Wicked followers bemoan ‘gray’ movie after director opted for ‘real looking’ fashionable look over basic Wizard of Oz technicolour
Wicked has won near-universal praise – opening to $114m (£90.6m) on it’s opening weekend in the US alone, making it the biggest musical debut of all time.
But despite picking up a string of five-star reviews and being tipped to pick up Oscars – many fans have the same complaint about the film. The colours are too grey.
The Wizard of Oz, released in 1939, was one for the first ever films to use technicolour, it became known for it’s bright hues – most famously Dorothy’s ruby red slippers and The Wicked Witch of the West’s green skin.
Yet Wicked has made Dorothy’s shoes silver, and while Elphaba (who later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, played by Cynthia Erivo) has green skin, the film has an overall washed out pastel effect, leaving many fans unhappy.
‘Wicked has too little color in some ways and this feels radically over saturated. This is uncomfortable to look at tbh,’ one fan wrote.
Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch for the West is much brighter than Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba (right)
Wicked has made Dorothy’s shoes silver (right). They were famously ruby red (left)
Another added: ‘Wicked might be the worst looking film I’ve ever seen why is it graded like that, colourist should never work again ever,’.
‘Idgaf how good the storytelling or acting or pacing of the wicked movie is because every screenshot or clip ive seen from it has such unforgivable color grading. Its kind of like how I refuse to watch big mouth because the art style is so on-purpose ugly,’ said one.
‘Wicked is engaging. It’s too bad that it’s visual style is so ugly and distracting that it detracts from some incredible craftsmanship and talent,’ wrote another.
Jon M. Chu, the film’s director, addressed these critiques head-on after the film was called ‘a little desaturated’ during an interview with The Globe and Mail.
‘I mean, there’s colour all over it,’
‘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 stakes that these two girls are going through wouldn’t feel real.’
Chu went on to explain that his goal was to present Oz in a fresh way, one that audiences hadn’t seen before.
‘It’s been a matte painting. It’s been a video game digital world,’ he noted. ‘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.’
The film’s colour grading, Chu explained, mirrors the deep connection between the characters and the land they inhabit.
Ethan Slater’s Boq (right) is much less colourful than the munchkins (left)
Ariana Grande as Glinda the Good is much more grey that Billie Burke
The vast landscapes, natural light, and creatures of Oz are central to the story, particularly how Elphaba’s presence gradually shapes the world, with the colour contrast intensifying as her influence grows.
However, Chu’s explanations didn’t exactly win over all fans, with some taking issue with his emphasis on realism.
‘Counterpoint: movies are dreams and can look as bold and crazy as dreams do. Why not? Who is demanding this realism?’ one fan retorted.
Another added, ‘The real world isn’t desaturated.’
And one user didn’t mince words, bluntly stating, ‘The film is lit like an insurance commercial.’
The colour scheme has been a hot topic on social media ever since the first-look images were released in April.
And when asked about criticism that those early images were too dark, Chu had an explanation.
The original 1939 Wizard of Oz, starring Judy Garland, then 16, is now a film classic and famed for its technicolor
However, Chu’s explanations didn’t exactly win over all fans, with some taking issue with his emphasis on realism
‘I chose those images specifically,’ he admitted at the time in an interview with Variety.
‘It was so early, and we had just started shooting. I wanted images that were evocative and provocative to show it’s not some bright, poppy story.’
‘We didn’t even have the effects done. The background was blue. I had to have VFX put in the sky. I was colouring it on my iPhone,’ he added, clearly unbothered by the early criticism.
Aaron AuBuchon, Associate Professor, Film, Television and Video Production at Webster University previously told Femail that films are ‘more grey now’ due to a phenomenon called ‘Intangible Sludge’. ‘We see lots of trends in film, including trends in the way that colour is expressed.
‘Another question we might ask: why in the world was the colour in films previously so bright and saturated? The answer: trends. People develop a look for one film, and it catches on in another and another and another after that.
‘When I first started out in the late 90s doing motion graphics it was common to stick lens flares on just about anything in the kinds of projects I was working on, so I got pretty good at adding them to any titles I was doing.
‘Now, you can almost taste the period on a video production if you see a flare on the titles somewhere- nobody does that anymore. I have seen colour, graphic elements, shooting styles (shallow depth of field especially) and a variety of other elements used to help create descriptive categories for that most elusive of desired outcomes: that the project “look cinematic.” For whatever reason, right now the trend is that muted colour palettes help films achieve a cinematic look, the meaning of which is rarely defined that way for very long.
‘But another part of this is that while I think that there is a general tendency towards muted colours generally, I think advancements in our ability to control colour and the expectation that colour is an active part of the affective outcome of the filmic experience for the audience means that we will rarely have consistent colour treatments across whole films, and will instead see colour used selectively- muted here, vibrant there- to create moods.
‘So when people talk about this and show examples from films, I would like to see the colour treatment later in the film, or in another episode of the show, etc. My guess is that the colour treatment is shifting as the filmmakers shift the tone of the story and with it try to shift the mood of the audience.’
Most notably, Dorothy’s ruby red slippers have been made silver in the film – but the cast decided to make them silver like in the original 1900 book.
Why are today’s TV shows and movies so GRAY? How productions such as Dexter and Gossip Girl went from bright hues to ‘sludge’ because directors think moody darkness makes them look higher quality
From gritty serial killer thriller Dexter to soapy teen drama Gossip Girl, many shows popular in the nineties and noughties have been remade in recent years.
But with more modern storylines also come much darker scenes – literally, according to some savvy fans.
