PRODUCTION THE HANDMAID’S TALE
THE SERIES HAS always used the same camera and lenses. THEY HAVE RULES ABOUT GILEAD” cathedral-sized church, and everybody’s there – all the handmaids, the wives and the commanders. We had 500 extras, and then we digitally expanded the crowd with digi-doubles. “It was a huge lighting hurdle – we had windows on one side and double windows at the top,” Daley continues. “We wanted all those shafts of light coming in – very Handmaid’s Tale .” Thanks to her background in documentary filmmaking, Daley had a strong sense of the sun’s position and was able to rely on natural light rather than introducing artificial sources. “When the sun was there, we shot that way so that we could get the shaft of light. When it went away or went behind the buildings, we turned around and shot the other way. It was military- precision organisation,” she recalls. Daley also used drone shots during the wedding sequences, made possible by the church’s ‘huge, high ceilings’. “We did have a little problem with the drone. Serena has a beautiful, ice-blue wedding dress, and it had a long train. The drone couldn’t get too close to her because it blew the train of her dress up in the air; she looked like a superhero flying,” she laughs. “The drone had to do wide shots.” CLOSING THE CURTAIN Joining The Handmaid’s Tale towards the end of its run, Daley didn’t want to ‘reinvent the wheel’. “ The Handmaid’s Tale has always been shot on the same camera, with the same lenses. They have
get together via a fantasy of June’s. It’s emotional to see these women together. They’re singing karaoke. It’s a beautiful scene,” he shares. “That was special.” The series ends in much the same way it began: the story coming full circle. “Lizzie planned this from the beginning,” says McCallum. “The last scene in the final episode required me to go back to work I’d done in the very first episode. It involved reusing voiceover and ADR recorded in 2016. I’d never done anything like that before, and was so excited to do it. I spent days making it work perfectly.” Since the start, The Handmaid’s Tale has been a collective effort, with the crew open to ideas from the cast and vice versa. “We’re lucky that our team is conscientious about the impact sound can have,” admits Mercer. “It doesn’t matter where a good idea comes from; they’re respectful of everyone on the team, no matter the level. It’s a beautiful thing to have been part of for the last nine years – people open to sound as a craft and not just a technical necessity.” According to Daley, the final season was made mainly with audiences in mind. “Moss always said she wanted to give this season to the fans; they’ve been there for nine years. I thought that was a nice sentiment, that they wanted to do the whole season as an ode to the rest of the series – to do it justice,” she shares. “It’s a special one.” The Handmaid’s Tale is streaming on Channel 4 (UK) and Hulu (US)
SCENE IT ALL VFX tools helped extend limited physical sets into larger, believable locations
certain rules about Gilead – that it looks a certain way – but that doesn’t mean you don’t have room to put your own stamp on it as a cinematographer.” For instance, she changed the filters used on June’s face and infused more energy into the camera movement; “Elisabeth, as a director, was interested in exploring that.” While on the topic of Moss’ direction, McCallum adds: “She’s fairly active in the post-sound process, and she loves it. It can be a stressful show to work on; it’s bleak, so you don’t often come out of your day feeling happy at the end of it, but Lizzie comes in with this bountiful energy and love of sound,” he states. “That enthusiasm from her is a lot of fun.” McCallum and Mercer have been with The Handmaid’s Tale since day one, so bringing it to a close was bittersweet. “There’s a moment in episode 10 where the handmaids are reunited, and they
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