What role did the Vision Pro play in Wicked, the Wizard of Oz prequel?

Wicked, Oz avant Dorothy !

Wicked (Wicked – Part One), directed by Jon M. Chu and released in 2024, is the first part of a two-part film adaptation of the famous musical show of the same name. The latter, designed by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, debuted on Broadway in 2003 and was itself inspired by Gregory Maguire’s novel, Wicked: The True Story of the Wicked Witch of the West.

This first film focuses on the adaptation of the first act of the musical. The story immerses viewers infantasy universe of the land of Ozlong before the arrival of Dorothy Gale, and explores the events that led to the transformation ofElphabathe green witch, into a misunderstood and feared figure.

With a choice cast! The film highlights the performances of Cynthia Erivo in the role of Elphaba andAriana Grande in that of Glinda, two young women with opposing but inseparable trajectories.

How to use the Vision Pro?

Director Jon M. Chu revealed he used the Vision Pro headset for post-production on his film Wicked. He says he was able to work innovatively on this ambitious project, taking advantage of its advanced augmented reality features, including opening multiple windows simultaneously and integrating them into their real-world environment.

For Wicked, we had a lot of visual effects scattered around the world. With the Vision Pro, I could be at home and enjoy a virtual screen larger than the one in our projection room. I could also communicate live with collaborators on different continents while viewing the footage.

The Vision Pro offered the director the ability to interact directly with the content. In particular, he used his fingers to zoom or draw on the screen to highlight details requiring adjustments in post-production. A new dimension to the way of approaching a creative project.

In a video published by Apple, he shares his experience and explains how theinfinite screen of the Vision Pro stimulated his creativity, apparently a key to bringing to life the enchanting universe of the Land of Oz. Note that Jon M. Chu was one of the first directors to exploit this technology, showing a certain potential to reinvent the way films are edited, but once again confirming its status as a niche product.

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