The article highlights the impressive practical effects used in the movie Wicked, focusing on the giant wizard head as a prime example. It details the intricate mechanism behind the head, its size, and the teams involved in making it work.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Wicked One of the biggest movies of 2024 was Wicked , a story set in the world of The Wizard of Oz, based on the Broadway musical of the same name. The film tells the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good before they earned their titles, and, judging by Wicked 's reviews and box office success, the adaptation has succeeded in nearly every aspect.
As Hollywood has been ramping up to the 2025 Oscars, more details are coming out about the film's production, including some aspects of the set design. While Wicked's characters are undoubtedly its greatest strength, another aspect of the film that has earned a lot of praise was its set design. The film obviously contains a lot of CGI, but the sets themselves are mostly practical, making the familiar world of The Wizard of Oz feel much more grounded and lived in. Near Wicked's ending, however, there is one effect in particular that seemed like it was completely computer-generated, but was actually fully practical, showing just how much work went into the film's production. The Wizard's Giant Head In Oz Was Completely Practical In Wicked Instead Of CGI The Head Was Fully Functional In Real Life One very surprising practical effect that makes Wicked even more impressive of a film is the giant wizard head that Cynthia Erivo's Elphaba and Ariana Grande's Glinda find when they first arrive in the Emerald City. The head has 65 moving panels that created its expressions, with 13 different inputs that determined what expressions the face was making. The animatronic weighed two tons and stood over 15 feet tall, absolutely standing out as one of the best large-scale practical effects that a movie has done in recent years. It had to have people pulling aside the curtain to allow it through, a hydraulics team moving the face into position, and a puppeteer to actually maneuver the expressions on the effect. The head also obviously sat about eight feet off the ground, which required the construction of a huge arm that would be able to lift it, and push it out from behind the curtain when it first appeared to the characters. In a video by Architectural Digest, Wicked's production designer Nathan Crowley explained that there were multiple teams dedicated to ensuring the head worked, as it had to have people pulling aside the curtain to allow it through, a hydraulics team moving the face into position, and a puppeteer to actually maneuver the expressions on the effect. The Wizard's Practical Giant Head Better Connects To His Backstory The Head Is Something The Wizard Could Create Close On top of just being a great effect, the giant head also serves to make the Wizard's story more believable and engaging. Jeff Goldblum's Wizard in Wicked is meant to be an inventor from our world who doesn't possess actual magic, just a knack for technology, so the fact that the head was physically created and functional makes the Wizard's creations feel realistic, like something he could actually accomplish. The Wizard is an interesting character either way, but ensuring that his clockwork creations are actual effects as opposed to just CGI makes the Wicked character that much stronger
Wicked Practical Effects CGI Wizard Set Design Movie Production
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Every 'Wizard of Oz' Character Who's Also in 'Wicked'Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande as Elphaba & Glinda holding hands and wands in a green background for Wicked.
Read more »
Where Was Wicked's Madame Morrible During The Wizard Of Oz?Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible looking furious in Wicked
Read more »
10 Best References to 'The Wizard of Oz' in 'Wicked'The cowardly lion, scarecrow, Toto, tin man, and Dorothy holding the witch&39;s brook walk down the yellow brick road to the Emerald City in the opening of Wicked.
Read more »
The Best Parts of 'The Wizard of Oz’s Wicked Witch Aren’t in the Original BookThe Wicked Witch (Margaret Hamilton) lets her broomstick catch fire in emThe Wizard of Oz/em.
Read more »
Wicked's Biggest Change To The Musical Makes One Character Significantly BetterWizard (Jeff Goldblum) and Madame Morrible (Michelle Yeoh) in Wicked
Read more »
Wicked: Part Two Has Changed Its Title To Wicked: For GoodThe women who started it all return with “For Good.” Watch the newest installment in WICKED’s Out of Oz series! For information about WICKED, visit us at: http://www.wickedthemusical.com Winner of over 50 major awards including the Grammy Award and three Tony Awards®, WICKED is the untold story of the witches of Oz.
Read more »