Scenic Design
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Scenic design (also known as
scenography Scenography (inclusive of scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design) is a practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography is the combination of technological and material st ...
, stage design, or set design) is the creation of
theatrical Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...
, as well as
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
or
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
scenery Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether the item was custom-made or ...
. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained professionals, holding B.F.A. or M.F.A. degrees in theatre arts. Scenic designers create
set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...
s and scenery that aim to support the overall artistic goals of the production. There has been some consideration that scenic design is also production design; however, it is generally considered to be a part of the visual production of a film or television.


Scenic designer

The scenic designer works with the director and other designers to establish an overall visual concept for the production and design the stage environment. They are responsible for developing a complete set of design drawings that include the following: *''basic ground plan'' showing all stationary and scenic elements; *''composite ground plan'' showing all moving scenic elements, indicating both their onstage and storage positions; *section of the stage space incorporating all elements; *''front elevations'' of every ''scenic element'', and additional elevations or sections of units as required. All of these required drawing elements can be easily created from one accurate 3-D
CAD model Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...
of the set design." In the process of planning, scenic designers often make models, ranging from very basic to extremely complex models. Models are often made before the final drawings that are delivered to the scene shop for construction. The starting point for a scenic designer is often the question: "How do we generate creative ideas?" A designer will search for evidence through research to produce conceptual ideas that best support the content and values of the design with visual elements. It has been argued that the most consuming part of expanding our horizons towards scenic concepts is much more than witnessing creativity and creative people - it begins with us opening our mind to various possibilities. It has been argued that to have an attitude toward learning, seeking, and engaging in creativity, and by willing to be adventurous, inquisitive and curious, the process of scenic design will be greatly benefitted. The imagination is highly visual. Whether outside or inside, colorful trees or concerts, star lit skies or the architecture of a great building, scenic design is a process of discovery. Discovering what will best clarify and support the setting, environment, atmosphere, ambience, & world that is being created.


Responsibility

The scenic designer is responsible for collaborating with the
theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
and other members of the creative team to create an environment for the production. Scenic designers are responsible for creating
scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...
s of the scenery, renderings, paint elevations and scale construction drawings as part of their communication with other production staff. Communicating the details of the scenic environment to the
technical director A technical director (TD) is usually a senior technical person within e.g. a software company, engineering firm, film studio, theatre company or television studio. This person usually has the highest level of skill within a specific technical f ...
,
production manager In the cinema of the United States, a unit production manager (UPM) is the Directors Guild of America–approved title for the top below-the-line staff position, responsible for the administration of a feature film or television production. Non- ...
,
charge scenic artist A charge artist (or charge scenic artist and also head scenic artist) leads and oversees the painting of stage, film or television scenery. In the United States such individuals are typically members of the United Scenic Artists union. The charge ...
and
prop master The property master, often called the prop(s) master, is an artistic and organizational employee in a film, television or theatrical production who is responsible for purchasing, acquiring, manufacturing, properly placing, and/or overseeing any pr ...
are among the most important duties of a scenic designer.


Training

In Europe and Australia, scenic designers take a more holistic approach to theatrical design and will often be responsible not only for scenic design but costume, lighting and sound and are referred to as theatre designers or scenographers or production designers.


