The Cinematography of Wicked: For Good, with Alice Brooks and Jon M. Chu
24 November 2025Listen to the episode
Director Jon M. Chu and Director of Photography Alice Brooks join us to discuss the dazzling cinematography of “Wicked” and its newly released sequel, “Wicked: For Good.” Though the two films together tell a single story — adapted from the beloved Broadway musical — each was crafted with a distinct visual style to reflect the evolving tone and emotion of its chapter in the tale of the Wicked Witch of the West.
When Jon and I first started talking about the movies, we talked about emotional intentions. And some of those emotional intentions for the first movie were ‘dreams’ and ‘yearning’ and ‘friendship’ and ‘choice.’ And the second movie, they were ‘separation’ and ‘sacrifice’ and ‘surrender’ and ‘consequence.’ And so quickly in our conversations it became clear that the first movie would glow in daylight, and the second movie would be steeped in density and maturity and shadow. And so we have these two worlds. We've got the whole visual arc of both movies, but each lived in their own distinct worlds.
Alice Brooks, Director of Photography, “Wicked” and “Wicked: For Good”