AI Inspiration WorldAbout the film
A Message for the Butterfly is by Hou Zuxin and Mark Wachholz, working together as Bicycle Kids, and runs about eight minutes. It weaves memory, dreams and a changing body into a journey of the mind that asks what remains after a person disappears. The makers spell out their tools: Midjourney V7, V8.1 and GPT Image 2 for keyframes, Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0 for animation, ElevenLabs for voice and Suno for music. It's an Official Selection at AI Film Festival Japan 2026, where winners haven't been announced yet. The makers also say it received an honour at the 2026 Shanghai International Film Festival.
Who it's for:viewers who like poetic, stream-of-consciousness images, and anyone curious which tools go into an AI film.
Before you watch: the film is on Mark Wachholz's YouTube channel, Particle Panic, about 8 minutes 8 seconds. Spoken language and subtitles aren't stated. The Shanghai honour comes from the makers; we haven't found the festival's own list. We haven't watched the whole film.
Based on the makers' YouTube description and the AI Film Festival Japan selection list. Watch the film itself for the full picture.
How AI was used
AI keyframes created with Midjourney V7 & V8.1 and GPT Image 2, AI video animation with Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0
Sources checked; not a review or endorsement of the film.