History of Theatre and Film Sets

Page 1

f r o m T H E AT R E t o F I L M A History of Set Design

Sam Watson


In the beginning, there was theatre,

and more recently, there was film. The primary difference between these two dramatic mediums is that theatre is live and that film is recorded;

from THEATRE

however, each is incredibly influential on the

to FILM

parameters may differ, theatrical and film sets are

other when it comes to set design. Though the

still considered a background that aids in helping

A History of Set Design

the director and actors bring a playwright’s, or screenwriter’s, story to life.

The Ancient Greeks, around the 5th

century

BCE,

were

the

first

to

have

painted scenery (Hornby 120). The scenery was painted on wooden screens, and, “was more representational than illusionistic” (Hornby 120). Since many Greek plays were staged outside in amphitheatres, the surrounding landscape was often utilized as scenery referenced by the characters (Hornby 121). Typically, the stage Sam Watson

consisted of a platform with a hut behind it; this

History of Graphic Design

hut was used for actors’ entrances/exits, and

7 December 2010

costume

changes.

This

was

eventually

decorated to become part of the scenery, and this is perceived as the primary reason why, “two-thirds of surviving Greek tragedies are set in front of a Watson 1

palace, temple, or tomb” (Hornby 121).


The Romans, who more or less absorbed

Greek culture and made it their own, were the first to use painted structures, such as windows, balconies, realistic columns, and rocks (BurrisMeyer 3). It is important to emphasize that these structures were also functional, as in windows could be opened, an actor could lean against a column, etc (Burris-Meyer 3). The Romans were Ruins of an amphitheatre in Segesta, Italy (“Segesta, Theatre”).

also the first to use curtains (Burris-Meyer 4). In modern theatre, curtains are very important for they signal the end of a scene or act, conceal set changes, and in instances where a set change needs to occur but the play is still going action wise, the actor(s) can act in front of the curtain while the set is being changed behind the curtain.

The Renaissance is really considered

the genesis of modern theatrical design for several reasons. The most important is Filippo The Teatro Farnese in Parna, Italy, built 16181628, is the first surviving theatre with a permanent proscenium arch (“Teatro Franese”).

Brunellschi’s discovery in 1415 of how to create, “the illusion of space and distance on a flat surface” (Wild). Though some, like Sebastiano Serlio in 1545, experimented with a slope staged floor to create the illusion of depth, Brunellschi’s method prevailed and is still used today (Wild). The painted drop also began to be used during this period, and in 1608, Ingo Jones began raming scenes with the use of a proscenium arch (Wild). Watson 2


Up until this point, the philosophy

When films are not being shot on

concerning scene design was basically that, “the

location, they are often being shot on a studio

scene location was obvious, unimportant, or

back lot or sound stages. Like theatrical stages,

stated in a character’s lines” (Wild). During the

they are built in a way that allows them to be

19th century, designers really tried to create as

disassembled for either traveling or storage

realistic environments as budget and time

purposes (Nishi). In the beginning, film sets

allowed. Set pieces began to be three-dimen-

were designed in a very similar fashion to

sional instead of two-dimensional, mostly due to

theatrical sets; painted backdrops and false

innovations in theatrical lighting (Burris-Meyer

perspective paintings were still in use, and the

3-4). Starting in 1810 in Germany, there was a

architecture of the sets themselves was still very

movement to put on historically accurate plays

theatrical (Sargeant 70). By the 1930’s, however,

with emphasis on historically correct scenery

serious consideration was given to the relationship

(Wild). Towards the end of the 19th century, the

between the set and the framing of camera shots.

flat stage floor was broken up platforms, ramps,

In theatre, the audience is free to look at

and stairs, and theatrical lighting was altered

any bit of the set (though lighting is used to try

throughout the play in order to help establish

to focus their attention); in film, the camera only

mood and drama (Wild).

shoots what the director wants seen. The materials

The end of the 19th century brought a

and fabrics utilized in film set construction began

shift to the philosophy of scene design due to the

to reflect and emphasize certain characteristics

birth of cinema which, “made illusion onstage if

of the characters featured in the film (Sargeant

not useless at best unimpressive” (Hornby 119).

