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Wonder Woman draws from ancient myth and comic-book lore to create a truly stunning visual world.
Production designer Aline Bonetto shares details behind the film’s design.
Warner Bros.
But unlike most superhero movies,Wonder Womanis steeped in literal mythology.
We really wanted to have water everywhere, Bonetto explains.
The water in Themyscira was really feminine, a kind of energy thats across this island.
Warner Bros.
THRONE ROOM
Like any other society, Themysciras is built from a history of accumulated paradoxes.
They have a queen, but shes been democratically elected.
And this throne room reflects a mixture of cultured intelligence and pristine naturalism.
Warner Bros.
What could have happened if women lived alone in a place?
How would they build their architecture?
That harmony extends to the spiral throne.
Warner Bros.
The spiral, its a really primitive element, Bonetto explains.
But the throne room also teases at the societys artisan evolution.
BATTLE ON THE BEACH
Its gun against arrow!
Warner Bros.
the production designer says.
Finding the right location for this pivotal fight proved difficult.
We needed a big beach, and we wanted a big rock thing.
Warner Bros.
But of course, when you have that in nature, it means a lot of tide.
Half of the day you have no beach.
Weve been quite lucky with the weather, Bonetto says.
Warner Bros.
When I arrived [on location], the weather was so bad, quite cold and gray.
I think God loves movies!
She has left her island and suddenly arrived in London.
Warner Bros.
She finds, of course, its a big contrast, Bonetto says.
Everything is a big shock!
It was the beginning of industrialization, Bonetto says.
Clay Enos/Warner Bros.
THE TAVERN
We are coming to England in the first World War, Bonetto explains.
There is a really important meeting between the protagonists.
And suddenly Diana is discovering another kind of world, with another palette of color.
A lot of our references were Impressionist painters, Bonetto explains.
Still, further research was required for the scope of Wonder Womans adventure.
But theres more at work in this sequence than terror.
This is a magical moment, Bonetto says, a really magical point in a really terrible period.
Here, her laboratory has period-specific details and a slightly tilted color scheme.
I like working with a palette of color that is monochromatic, Bonetto explains.
It was important she would be the strongest point of color in this set.
Shes working day and night, trying to find a terrible thing.
it’s possible for you to only go further and further.
They had to push me out of this set.
There is something a little bit surrealist.
The smoke is a little bit orange.
Seeing all these gas masks, you understand how terrible it is for the people working there.
Theres an irony in this image, too, a darkly appropriate subtext for such a female-centric blockbuster adventure.
Bonetto recalls being inspired by a World War I photograph of women working in a huge bomb factory.
