One of 2022's most anticipated movies, Everything Everywhere All At Once, stars Oscar-nominated Michelle Yeoh and takes viewers on a frantic, emotional journey through love, family, and tax woes in the multiverse.
The £88 million ($106 million) hit, which also stars Jamie-Lee Curtis, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu, had a tight budget that was just a quarter of its current box office receipts.
The post-production team faced many difficulties when committing to celluloid such a visual feast, which included blasting bagels and hot dog fingers. During the Covid pandemic, they had to switch from editing suites to their bedrooms.
Zak Stoltz, Ethan Feldbau, Jeff Desom, and Ben Brewer, four of the five members of the visual effects (VFX) team, spoke with the BBC about their astounding on-screen creations.
According to Zak, the film's visual effects had a "limited budget and a large ambition," which only made things more difficult.
The small VFX team in the US worked on the majority of the visuals—more than 500 in total—from their bedrooms due to pandemic restrictions, which kept them apart.
According to Ethan, the movie uses "a very special visual language that used these effects shots to really communicate a lot.".
Due to their limited resources, the team had to rely primarily on free open-source 3D graphics software Blender and Adobe's After Effects to produce their 2D effects, according to him.
The fact that all of the visual effects in this movie are affordable, in Ben's opinion, is what makes them coolest.
There aren't any shots in this movie that cost an especially high amount, he continues.
One of the many challenges faced by characters in the movie is a looming, overstuffed bagel that threatens to swallow the multiverse.
The absurd black hole in the movie was created using the graphics program Blender and a YouTube tutorial on its features, claims Ben.
"Thousands of people have produced this pink-frosted doughnut. You learn the fundamentals by modeling and lighting the object.
He explains, "I just chose to turn the icing off of this doughnut that I modelled and make it black.
"I enjoy watching it [in the movie] and imagining that there are actually tens of thousands of people who made that bagel; they simply aren't aware of it. ".
The VFX team also made significant contributions by completely erasing characters from scenes and by creating 2D shading and animations of vegetables flying through the air.
"It felt very inspiring and very motivating to keep going; to try things that weren't necessarily the right way to do it -- or, like, the proper 3D way to do it," says Jeff. "I just wanted to do it in a way that looked good.".
While the visual effects team did not receive a nomination for the film's 11 Oscars, Zak's team did receive ten Bafta nominations, competing with blockbusters like Avatar: The Way of the Water and Top Gun: Maverick for the best special visual effects prize.
On Sunday in London, the 76th British Academy Film Awards will be presented.
This feels really unique and very special, according to Ethan. "Sometimes, in an industry-driven awards show, it's usually a larger film that gets an acknowledgment," he says.
However, the team is also hoping that their modest approach to the movie's visual effects will leave a legacy that endures beyond award season.
Anything is possible, says Zak, "if you can do VFX creatively and keep it focused on the creative [element] - and not about pushing technological boundaries.".
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