, Daniel Kwan, which highlights the film’s central themes:
“This film covers every emotion, every genre, everything everywhere all at once! and yet it still holds together because at its core it’s a family drama about a mother trying to reconnect with her family in the middle of all this noise. It was never our intention to tell an immigrant story, the multiverse is so much about asking “what if” and wondering about regrets.”
— Director Daniel Kwan
Ultimately, the movie poster for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” played a crucial role in inspiring me to create a motion poster for my final project. The poster’s vibrant colors, striking imagery, and intriguing themes captured my attention and motivated me to apply the knowledge and skills I had gained throughout the Multimedia Design & Development program at Humber College.
✏️ Project Overview
I created a 23-second motion poster for the film Everything Everywhere All at Once using Adobe Photoshop & After Effects.
✏️ Project Goal
The goal of the project was to capture the essence of the film and captivate the audience by incorporating dynamic animation and special effects that reflected the concept of multiverse colliding and merging, embodying the film’s main theme of Everything Everywhere All at Once.
💡 Technology Used
・Adobe Photoshop
・Adobe After Effects
・Adobe Audition
🍀 Creative Process
Step 1. Research & Ideation
The creative process for the Everything Everywhere All at Once motion poster began with extensive research and ideation. I researched various motion posters and animations, exploring different styles and techniques that could be used to capture the essence of this film and set the right tone.
One of the key themes that stood out was the idea of “chaos” — the film features multiple dimensions and universes colliding and merging, creating a sense of chaos. To capture this theme, I conducted research and gathered examples of motion animations and special effects that I could incorporate into the motion poster.
Step 2. Storyboard
Once I had a clear picture of how I wanted the motion poster to be, I moved on to storyboarding. This involved creating a visual outline of the animation, sketching out the key elements and features that would be incorporated into the poster. I made sure to incorporate “chaotic” animation into the storyboard to convey the sense of chaos that was present in the film. The storyboard was an important pre-production step that helped me to visualize the animation of the design elements and ensure that the motion poster would align with the film.
Step 3. Preparation — Adobe Photoshop
This stage involved selecting and cutting out the design elements that were going to be used in the motion poster, using Adobe Photoshop. This was a critical part of the process, as it was important to preserve all the fine details in the images while cutting them out. Achieving this required precision and attention to detail, ensuring that each element was cut out precisely and without distortion.
Step 4. Production
This step involved animating the design elements using Adobe After Effects, bringing the storyboard to life and ensuring that the animation flowed seamlessly. I experimented with different animations and colour schemes until I found the perfect combination that captured the essence of the film and created an engaging visual experience for the audience. The animation process required a lot of skill and attention to detail.
One particular element I focused on was animating the googly eyes, which represented Waymond’s perspective on life. To express this film’s potential fully through this motion poster, I decided to experiment with the googly eyes by adding a “chaotic” animation to them. I used particle effects in After Effects to create many particle elements with one single layer. It took me more than three hours to adjust the “Birth Rate,” “Size Variation,” and other values to create the perfect googly eyes sequence.
To enhance the impact of the motion poster, I chose the original soundtrack from the film, “This Is a Life” scored by Son Lux, in collaboration with David Byrne and Mitski. The song resonates with the film and leaves the audience pondering about the two-hour-long film they have just watched. This beautiful and emotional song also inspired me to incorporate a universe-like background into the motion poster. The almost 3-minute song was edited in Adobe Audition to fit the 23-second duration of the motion poster.
🔑 Reflection
Creating the motion poster for Everything Everywhere All at Once was an exciting and challenging project. It required extensive research, ideation, storyboarding, and technical skills in Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. Overall, I was able to capture the essence of the film and create a visual experience that is unique but also chaotic.
One of the challenges I faced while working on this motion poster was achieving the perfect animation for the googly eyes. It required a lot of experimentation with particle effects, adjusting different values, and tweaking the animation until it looked just right. It was a time-consuming process that required a lot of patience and attention to detail.
Additionally, creating seamless transitions between different elements and animations was another challenging aspect. It required me to pay close attention to timing and ensure that the movement and flow of the animation were smooth and natural. But with practice and persistence, I was able to overcome these challenges and achieve the desired results.
Overall, this motion poster project was a great learning experience that allowed me to improve my skills in animation and motion graphics. It challenged me to think creatively and critically to produce a product that aligned with the film’s theme and resonated with the audience.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article! I hope you found the motion poster interesting and engaging. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to share them.
