11 Chapter 1
Set Design Set designers usually create spaces and sets in an artistic way to support the plot, whether that might be for theatre, film or television. That means they build the physical surroundings in which the actions of a story will take place. In corporation with their production team, they turn drawings and ideas into a realistic and believable scenery, including furniture and props. However, the set design itself only includes those things on stage that are merely decorations. Props on the other hand, is what the actors are actually interacting with. Together, they make up every object on stage. Set design is often synonymously referred to as “production design” and is a noble art which requires creative qualities and a deep knowledge of history, art and architecture To ensure that everyone’s visions and expectations are met, set designers use tools such as rough sketches, floor plans and miniature three-dimensional models in close consultation with everyone involved in the process to create the perfect set.
Fig. 2: An early sketch of the Academy of Unseen Arts set from Netflix’s „Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.“
Not only do they consult with the production team to adequately bring the plot to life, they also work closely with the costume and lightning designers to create a coherent and matching frame for the plot. Therefore, set design is the heart of almost every stage production, however minimal it may be. It serves several functions. Although it first and foremost creates context for the plot of the story that is told,
it may also be used as a tool to draw in the audience with its elaborate and memorable design. Set design is particularly important considering that the spectators often “tend to remember what they see, rather than what they hear” (Colin Winslow 2007, 6) and therefore helps making the story come alive.
Set Design and Interior Design are deeply entangled. Many Set Designers do in fact have a background in Interior Design (“Set Design”). This is hardly surprising, seeing that just as Set Design, Interior Decoration is “concerned with the selection of furniture, products, accessories and backdrops in the creation of a particular styled ‘scene’” (Jean Whitehead, Creating an Interior Mis-en-scène 2019). The only difference is that Interior Designers, as opposed to Set Designers, does not create sets for theatre, film or TV purposes, but for their client’s personal and private space, “interiors aim to reflect the tastes and aspirations of their inhabitants or clients, to convey a certain atmospheric tone or mood” (Jean Whitehead, Creating an Interior Misen-scène 2019). Just as Set Design evolved and got more complex by theatre and television productions becoming more complex, Interior Design has had the same journey. Although it is often linked to a modern origin with the development of luxury homes, it does date back to nomadic cultures, according to Macmillan Dictionary. According to Whitehead (Creating Interior Atmosphere 2018), “an interior can act as a mirror, reflecting the lives of the occupants it contains” (21) and elaborates that this reflection can be used to create particular effects that may help with storytelling or staging an experience (21). This practice is called mis-en-scène, which Whitehead describes as “essen-