Many shows of the last five years have been dimly lit – with viewers complaining about not being able to see what is happening. Popular targets for these complaints include Game of Thrones and Netflix‘s Ozark.
And the hue-change is even more stark when comparing TV shows and films that have been remade.
Dexter, a crime thriller starring Michael C Hall as a serial killer who kills serial killers, first aired in 2006. Set in Miami, the colouring of the show reflected bright, vibrant Florida – with the characters often in light and spirited clothing despite the show’s gritty themes.
But the reboot, Dexter: New Blood, a miniseries released in 2021 is much darker and poorer lit.
A comparison of the two shows – set and filmed 15 years apart – was shared to Twitter by film enthusiast Katie Stebbins, who called it the phenomenon ‘Intangible Sludge’ – referring to the greyness seen in modern visual media.
Katie has shared dozens of examples of it, and it can be seen across all genres of film and TV.
When Gossip Girl premiered in 2007, it showed millions of fans the fantastic lives of the super rich living on the Upper East Side of New York.
Brightly lit with slight autumnal hues, the characters radiated screens with their designer fashion.
The show returned in 2021, with the same elitism showing the scandalous lives of New York’s richest. But again, it was much darker. Side by side shots from the 2007 series showing Blake Lively’s Serena Van Der Woodesen next to a very similarly dressed Bianca Breer (Katherine Reis) shows the reboot is much less bright.
Dexter, a crime thriller starring Michael C Hall as a serial killer who kills serial killers, first aired in 2006 (left). Set in Miami, the colouring of the show reflected bright, vibrant Florida – with the characters often in light and spirited clothing despite the show’s gritty themes. But the reboot, Dexter: New Blood, a miniseries released in 2021 is much darker and poorer lit (right)
When Gossip Girl premiered in 2007 (left) it showed millions of fans the fantastic lives of the super rich living on the Upper East Side of New York. Brightly lit with slight autumnal hues, the characters radiated screens with their designer fashion. The show returned in 2021, with the same elitism showing the scandalous lives of New York’s richest. But again, it was much darker. Side by side shots from the 2007 series showing Blake Lively’s Serena Van Der Woodesen next to a very similarly dressed Bianca Breer (Katherine Reis) shows the reboot is much less bright.
Another reboot fans have embraced in recent years is ‘The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ which is gorier, more dramatic remake of the beloved 90s sitcom Sabrina: The Teenage Witch. While the storylines are darker, it’s also physically darker too – so much so fans have taken to Reddit to lament it.
Another reboot fans have embraced in recent years is ‘The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ which is gorier, more dramatic remake of the beloved 90s sitcom Sabrina: The Teenage Witch.
While the storylines are darker, it’s also physically darker too – so much so fans have taken to Reddit to lament it.
‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is sooooo dark!’ one said,
Another wrote: ‘I was watching the last episode just last night and had to pause and crank up the brightness.
A third added: ‘My brightness has to always be set to 100 per cent with this show.’
It’s also been across movies shows including Jurassic Park and Jurassic World, as well as the recent reboot of West Side Story.
Even long-running shows, such as Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead saw their hues fade over the seasons.
The reason for the desaturation isn’t clear – with experts disagreeing on as to why the blue-greyness of TV has become common.
Some say it’s to do with realism, as shows hyper-colourful shows – such as Desperate Housewives, Jane the Virgin and Ugly Betty play with the constructs of reality.
Veronica Mars is another show that was rebooted in 2021 – and was filmed with much darker ‘more serious’ hues. Kristen Bell is pictured as Veronica Mars in 2004 (left) and 2021 (right)
Even long-running shows, such as Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead saw their hues fade over the seasons. Emilia Clarke is pictured left as Daenerys Targaryen in 2011 and right in 2019
Stephen King’s IT has always been a dark tale, but Pennywise the Clown was much brighter in 1990 (left) than in 2017 (right)
Others say since the success of The Sopranos, the massively successful TV shows about the New York Mafia, first aired in 1999, TV has been becoming more dark.
The hit TV show, which aired until 2007, was inspired by Gordon Willis’ famous low-light work on The Godfather.
The Soprano’s also came at a time of ‘prestige television’ – the idea that television had become ‘elevated’ due to highly-acclaimed cable television shows and less sitcoms.
Culture expert Michael Lallo previously explained writing in the Sydney Morning Herald: ‘Compared to more recent shows, The Sopranos might not strike you as dimly-lit. But, inspired by its success, others tried to replicate its look. ‘Dark’ became synonymous with ‘quality’ – then everyone got carried away. Now, we need to close the curtains and squint when we watch Hannibal, True Detective or Marvel’s Daredevil’.
The phenomenon has crossed into movies too – Jurassic Park (left, Jurasssic Park 3 in 2001) was much more brightly lit than Jurassic World (2018, right)
West Side Story became a critically-acclaimed hit in 1961 (left) the Romeo & Juliet retelling has been remade in 2021 but is much darker (right)
Gina Gonzalez, a co-producer heading up post-production on Station Eleven, told Vox that hyper saturation is also associated with adverts – and ‘no movie wants to feel like a commercial’.
Another possible reason is the rise of digital filmmaking meaning editors can use ‘one size fits all’ colour-corrections which wasn’t possible when cinematography was made using film.
When using film, colour correction is done physically by applying chemicals to negatives in a lab.
But now, many studios use a ‘look up table,’ according to Vox.
This is a formula that nearly will manipulates the raw footage to match a version of the colour palette the studio has agreed to – but this can lead to dull and uniform grading.
