Eleanor Yang
Visual Designer
ARRIVAL
Photography, Storytelling, Title Sequence
14 Weeks
Personal Work
The title sequence for Arrival draws from the crystallization of salt, using it as a metaphor for how love forms and transforms over time. Through this visual language, the sequence reflects the enduring cycle of a mother’s love, shifting, reshaping, and remaining, just as salt slowly becomes crystal.
CHALLENGE
For Arrival, I wanted to recreate the crystal growth aesthetic. The challenge was translating a scientific process into a controllable visual system under a tight timeline. I needed a method that delivered believable complexity, repeatable results, and creative flexibility, without relying on specialized lab resources.
APPROACH
I treated the problem like a system: research, prototype, iterate. I focused on understanding how different minerals react, how temperature affects formation, how time shapes density. From there, I ran structured experiments with various salts, water ratios, and heat levels until I developed a visual process that produced the crystalline textures needed for the sequence.
ARRIVAL
Photography, Storytelling, Title Sequence
14 Weeks
Personal Work
The title sequence for Arrival draws from the crystallization of salt, using it as a metaphor for how love forms and transforms over time. Through this visual language, the sequence reflects the enduring cycle of a mother’s love, shifting, reshaping, and remaining, just as salt slowly becomes crystal.
CHALLENGE
For Arrival, I wanted to recreate the crystal growth aesthetic. The challenge was translating a scientific process into a controllable visual system under a tight timeline. I needed a method that delivered believable complexity, repeatable results, and creative flexibility, without relying on specialized lab resources.
APPROACH
I treated the problem like a system: research, prototype, iterate. I focused on understanding how different minerals react, how temperature affects formation, how time shapes density. From there, I ran structured experiments with various salts, water ratios, and heat levels until I developed a visual process that produced the crystalline textures needed for the sequence.
Sequence
Concept
Theme: Cycle of Love
In the film, Louise knows her daughter's life will be brief and filled with heartbreak, yet she chooses her anyway. It’s a reminder that real love isn’t defined by length or certainty, it endures. Across every timeline, Louise’s love stays the same.
In the film, Louise knows her daughter's life will be brief and filled with heartbreak, yet she chooses her anyway. It’s a reminder that real love isn’t defined by length or certainty, it endures. Across every timeline, Louise’s love stays the same.
Concept:
In this sequence, the transformation of salt into crystal becomes a metaphor for a mother’s love, constant across every timeline. Even as time branches into different possibilities, the bond between mother and daughter remains unchanged.
In this sequence, the transformation of salt into crystal becomes a metaphor for a mother’s love, constant across every timeline. Even as time branches into different possibilities, the bond between mother and daughter remains unchanged.
Initial Storyboard
Type Treatment
Equipment
Process
1) Salt Crystals Making
2) Photoshoot Setup
3) Photoshoot
4) Compositing
Final Sequence
Software: Photoshop, InDesign, Lightroom
* The images and videos only use for educational and non commercial use.