Lesson video

Hello, there.

My name's Mr. Burt and welcome to your drama lesson.

Now this is the second of five lessons looking at understanding the different roles and responsibilities of the creative team.

In our first lesson, we looked at the role of the director.

And in this lesson, we're going to look at the role of the set designer.

But before we get any further, let's just check that we've got the right equipment.

So, in this lesson, you will need an exercise book, or a piece of paper, and a pencil or a pen.

So make sure you've got that equipment before we get going.

So, in this lesson, we're going to start off by looking at the keywords we need to succeed in our lesson.

Then we're going to move on and look at the role of the set designer.

We're going to learn a bit about set design, and then you're going to create your own set design.

Once we've gone and done that, we're going to finish off with a quiz.

So, here are the key words we need for this lesson.

Our first key word is set.

Now, set is everything that is visible on stage.

So this includes scenery, furniture, and props.

A prop is anything that is movable on stage but isn't part of the scenery or costumes.

And production style.

Production style is the overall look and feel for the production as defined by the director in their directorial vision.

Excellent.

Let's just check on our understanding of that key word set design.

So which one of these is not considered part of set design? Is it props? Is it scenery? Is it costume, or is it furniture? Tell me now which one isn't considered part of set design.

That's right, costume.

Costume is under the control of the costume designer, but props, scenery and furniture all fall under the remit of the set designer.

Now let's take a closer look at the role of the set designer.

Now the set designer are responsible for the physical environment on stage and that includes props, scenery, and furniture.

Now the set designer must interpret the instructions from the director in the directorial vision, and then create a design that will communicate to the audience the key information about the performance.

And the most important word in that sentence is indeed audience.

For the audience comes first.

Everything that the set designer does is in order to communicate something about the production to the audience.

So the set has to communicate location and time period of the production.

The set has to communicate the mood, atmosphere and overall style of the production.

When designing the set you need to take into consideration the entrance and exits, and indeed the space for the actors to act in.

And of course, all the time the audience needs to have clear sight lines, so they can see the action on stage without something like a prop or some scenery or some furniture being in the way.

But set can do much more than this too.

Set can be naturalistic, to create an illusion of real life.

Or it could be minimalist, using few but significant props and scenery.

Or indeed it can be symbolic or abstract, creating an environment for the audience to use their imagination.

A set needs to make the best use of space on the stage.

A set designer needs to use levels, exits and entrances in a way that works for both the director's vision and the audience's experience.

The materials and textures used in the set need to be appropriate and relevant to the location and time period of the play.

And colour, colour can be used in symbolism to add another layer of communication to the actor, to the audience, or colour could be used in a naturalistic and therefore realistic way as possible.

Now there's some tools that the set designer has.

The set designer could use a revolving stage.

Now that's a stage that revolves around, allowing fast scene changes and movement on stage.

A set designer might use trucks.

Now, a truck is a wooden frame with wheels on it that furniture and set sit on, so they can be moved on quickly and taken off stage quickly.

A set designer might use projections.

Projecting a backdrop can be a very effective and cheap way of creating scenery.

Or a set designer might use flats.

You might've seen these in your own drama studios.

They are large wooden frames with a black canvas stretched over them.

So the audience can't see through them, but they can also be painted, painted to include different scenery.

And they can be then used and changed and moved around the set so they can hide entrances and exits and make wings.

In a big theatre, you might have flying rigs.

Now these are large pieces of backdrop scenery which can be changed by machinery and they are flown in from above.

Or you might have a cyclorama.

Some school halls have a cyclorama and it's a large white wall on the back of the stage that, when a coloured light is shined on it, it takes on that colour.

You might've come across a smoke machine before, as well.

Now these machines release water vapour into the air, and then it creates a sense of smoke which helps to create atmosphere or mystery.

And when combined with different coloured lighting can create a really exciting, interesting or engaging atmosphere.

Or you might've come across other pyrotechnics.

These are special indoor fireworks that create a spark of fire or sparks.

Let's just check our understanding of some of those tools that are available to set designers.

So match up the keywords, cyclorama, revolving stage, pyrotechnics and projections with their definitions.

Let's see if you got that right.

So a cyclorama is a white wall which you can project colour on to.

A revolving stage is a stage that literally revolves around.

Whereas pyrotechnics are, of course, special indoor fireworks, which you can use to create flame effects.

And projection is quite literally projecting a backdrop and that can create scenery, which is a really efficient and cheap way of creating a backdrop in your own drama studio.

Now, we're going to look at some examples of some sets.

I've tried to break them down in terms of what the set designer has used and what they are communicating to the audience.

Now I'm going to start us off with this one here.

Now this set designer's used a smoke machine to create some effects at the back.

And they've created a window within the scenery.

They've employed some flats, they've got a flat across the back as part of the scenery, and then two more on either side to create entrance points.

And then we've got a fairly minimalist set on this actual stage.

The colours are all dark and the curtains look old, worn and have a rough texture.

Let's just think what are all these things communicating to the audience? Pause the video now and write a few notes on what you think this scene, this choice of set, is communicating to the audience.

Press resume once you've finished.

Well, this is my reading of the scene in front of us, and yours might be slightly different.

