Director: Patty Jenkins
Production Designer: Aline Bonetto
Studio: Warner Bros. / DC
Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig & Pedro Pascal
Locations: London, UK, Canary Islands & Spain
Location Brief: 1980s Washington DC in London, Egypt in Spain and Themyscira in the Canary Islands
Location Scouting for Wonder Woman 1984
Wonder Woman 1984 was a huge and incredibly varied location brief — finding 1980s Washington DC in London and across the UK, Egypt in Spain and the mythical island of Themyscira in the Canary Islands.
Working with Production Designer Aline Bonetto and Director Patty Jenkins, the location scouting covered very different landscapes, architecture and periods, all within the same film.
The challenge was not simply finding spectacular locations. Each one had to fit into the distinctive visual world of Wonder Woman 1984 and work practically for a large-scale Warner Bros. / DC production.
Finding 1980s Washington DC in London
One of the most interesting parts of the brief was recreating 1980s Washington DC in London.
Period location scouting is often associated with Victorian streets, Georgian buildings or Art Deco interiors. The 1980s are surprisingly more difficult.
A lot of architecture and street furniture from the period can still look relatively modern, while small contemporary details immediately give the game away. Signage, windows, road markings, lighting, security cameras and modern alterations can all create problems.
We were looking for London locations with the right architectural scale and character to stand in for Washington DC, while giving Aline and the design team enough to work with through dressing and construction.
Scouting Spain and the Canary Islands
The international scouting took us to Spain and the Canary Islands, searching for the film’s very different worlds.
Spain and Fuerteventura provided the landscapes needed for Egypt, while the Canary Islands offered the scale and dramatic scenery required for Themyscira.
The opening Amazon sequence needed locations that felt almost mythological — huge landscapes that could convincingly become the home of the Amazons.
It’s one of the great things about location scouting on films of this scale. Within the same production, you can move from trying to find 1980s Washington DC in London to standing in a vast landscape imagining Themyscira.
Working with Aline Bonetto and Patty Jenkins
It was great working with Production Designer Aline Bonetto, whose extraordinary eye for colour, architecture and detail helped shape the distinctive world of Wonder Woman 1984.
Director Patty Jenkins was keen to retain a strong sense of practical filmmaking and physical action on location. Large-scale stunts, wire work and performers all had to be considered alongside the visual requirements of the locations.
For the locations department, that means always looking beyond the photograph. Access, scale, unit requirements and the practicalities of filming major action sequences are just as important as finding the right view.
Wonder Woman 1984 Filming Locations
Wonder Woman 1984 was a brilliant location challenge, spanning London, the UK, Spain and the Canary Islands.
From recreating 1980s Washington DC to finding Egypt and the landscapes of Themyscira, it was a hugely varied scout and exactly the sort of large-scale international location work I enjoy.
Below is a selection of my original location scout photographs for Wonder Woman 1984.
