_alicebrooks_

Cinematographer @_alicebrooks_ met director @jonmchu at USC film school, where they bonded over their love of musicals. "We think musicals are the greatest genre of all time," she tells Marie Claire. "They are a full extension of expression." Now, over 20 years later, Brooks is the director of photography on #Wicked, Chu's enormous adaptation of the Broadway phenomenon, starring #CynthiaErivo and #ArianaGrande as the legendary enemies-turned-BFFs of Oz. Brooks was tasked with capturing Wicked’s massive dance numbers, reimagining L. Frank Baum's iconic magical land, and figuring out how best to light pink and green. Brooks is one of the few women in her profession to work on a production as high profile and large scale as this one, which is on track to shatter several box office records less than a week since its release. At the link in bio, Brooks speaks to what it means for her to be behind the camera on Wicked, working with @cynthiaerivo and @arianagrande, and that viral “What Is This Feeling?” dance number.

In this Clubhouse Conversations episode, cinematographer Alice Brooks, ASC @_alicebrooks_ is joined by interviewer M. David Mullen, ASC @mdmullen1 to discuss her work on the musical Wicked, directed by Jon M. Chu. @jonmchu @wickedmovie @universalpictures Full episode at link in bio.

‘Wicked’ cinematographer Alice Brooks takes us behind the lens as she discusses the choices behind the lighting for Glinda and Elphaba in Part 1. Plus, director Jon M. Chu details the importance of the movement of the camera to capture both the beautiful intimate moments we see between the characters, as well as the big dance number scenes. Read more about their collaboration in our conversation with Brooks online at the link in bio.

Eighth stop on the Wicked Unlimited Train, Camerimage Film Festival, Toruń, Poland Celebrating our amazing Wicked Production Designer, Nathan Crowley, with a special award from the festival, seeing so many wonderful friends, and singing happy birthday to Rodrigo Prieto… Love you Nathan…

On the Cinematographer #THRRoundtable, #WickedMovie’s #AliceBrooks shares her journey and how she developed her skills behind the camera

If you’ve been online this week, or last week, or the week before that, chances are you haven’t been able to escape the press for Wicked. From emotional interviews and finger memes to, as of yesterday, Golden Globe nominations, everyone seems to be talking about it, and for good reason! Every aspect of this film is conversation-worthy, and on today’s episode I get to speak to the wizard behind the camera, @_alicebrooks_ Alice previously shot tick tick… BOOM! for Netflix and Imagine Entertainment, directed by @lin_manuel and produced by Ron Howard. Other work includes Miranda’s IN THE HEIGHTS for Warner Bros., which was directed by her frequent collaborator @jonmchu. Both films’ cinematography received widespread critical acclaim. During our conversation, we discuss everything from being a working mother to finding the perfect pair of Elphaba spectacles for camera. Tune in on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts 🫧🧹

“We definitely wanted Wicked to be our own version of Oz. Jon kept saying, ‘I want to create a world that is ours and for it to be a unique experience. Let’s avoid the obvious choices and make bold ones.’” #Cinematographer Alice Brooks ASC (@_alicebrooks_) details her latest collaboration with #director Jon M. Chu (@jonmchu), for the feature 'Wicked'. The movie was the first to use the prototypes of what would eventually become the Ultra Panatar II 1.3x anamorphic lens series. “As soon as I knew I had the job, Dan Sasaki was my first phone call. As I started showing him pictures, he started getting a feeling for the world we were building, and he said, ‘Well, we can design these lenses with any flare color you want,’ which was amazing because a blue flare with our green and pink [subjects] was not going to be the right choice for this movie. In the end, we went with an amber flare. I love the imperfections of the lenses. They were very subtle, making our world feel a little different. Early on, we talked about, ‘How do we create this world without relying heavily on bluescreens or virtual production while still having a huge scope?’ Production designer Nathan Crowley, VFX supervisor Pablo Helman, Jon, me and the whole team decided to try and capture as much as we could on camera. The sets were giant; our Emerald City and Shiz University sets were each the size of four American football fields. Munchkinland wasn't much smaller. We also built a barley field with a train station and a functioning train that ran through it. No place in London could fit these sets, so we rented a turf farm and installed our sets there. It felt like we were Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Lion with our arms linked together, saying, ‘There's going to be a lot of risks we have to take, but we're taking these risks because we’re doing something no one else has done. And it's worth going for it.’ The fact that we were all linked arm-in-arm made all the difference because we had each other's backs.”

Seventh stop on the Wicked Unlimited Train, London Premiere, Royal Festival Hall, London, United Kingdom It is all magic… three weeks ago💚💕💚💕

Lovely BTS for our Xfinity Wicked spot…

@jonmchu and I breaking down ‘Dancing Through Life’ with @vanityfair. So grateful for every piece of our Wicked puzzle. See the full scene breakdown @vanityfair or at the link in my bio.

Newsletter subscribers! Check your inbox now for an exclusive chance to read our BTS interview with Wicked DP Alice Brooks ASC. For future editions of The Long Read, subscribe to our newsletter at the link in bio. - #Wicked #Cinematography #AliceBrooks #ArianaGrande

“What would you tell your future self?” Jon Chu asked me 22.5 years ago - May 2002 - half my lifetime ago. It was the eve of filming our first musical short film while we were students at USC. Feeling grateful for this journey with you @jonmchu