The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) is the largest organization of Location Managers and Location Scouts in the motion picture, television, commercial and print production industries. Their membership plays a vital role in the creativ
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36 • LMGI COMPASS | Fall 2020 everything together and shoot. We had 200 local performers playing handmaidens arrayed in front of the Memorial, and we augmented that number with special effects. We had our main cast—Elisabeth Moss, Yvonne Strahovski and Joe Fiennes—leading the session from the same level that Martin Luther King made his 'I Have a Dream' speech. It was very moving. From hard work to the sheer breathless suspense—'Were we going to make it?'—and for the emotional impact when we did get there on this beautiful sunny day—it's hard to beat." OTHER TRICKY LOCATIONS Another location that impressed Todd was the 18-ton gallows that was built on an overhung roof in the middle of Toronto's City Hall Square. "Both our engineers and City Hall's engineers approved it," the producer says. "It was for a scene where we hanged nine peo- ple. (Logan found the location.) It's a credit to the city that they let us do this. The square is surrounded by glass office towers, and there are a lot of people in the area. Mike Barker, who directed that episode, thought it should be a big hanging rig, not individual rigs." Recalling one of the trickier locations in Season 2, Richardson says, "We had a small abandoned airport location that June ends up at during her escape attempt. This was a private airport in Markham, just north of Toronto. We had rented a plane to film with that night. As Mother Nature always prevails, it took multiple attempts over many hours that day to be able to land the plane due to high winds. This was a bit nail-biting as the plane needed to be set dressed and have scenic work done on it prior to that evening's filming. It was able to land just in the nick of time to be prepped by the art and scenic departments. This was a great location and worked really well for 'June on the Run.' It was partially dressed with lots of grounded, abandoned planes—kind of a 'graveyard for planes.' It also had this great cornfield attached to it, so really two locations in one, and we always love that!!" Another challenge involved June (Elisabeth Moss) trying to leave Gilead with her baby. "That was filmed over five or six locations in four different cities," Richardson says, "and it was quite a challenge to pull that together to make the story line work. Season 2 ends with June in a tunnel, and that tun- nel was actually under a highway. Special effects did a huge water effect. This location was a difficult find as the tunnel had to be big enough for cars/SUVs to drive through it. The one we ended up choosing in Burling- ton was interesting because of the rounded entrance and our ability to have the actor approach from the embankment/woods adjacent to the tunnel. It also had a secluded look to it which tied in nicely with the connection in the story line related to the river sequence (see below). Our biggest challenge with this location was obtaining permission from the Min- istry of Transportation (MTO) for our night filming From left: Built roadway on golf course in Hamilton, Ontario. Photo by Anne Richardson/LMGI; the scene being shot in Hamilton. Photo by George Kraychyk/Hulu The 18-ton gallows that was built on an overhung roof in the middle of Toronto's City Hall Square. Photo by George Kraychyk/Hulu