71). Also, set designers, starting in Germany,

Where cinema can capture dramatic action in the

starting

field, theatre is often confined to an indoor space

towers that were not built to be filmed, but built in

with a live audience. So, in reaction to the new

order to capture certain camera shots (Sargeant

industry, “stage designers began moving away

71). By the 1970’s, the architecture of the sets was

from realistic illusion to symbolism, the bold

constructed with both shot framing, and mood of

abstraction that depicts nothing, but instead

the scene and characters, in mind (Vidler).

evokes a mood, an atmosphere” (Hornby 119).

building

features

such

as

offset

Unlike in theatre where in the 1940’s sets described as “skeletal” began to be designed in

Watson 3

the mainstream (Wild), film sets have always


been expected to be hyper-realistic (Hornby

puter-generated imagery”). Many feel that as the

130). That is, the audience doesn’t need to use

CGI becomes more efficient and cheaper, more

their imagination to interpret the set for it is

films will replace portions of sets and location

already set out, in full, in front of them. It is

shoots with CGI (Dooley). This has already been

regarded that there are seven spaces of action that

done in films such as Sin City and Sky Captain

occur on film: spaces of power, private spaces,

and the World of Tomorrow, where very few

labyrinth spaces, transit spaces, stage spaces,

physically constructed sets are used (Sin City)

virtual spaces, and location spaces (Caldwell).

(Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow).

With the exception of spaces of power and virtual spaces, these spaces of action have been

Example of a space of power from the 1927 film Metropolis (“Metropolis Interior”).

present in the history of film since the beginning (Caldwell). Spaces of power make characters, “appear small, vulnerable, and exposed in a space designed to intimidate” (Caldwell 43). These types of sets first fulfilled their potential during the German Expressionist movement, and in the 1927 film Metropolis, sets designed by Otto Hunte, Enrich Kettelhut, and Karl Volbrecht (IMDB) were used to “reflect the differences

Example of a virtual space from Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (“Sky Captain Promo”).

between the elite ruling class and the oppressed working classes” (Caldwell 44). Virtual spaces are fairly recent, and typically consist of actors acting in front of blue/green screens, and in post production, these blue/green screens are replaced by computer generated imagery, or CGI (Caldwell 46). CGI was first utilized in the 1973 film Westworld, and was fully embraced by Hollywood in the early 1990’s in films such as Jurassic Park (“Com-

Watson 4


The budget allotment for film sets

Though modern theatrical and film set

is generally perceived to be higher than the

design may seem worlds apart in construction

money put aside for theatrical set construc-

and aesthetic, they are both still just background

tion, and with this, film sets are expected to be

to the action of the story. With this is mind, it

historically accurate. If the film is set in the

is not uncommon for set designers to work for

modern day, it should be as modern as possible,

both mediums, and this has been the norm since

and if it is set in the past, it should look like

the 1960’s (Larson xvi). Both mediums are still

the past, though it will inherently have modern

highly influential on the other. Theatrical sets

influences. For instance, the Bible films from the

can now utilize projections to create moving

1950’s, such as The Ten Commandments with

backgrounds behind the actors on stage, and with

sets designed by Albert Nokazi, Hal Pereira,

careful staging, projections can even have the

and Walter Tyler (IMDB), feature incredibly

illusion

colorful and stylized sets to show off the

(Blumenthal). The biggest difference, however,

wonders

and

between theatrical sets and films is this: Where

Cinemascope, which were both relatively new

theatre involves the audience to suspend disbelief

cinematic innovations (Tashiro 42). They also

when it comes to the set becoming a real place,

were heavily lighted to show off the mass scale

to a film audience’s eye, the set is not a set, but a

of the sets, for the size of the sets often reflected

real place.

of

color

cinematography

the size of studio pockets (Tashiro 42) (Carnes).

One of the sets from Cecil B. Demille’s The Ten Commandments (“The Ten Commandments”).

Watson 5

of

being

three-dimensional


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Frame.” American Theatre 27.6 (2010): 42-47.

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