But I've got to say a fairly moody atmosphere.

I find that the smoke machine mixing with the light and the colour is creating a real moody atmosphere, quite an intense and intimidating atmosphere.

And this is only added to by the sheer size of the window in the middle of the scene.

I find the textures of the curtains and of the flats to create a sense of age, something which is very old and with that comes a sense of mystery as well.

I wonder what you thought was being communicated to the audience? Let's have a look at another example.

This time pause the video and write a list of all the tools that the set designer has used.

Once you've written that list, press resume.

Well, this is what I've identified.

I've identified a few.

First of all, we've got a black backdrop of a flat at the back in plain colour.

Then we've got some individual props that the actors are holding and using.

We've got very specific and naturalistic furniture which creates a naturalistic set.

Although there isn't many of them, they've really gone to find the right furniture and used it as realistic and believable as possible.

And the colours are all bright.

There's lots of heavy texted fabric with period features.

So let's have a think about what are all these tools communicating to the audience? So pause the video now and write a few notes on what is being communicated by this set to the audience.

And resume once you've finished.

So this is my reading of the scene, which might be very different to yours, and that's fine.

From my perspective, I see lots of bright colours and the bright colours makes me feel happy, and makes me feel excited.

I can see that there's lots of different fabrics and the fabrics are all different colours, which I find really intriguing and exciting.

But they're also very rich fabrics, which makes me think that they are in a very rich and powerful place.

Maybe it's one of the characters' homes and this is very rich and powerful.

It's also a definite sense of a period piece.

I'm unclear as to what period it is, but the features of the set are telling me that it is not set in the modern time.

Working as part of the backstage team in theatre can be very dangerous, and there are some really important health and safety rules we need to follow.

And although today we are looking at the design element of things, at some point in the future, you may go on to do some stage design and be working on the stage, so we need to be aware of the health and safety regulations we need to follow.

The first and most important one is that you shouldn't work at heights using ladders or scaffolding, unless you are trained.

You should be careful lifting heavy equipment, not to injure yourself.

You should wear protective shoes and gloves.

And falling objects can be a risk, so never work on stage when someone else is using a ladder or a scaffold.

So we are going to be doing some design work.

Now, when we're preparing for design work, we need to think how our designs are going to meet these four requirements, content, style, dramatic aims, and atmosphere.

Now all of these will be detailed to you in the director's vision.

But content is making sure your designs match the time period the play is set in and the details of the scene, such as what time of day it is and where they are.

Style is making sure you are aware of the style of the production, whether it is naturalistic or minimalist.

And make sure that your design meets the dramatic aims as well.

Make sure your designs reflect the aim of the performance, how the audience will enjoy the performance, and what they will gain from it.

And atmosphere, make sure your designs reflect the atmosphere of the piece of theatre.

So onto your commission.

You have been commissioned as a set designer to design the set for the forthcoming production of "Hairspray." Now, "Hairspray" is set in the 1960s America in a town called Baltimore, which is, like many American towns at the time, was struggling with a racial divide.

"Hairspray" is about a young teenager, Tracy Turnblad, who rises to fame singing in a local music show called "The Corny Collins Show." And while she's on the show, she attempts to use her newfound fame to topple the barriers of race.

Now the style of the performance is going to be naturalistic for the time period of the 1960s.

The mood and atmosphere is bright, happy, and confident.

And the stage is a busy one, with lots of actors entering and exiting, so we need to make sure that we have several entrance and exits points.

The production aims to entertain the audience through comedy and music, but also needs to highlight and educate the audience on the racial tensions of 1960s America.

We need a stage design that reflects the time period.

It is naturalistic, but allows plenty of space for dance sequences and actors to enter and exit easily.

Now the production will be performed on an end on stage, as shown in the diagram on the screen.

And the scene you're going to design is the set that takes place in the TV studio recording of "The Corny Collins Show," which is a local TV dance programme in America.

So that takes us on to our task, which is to complete your commission, to design a set for a scene from the musical "Hairspray" that takes place in the TV studio recording of "The Corny Collins Show." Make sure that you aim to achieve communicating the context, aims, style and atmosphere of the production to the audience.

And use as many of the tools of a set designer as you think appropriate.

Now how did you find that task? Set design can actually be really complex.

It can be a really difficult job to meet all the aims of the director.

To make sure that you communicate to the audience the content of the play, the style of the play, the dramatic aims of the play and the atmosphere of the play, all at the same time as managing entrances and exits and making sure there's enough space on the stage for people to act and dance and to make sure the audience can see everything.

So in your set design, have you managed to meet the directorial vision of the director? Were are you able to communicate the time period of the 1960s? Could you communicate the style of it, of the naturalistic element.

Were you able to get across the youthful excitement of the music show, but also highlight those racial tensions of the time period? What about this use of space? Were you're able to get enough space to have some dance sequences going on? What about entrance and exits? Take a moment to have a look at your stage design and review it.

Is there anything you need to change, anything you need to improve? Anything you need to develop? Well done on your work today.

Set design can be really difficult.

So you've done a good job, well done.

Why not share your work with Oak National? If you'd like to, please ask your parent or carer to share your work on Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.