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Film School: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Or: How sustainable practices can make a $14.3 million film look like a blockbuster.

A bunch of behind-the-scenes breakdowns featuring the cast and crew from Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022).

Directing

We all have much to learn from how directors Daniels (Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan) run a set, from morning warm-ups to daily awards, as revealed in The Director’s Cut – A DGA Podcast (via DGA):

Directing via Zoom, body language coaches, using camera angles to suggest genre and mood, shooting a dialogue scene with two actors months and countries apart, and, perhaps boldest of all, “relying on performers” – only some of the creative film-making techniques behind EEAAO (via Vanity Fair):

This next one is worth watching for this sentence alone: “This wide shot where Michelle extracts butt plugs from both of the Lee brothers in slow-mo…”. The in-camera approach to effects and visual storytelling extends to long-take choreography and “Wire Fu”, just two important ingredients in How The Kung Fu Fight Scenes were shot (via Movies Insider):

While accepting their Film Independent Spirit Award for Best Film, Kwan offered a vision which encapsulates the truly revolutionary spirit of the Daniels’ directorial approach:

Editing

The workflow involved the directors making detailed notes in Frame.io, which the editor imported into the Premiere Pro timeline as markers:

Temp effects in Premiere Pro
Adding notes in Frame.io
Importing notes as markers intro Premiere Pro

Additionally, and perhaps more interestingly, the film’s first edited scene, which incorporated temporary / mockup visual effects, was also helpful as a proof-of-concept motivator to the cast and crew (via Adobe):

Editor Paul Rogers reveals his Premiere Pro timeline in his chat with Valentina Vee:

VFX

“500 visual effects shots done with five guys in their bedrooms during the pandemic… they’re not perfect, and they’re not going for realism, but they work and they’re beautiful. And we’re very proud of them because they have their own unique style” – directors Daniels and VFX supervisor Zak Stoltz reveal How a 5-Person Team Made an Oscar-Winning Movie’s Effects (via Wired):

Further Viewing

All these fascinating film-making techniques happen to be in service of a story with a sincere, and quietly revolutionary, message – which we go into more detail here:

Review: Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)

Making movie sets more family friendly – including limited working hours and on-set mental health support – are among the sustainable practices shared by writer-director Sarah Polley, her cast, and key crew, on Women Talking (2022):

Film School: Women Talking (2022)

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