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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lighting requirements, as one of our major highways ran above the actual tunnel. In the end, we were able to comply with any restric- tions the MTO placed on us and were able to light it successfully." SCARY WATER SCENE When Season 3 begins, baby Nicole has been passed off to Emily (Alexis Bledel), and Emily is now in a river. "We shot in Brantford on the Credit River," Richardson says. "It was at the end of October and quite cold. We filmed at night, so it was very taxing on the actors and stunt people. We wanted a body of water that looked dangerous but not too dangerous to put our actors, crew and stunt people into. We also had to convince the township that safety was our first mandate, that we could do it in a way that was safe so we could get their ap- proval. We had many meetings with the township to make sure they were comfortable enough to permit us to be in the water and do what we needed to do to shoot the scene successfully. We spent two nights there and at least six or seven weeks pulling it all together." "I watched that scene in dailies," Todd says. "I cried when Emily got to the other side with the baby in her arms, even though I knew when she went underwater, she wasn't really holding the baby. We had a lot of challenges finding that river. Mike Barker, who also directed this episode, wanted drones in the air with lights on them. It was an in- teresting night. When we got there, it had rained, and the river was faster and higher than we'd planned. Mike adjusted his shots, and Alexis got into that river, and we got the scene. "We have a very good drone pilot, and we only use him and his team," Todd says. "Because they have a great reputation and are so careful and well trained, they have gotten permission to use their drones where others might not. They are very good with safety. You can't have a drone over people, and you can't interfere with airports." SHOOTING CANADA FOR AMERICA "I don't think it's that hard unless it's a period show," Richardson says. "I just finished the Mrs. America series, and that was tough to do because we had 1970s New York, Miami and Chicago. Had it been contemporary, it would not have been difficult to find locations. How- ever, there is one thing we don't have in Toronto—brownstones. Luck- ily, nobody in The Handmaid's Tale lived in a brownstone. Because it's a totalitarian society, Gilead has a very brutalist look to it. That kind of architecture is easy to find. "Over the years, all of us have had the experience of making Canada look like America," Todd adds. "We have similar red brick Victorian/ Edwardian buildings that feel like Boston. In the third season, Boston itself appears in flashbacks. Gilead is Boston transformed. We're dealing with different realities rather than period. It's not futuristic." Elaborating on Boston flashbacks, Todd says, "Gilead thinks it is idyllic. Things are backlit. There's always golden light streaming through the windows of their homes. They've created this idyllic space but not for everyone. The interesting thing is that we know that none of that is true. The director and the cast show us what's really going on. "The Toronto look is more natural and much more chaotic and real with people disagreeing and struggling but nothing as directed