Jon M. Chu defends 'Wicked' visuals amid backlighting criticism: 'I think the movie is absolutely gorgeous'
Universal Pictures
- "Wicked" has received some criticism for its use of backlighting, as well as its color grading.
- Director Jon M. Chu told BI that he thinks the film is "gorgeous."
- Chu said that he wanted the film to feel "natural" and lived-in.
"Wicked" director Jon M. Chu has heard criticisms of the movie's visuals, and he's brushing them off.
"I think the movie is absolutely gorgeous," Chu told Business Insider in a recent interview.
Chu's film, which adapts the first act of the Broadway musical, takes on the difficult task of bringing the world of Oz back to the big screen after the 1939 technicolor classic "The Wizard of Oz," and not everyone was impressed. Some online have criticized the film's color grading as well as its use of backlighting (where actors are lit from behind), particularly in the "Dancing Through Life" library sequence where sunlight is streaming through large circular windows.
"There's a color of the rainbow in every frame of this that evolves through the movie," he said.
"I love the aesthetic, and I love that it doesn't feel like we're on a back lot, that there's actually life, that there's environment, and that it's not perfect, that you see scratches and dust," Chu added.
Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
Chu has championed the film's use of natural light, and backlighting, in previous press appearances. In a behind-the-scenes interview with Vanity Fair about the "Dancing Through Life" sequence, he said that production designer Nathan Crowley's library design allowed for natural light — something that he praised the film's director of photography, Alice Brooks, for taking advantage of.
"Things that people would be scared of, like backlighting, is actually what I love about her stuff," Chu told Vanity Fair.
The director told BI that he enjoyed "atmosphere" in film that called back to works like "ET" and "Searching for Bobby Fischer," which he called one of his favorite films. Ultimately, he wanted to put viewers "inside" the world of Oz.
"To me, it was like putting Oz in a world that was natural and beautiful, but didn't take away from the spectacular color and grand landscapes," he said.
Chu also told BI that he was heartened to see fans pick up on details in the film, like Ariana Grande's ad-libbed lines in "Popular," after seeing it in theaters. Now, with the film available to view at home (and part two on the way), he said was happy viewers would be able to watch deleted scenes from the film.
"This movie has been amazing because people have gotten so close to, and watched it, so many times that they're picking up on the things that we pick up in the edit room," Chu said. "I feel like they're all in the edit room with me, and now I get to show them all the secret footage."
"Wicked" is now available to purchase or rent on digital.