DGA Monthly

4 I D G A M O N T H L Y From the moment she got the job directing Wonder Woman (2017) — the superhero's first appearance on the big screen — Patty Jenkins got to work on the No Man's Land scene. Set during World War I, Diana (Gal Gadot) — who discovers herself as our Wonder Woman in the scene — falls in love with American fighter pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine), who crash lands at her hidden, idyllic island of Themyscira and brings with him the death and danger rampaging through the outside world. Intent on destroying the source of the evil, she goes with Steve to the Belgian front. There, the impossible-to-cross No Man's Land sits between Belgian and German trenches, with the Belgian army unable to advance. Determined to help the villagers dying on the other side, Diana bucks Steve's admonition that there is nothing they can do. She musters the courage to discover her powers and crosses, clearing the way for a charge across the impossible terrain that turns the tide against the Germans. "It was the singularly most important scene in the whole movie," Jenkins recalls. "I knew there had to be a real intentional build to this scene for it to bouquet and release in the way I wanted it to. The first moment you S H O T T O R E M E M B E R A Superhero is Born Patty Jenkins' critically acclaimed 2017 feature, Wonder Woman, introduced the warrior princess to a new generation The film marked the first time a female Director helmed a live-action film with a budget exceeding $100 million and is widely recognized as a groundbreaking entry in the genre. In this article, Jenkins describes how she created the scene where our hero comes into her power. | by Rob Feld portrait by Lori Dorman and Co. Photography see a superhero in the suit is huge. What is it that pushes her to transform? It had to be the most epic, emotional scene with a clear intention: she wants to save the world." Shot on film over the course of one week, Jenkins' insistence on verisimilitude led to the decision to shoot the scene on a practical location, rather than rely on CG. "We built an epic and realistic muddy hell of a No Man's Land on the backlot of Leavesden Studios, in England. It was cold, debris- filled, and as dangerous to move through as it was for the soldiers back in 1917. The whole scene was very challenging. Because of the required speed, movement, and tone of shots I wanted to get, we built a football-style wire cam rig over the whole field, which could handle our massive cameras. The rigging was elaborate and expensive, but it was able to do absolutely anything and made shooting in such a difficult yet very important location possible. You simply cannot do a WWI movie without No Man's Land — and it had to feel authentic." 1 A great challenge is revealing a superhero as epically and magically as is demanded. So, every moment of this sequence was one of the most important. I wanted to nail her transformation and emerge from our more reality-based film with a subtle homage to Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman TV show spin; one that blended the two things into a realistic unveiling of her suit. So, when Diana turns from Steve to gear up as the superhero she is finally ready to be — donning her tiara, dropping her cloak, and revealing her iconic lasso and shield — we swept the camera in a 180-degree slow motion move counter to her turn, to complete a 360-degree turn. It was tricky timing to get the perfect take. I'd handpicked talented background Actors who could bring a lot to the party by giving us incredible reactions to what we could not see yet, thus building the escalation to the reveal. 1 This closeup — a long shot of Diana climbing up the ladder from the trench to No Man's Land — serves as a slow and building reveal to the money moment "suit reveal" ahead. Simultaneously, her determined expression, juxtaposed with the voice of Steve and the others in the background — signaling the impossibility and certain suicide of even trying — is the first step of dramatic build toward a seemingly impossible battle ahead. It is exactly what makes her victory there so shocking and satisfying. So really, this shot is all about performance and Gal did a beautiful job locking into Diana's bravery and willingness to act against all odds. We shot 35mm Kodak Vision3 stock on Panavision cameras, with an aspect ratio of 2.39. With that you get to embrace this truly cinematic moment. My Editor, Martin Walsh, did a tremendous job flowing through the series of shots with exactly the right emphasis and timing on each. 2

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