Video: Inside the Thrillifying Sound of the WICKED Movie [Video]

In the new Wicked movie, sound mixer Simon Hayes wanted to capture as much of the soundtrack live on set as possible.

“I truly believe that the original performance that happens in the moment with actors feeding off each other’s emotions- that’s when that magic occurs.” Hayes shares in a new video. Despite the enormity of the set and production, the musical numbers in the film were performed live by the actors, bringing “an extra dimension to the film.” 

“We obviously can’t have any music track coming out of speakers because we’re recording live,” explains Hayes. “So what we do is we give the actors what we call earwigs, which are tiny IEMs…They’re literally so small that you don’t need to paint them out.”

Watch the video to learn more about the sound of Wicked from Hayes, re-recording mixer Andy Nelson, and more sound editors who worked on the film. …