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Set Design: A Process

A designer's process is just like the development of a writing style: each designer will develop a way of working that is effective for them. This comes through years of working, observing the process of others, and deciding what is effective for you and what is not.

Video Case Study

Here is a video of Tony Award and Olivier Award-winning set designer Bunny Christie discussing her design process for Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors at the National Theatre.

Designing Theatre: The Comedy of Errors Links to an external site.

Since each set designer's process will vary, the below is just one possible way of going through the process. 

The below steps are essentially the greatest hits: the steps that most designers will use in one form or another.

 

Info Establishing the World

  1. Read the script. The script is the first and foremost resource a designer has for the show. Most designers suggest reading the script the first time as "an audience member." Try and avoid the impulse to start planning or taking notes just yet. The goal for the first-read is to come away with an impression of the show and an emotional response to it.
  2. Meet with the Director and the other designers. Talk about the show, what you liked, what you have questions about, and discuss the director's plans and visions for the show.
  3. Do visual research. These can be photos, paintings, films, or whatever else that speaks to the show, the historical period, or the location for you as the designer. This research doesn't need to be particularly cohesive or refined yet. Grab a little bit of everything or collect a lot of variety. If it feels like the show to you, it is fair game.
  4. Share your research with the rest of the team. You never know what image might spark either your imagination or those of your collaborators. 
  5. Read the script again and take notes. This time, put on your designer hat. Examine the action of each scene, the dialogue, take note of the time of year or time of day for each scene, jot down any physical objects or things that need to be there in order to do the play.
  6. Decide on a path forward. Get on the same page with the director and the rest of the creative team of how you all would like to approach the show and what you want to focus on.

A quick note about stage directions in a script:

I suggest you largely ignore them. Unless you know for certain they were written by the playwright, these directions are often written by the stage manager for the first production and are communicating what they had happen at that moment in their version of the play. Allow the opportunity to craft your own version of that moment. If the original solution is ultimately the best then go for it, but start by trying to make it your own.

Project Designing

  1. Start to work visually. This can be sketches, digital renderings, and/or a white card model. Play with space, scale, and visual elements. Pull together your conversations with the director together with your visual research and explore the possibilities of what the set might look like.
  2. Show your ideas to the team. Explain how you think each piece fits into your design and the play as a whole. Make note of what the director and others like and don't like (and do your best to avoid being offended).
  3. Make adjustments and re-show. Again, it is important that everyone is on board and in agreement.
  4. Create the to-scale, color model. This model becomes and invaluable tool to the director, actors, scene shop, stage managers, and other designers in understanding fully how the set will work in the theatre. Models are typically in 1/4" = 1'-0" scale (or 1:48 scale) which means that every 1/4" (quarter inch) of the model translates to 1' (one foot) in real-life. If more detail is needed, models can be in 1/2" = 1'-0" (or 1:24) where every 1/2" equals 1' in real-life.
  5. Draft the show. Draftings are to-scale drawings that show the important dimensions (measurements), details, and construction methods for each individual set piece and the set as a whole. These are what the designer uses to communicate their ideas to the scene shop, so it is important they are as thorough, clean, and detailed as possible.
      • the Ground Plan or Floor Plan - is a birds-eye view of all scenic pieces, masking, and the stage; used to mainly convey the overall form of the set and the proper position of all the scenic pieces in relationship to the physical structure of the theatre.
      • the Elevations - 2-d front views of each individual scenic piece as if it were flattened into a single plane; illustrate what the piece will look like and contains the dimensions and exact placements of trim, doors, handles, and other details needed in the construction of the piece
      • the Sections - 2-d side profile views of each scenic piece as if the piece were cut in half and you are looking out from within the center of it; used to illustrate the depth of each scenic piece and the elements on it
      • the Details - zoomed in drawings to illustrate a single element of a scenic piece in order to more accurately depict the desired outcome or shape.

 

Example color rendering: Download Othello Color Sketches - Compressed.pdf

 by Scenic Designer: Bert Scott for the Orlando Shakes (2013)

Example draftings: Download OST REP 2013 Final Plans 3 OPTIMIZED.pdf

 by Scenic Designer: Bert Scott for the Orlando Shakes (2013)

Resources The Build and Technical Rehearsals

At this point in the process, the scenic designer is largely an advisor. They answer questions from the scene shop, paint shop, and prop shop as needed and give notes back to the shops on the in-progress and completed pieces regarding what needs to be tweaked or changed in order for the design to look and function as intended.