Cinematographer Stuart Biddlecombe on The Handmaid’s Tale Season Four

As a filmmaker, director of photography Stuart Biddlecombe wants to
visually put his ideas on screen, telling stories that he genuinely
connects to with true creative collaborators who listen and
contribute. When Stuart came aboard to shoot part of season three
of The Handmaid's Tale, he knew he was taking on the mantle of what
has become an iconic show. He had read the book in high school, and
feels that the television series does an incredible job of putting
the book into pictures, continuing to tell a meaningful and
important story. Stuart was fortunate enough to begin working on
the show with former cinematographer and Emmy winner Colin
Watkinson, who had moved into directing. He was able to learn the
ropes from Watkinson and continue the look of The Handmaid's Tale
smoothly into season four. Stuart was very involved in the
production of the fourth season of The Handmaid's Tale, and he
loved the extraordinary creative input he's had on the show. He
would meet with lead actor and executive producer Elisabeth Moss
and showrunner Bruce Miller to talk though each episode, discussing
with them what they wanted to shoot and what direction each episode
should go. Color on The Handmaid's Tale plays a very important
role- Gilead is presented with strong red, blue and black costumes
while the colors and tones representing Canada are muted and
softer. In season 4, as the story follows the main character, June
(Elisabeth Moss) as she escapes to Canada, Stuart knew they needed
to change the color palette, shifting into stronger colors and
contrasts to push the look forward. Stuart began working in
television in the UK before he went to film school, on game shows
such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, but felt no love for the
job. He decided to attend college at the National Film and
Television School in order to learn more about the art of telling
stories using a camera. He was in a very small film class with
fellow cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen. After film
school, he shot several episodes of Call the Midwife and Doctor
Who. Working in television taught Stuart how to shoot quickly,
creating storytelling in the purest form, without the need for a
lot of coverage. Stuart finds working on many of today's television
shows such as The Handmaid's Tale to be very satisfying, as the
lines of quality storytelling are blurring between television and
film, with many television shows matching or even exceeding much of
what can be seen in the cinema. Find Stuart Biddlecombe:
https://www.stuartbiddlecombe.co.uk/ Instagram: @stuartdop You can
see The Handmaid's Tale season four streaming on Hulu Find out even
more about this episode, with extensive show notes and links:
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