Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/856624
The Handmaid's Tale A Case Study: n April 26, 2017, Hulu released The Handmaid's Tale, created for television by Bruce Miller (The 100) and based on the bestselling novel (1985) of the same name by Margaret Atwood. While the story was adapted before, for the big screen in 1990 in a film starring Natasha Richardson, Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, and Aidan Quinn, Hulu's version has again seduced viewers into the dystopian world of Margaret Atwood. In the first week of its release, it became the most-viewed premiere of any series to date, original or acquired, on Hulu. It has since been renewed for a second season. The story is told from the eyes of Offred, a handmaid and political prisoner, who has been pulled from her own child and husband and forced deep into a conservative fundamentalist society called Gilead. Gilead now occupies much of what was the United States, and she is forced to serve as a childbearing concubine for ruling households who have proven unable to bear children. This new world is a puritanical state set after pollution has ravaged natural resources and fertility rates. Gilead enforces a strict class system, reducing the value of many individuals to their ability to serve the ruling commanders. While the narrative of Offred has spoken to many as politically relevant to current events (the Handmaid's dress even being worn by protestors to defend reproductive rights), I was immediately taken aback not by the politics but by the mesmerizing dance of picture and sound to tell this very poignant story. Not only is it clear the cast was well-chosen, script was well-adapted, and photography incredibly orchestrated, there was a clear and complete amalgamation of image and sound. There were so many opportunities given such as extended rack focus shots, extreme close-ups, narration over present action, jump-cut action sequences, and abrupt-time cuts that sound was really pushed to the forefront as a narrative vehicle. So I reached out to the lead re-recording mixer, Lou Solakofski who, together with his very talented longtime mixing partner Joe Morrow, mixed this incredible soundscape at Tattersall Sound in Toronto, Canada. O