TTTD - Scenic Design (Lesson)

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Scenic Design

Basics of Set Design

In this lesson, you will be introduced to the various aspects of set design. As you progress through the lesson, keep in mind the five objectives of set design:

  1. Establish the location of the play.
  2. Set the tone and style of the play.
  3. Provide a central image or metaphor (working with the director’s production concept).
  4. Coordinate with other production elements.
  5. Solve practical problems within the play.

Please watch the presentation below to learn more about the steps of the design process.

Click HERE Links to an external site. to download the Steps in the Design Process Presentation Guide. 

Set Design Vocabulary

Stock Set Pieces: The "Building Blocks" of Design

A stock set piece is one that is built to specific dimensions and is intended to be re-used over and over again.

  1. Flats - The “walls” of a set. Flats are lightweight wooden frames that are covered with thin plywood or fabric and painted. They cannot support the weight of actors or furniture.
  2. Platforms - The “floors” of a set. Platforms are made from thicker, heavier lumber and topped with thick plywood. They are built to support actors standing on them and can be elevated to different heights on stage.
  3. Wagon - A platform that has wheels on it. Wagons facilitate set changes during a show.

Style of Set Design

  • Realism/Realistic - The set design attempts to replicate a realistic place (to look like the “real thing” on stage). Realistic set designs are very detailed and can be difficult and expensive to construct. Realistic style sets tend to be “box sets” that recreate an interior room of a house with three visible walls and the invisible 4th wall, or “unit sets,” which means that the set does not change throughout the course of the show. 

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  • Selective Realism - The set design has elements of realistic sets but also reinterprets some set elements to be more symbolic or stylistic.

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  • Abstract/Conceptual - The set design makes no attempt to represent any real or specific place but instead creates an atmosphere or “mood.” The space is often richly symbolic. 

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