Wicked Director Explains How Color Grading Turned Oz Into a ‘Real Place’

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Wicked Director Explains How Color Grading Turned Oz Into a ‘Real Place’

Wicked, the 2024 cinematic adaptation of the musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, came out in U.S. theaters on Friday, November 22, and has already made $114 million in the domestic box office. While the movie has received high praise from professional reviewers, it has drawn some criticism due to its color grading. The movie’s director, Jon M. Chu, discussed the matter in a recent interview and explained how color grading helped them turn Oz into a “real place.”

Jon M. Chu explains why Wicked’s color grading was important

Jon M. Chu underscored in a new interview why it was important to color-grade Wicked the way it has been. He revealed that the reason behind the decision was to “immerse” the audience into the setting.

When asked about the purported desaturated aesthetic of Wicked, Chu told The Globe and Mail, “I mean, there’s color all over it. I think what we wanted to do was immerse people into Oz, to make it a real place. Because if it was a fake place, if it was a dream in someone’s mind, then the real relationships and the stakes that these two girls are going through wouldn’t feel real.”

The Crazy Rich Asians director continued, “It’s also [presented in] a way we have not experienced Oz before. It’s been a matte painting. It’s been a video game digital world. But for us, I want to feel the dirt. I want to feel the wear and tear of it. And that means it’s not plastic.”

Chu also detailed how the colors in the movie are supposed to reflect plot developments. “We have the environment. The sun is the main source of light. You see the vast landscapes. You see the air. You see creatures exist here,” he said. “These two characters that will go through two movies, their relationship with the land is important; their relationship with the nature of this land that the wizard imposed himself. The [color] contrast goes up over time because that is what Elphaba brings to this world,” Chu explained.

Notably, Alice Brooks (Tick, Tick… Boom!) served as Wicked’s Director of Photography. The cinematographer told Gold Derby earlier this month she set out to tell “the greatest love story ever told” between the two main characters through the visual languages of Wicked.