WONDER WOMAN

US
2017
2hrs 21mins
Dir: Patty Jenkins
Starring: Gal Gadot-Varsano and David Thewlis

When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana, an Amazonian warrior in training, leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny

This American superhero film based on the DC Comics character of the same name is just one of many modern day ‘films’ that seem beyond the authors level of intelligence, or indeed interest. The story evolves around an immortal Amazon warrior demigoddess and crown princess who flits between the present day and 1918. Make of that, what you will! It is all a far cry from the frivolity, and even naivety, of The Titfield Thunderbolt, or the grim reality that lay behind the dark shadows, smoke and steam of Brief Encounter. Still, where Wonder Woman is concerned one can wonder in the delights of CGI. There is a scene filmed at London King’s Cross using SECR C Class 0-6-0 No.592 and accompanying vintage Southern Railway coaches borrowed from the Bluebell Railway. Not much is really seen of the train itself, and even less of the locomotive, but Pixomondo, the studio which did the visual effects for this scene, made a reel of their work that includes a before-and-after view of their work in this sequence, giving us a valuable insight of what the scenes would look like before CGI gets involved. A later scene showing soldiers arriving at a station is also entirely CGI…. Thanks to T.W. for the screen captures and information about the work of the CGI department.

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A busy period scene at London King’s Cross
Some interesting signage for Railway Monthly in the background of this shot at platform level
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This is the real scene at ‘The Cross’. No 592 can just be seen standing at the front of its vintage carriage rake in platform 1, with a veritable feast of paraphernalia added to the wall and soldiers acting as passengers. The Mark 4 coaching stock of the modern-day LNER sticks out like a sore thumb.
This is the spurious scene after Pixomondo have fiddled around with it. The Mark 4 coaches have been erased and replaced by other vintage trains, whilst the extra people on the platforms beyond are also a computer creation.
Another view at platform level, and ice creams are offered to those who require sustenance
This shot is a much less obvious Pixomondo CGI creation. The soldiers are ‘on set’ and in character, yet the background carriages and hills aren’t real at all.