Notable set designers

Notable scenic designers, past and present, include:
Adolphe Appia Adolphe Appia (1 September 1862 – 29 February 1928), son of Red Cross co-founder Louis Appia, was a Swiss architect and theorist of stage lighting and décor. Early life Adolphe Appia was raised in Geneva, Switzerland, in a "strictly Calvini ...
, Boris Aronson,
Alexandre Benois Alexandre Nikolayevich Benois (russian: Алекса́ндр Никола́евич Бенуа́, also spelled Alexander Benois; ,Salmina-Haskell, Larissa. ''Russian Paintings and Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum''. pp. 15, 23-24. Published by ...
,
Alison Chitty Alison Chitty (born 16 October 1948) is an Olivier Award winning production designer and set and costume designer, known for her collaborations with Mike Leigh, Francesca Zambello, Peter Gill and Sir Peter Hall. She is also the Director of the ...
,
Antony McDonald Antony McDonald is a British opera and theatre designer and director. In 2013, McDonald won the Set Design Award at the International Opera Awards. He won the Golden Mask for best costume design in a musical production (Russia) for ''L'Enfant et le ...
,
Barry Kay Barry Kay (1932 – 1985) was an Australian stage and costume designer of international renown. After having studied painting at the Académie Julian in Paris and theatre design in Melbourne, he settled in London in 1956. In the course of h ...
,
Caspar Neher Caspar Neher (born Rudolf Ludwig Caspar Neher; 11 April 1897 – 30 June 1962) was an Austrian-German scenographer and librettist, known principally for his career-long working relationship with Bertolt Brecht. Neher was born in Augsburg. He ...
,
Cyro Del Nero Cyro Del Nero (December 28, 1931 – July 30, 2010) was a Brazilian scenographer and set designer. Del Nero worked in the theater, television and film industries for more than 50 years. He was also a professor of theatrical costume and stage desi ...
,
Aleksandra Ekster Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "pr ...
,
David Gallo David Gallo (born January 10, 1966) is an American production/scenic designer, media/ projection designer, and creative director for Broadway, international productions, television, and arena shows. Gallo won the Tony Award for Best Scenic Design ...
,
Edward Gordon Craig Edward Henry Gordon CraigSome sources give "Henry Edward Gordon Craig". (born Edward Godwin; 16 January 1872 – 29 July 1966), sometimes known as Gordon Craig, was an English modernist theatre practitioner; he worked as an actor, director a ...
,
Es Devlin Esmeralda "Es" Devlin (; born 24 September 1971) is an English artist and stage designer who works in a range of media, often mapping light and projected film onto kinetic sculptural forms. Early life Devlin was born in Kingston upon Thames, ...
, Ezio Frigerio,
Christopher Gibbs Christopher Henry Gibbs (29 July 1938 – 28 July 2018) was a British antiques dealer and collector who was also an influential figure in men's fashion and interior design in 1960s London. He has been credited with inventing Swinging London, an ...
,
Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...
,
George Tsypin George Tsypin is an American stage designer, sculptor and architect. He was an artistic director, production designer and coauthor of the script for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014. Early life and education Tsypin was ...
, Howard Bay,
Inigo Jones Inigo Jones (; 15 July 1573 – 21 June 1652) was the first significant architect in England and Wales in the early modern period, and the first to employ Vitruvian rules of proportion and symmetry in his buildings. As the most notable archit ...
,
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (19 February 1932 – 11 August 1988) was a French opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the ...
, Jo Mielziner,
John Lee Beatty John Lee Beatty is an American scenic designer who has created set designs for more than 115 Broadway shows and has designed for other productions. He won two Tony Awards, for ''Talley's Folly'' (1980) and ''The Nance'' (2013), was nominated for ...
,
Josef Svoboda Josef Svoboda (10 May 1920 – 8 April 2002) was a Czech artist and scenic designer. He was a production designer and director, known for Amadey (1984), Laterna Magika: Puzzles (1996) and Laterna Magika: Trap (1999). Education Svoboda was ...
,
Ken Adam Sir Kenneth Adam (born Klaus Hugo George Fritz Adam; 5 February 1921 – 10 March 2016) was a German-British movie production designer, best known for his set designs for the James Bond films of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for ''Dr. Stran ...
, Léon Bakst,
Luciano Damiani Luciano Damiani (14 July 1923 – 20 June 2007) was an Italian stage and costume designer, who worked both for theatre and opera productions. Theatre and opera productions Damiani studied painting and only by chance started working for the stage. ...
,
Maria Björnson Maria Elena Björnson (16 February 1949 – 13 December 2002) was a theatre designer. She was born in Paris to a Norwegian father and Romanian mother. She was the great-granddaughter of the Norwegian playwright Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, who won ...
,
Ming Cho Lee Ming Cho Lee (; October 3, 1930 – October 23, 2020) was a Chinese-American theatrical set designer and professor at the Yale School of Drama. Personal life Lee was born on Oct. 3, 1930, in Shanghai, China to Lee Tsu Fa and Tang Ing. Lee, whose ...
,
Natalia Goncharova Natalia Sergeevna Goncharova (russian: Ната́лья Серге́евна Гончаро́ва, p=nɐˈtalʲjə sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡənʲtɕɪˈrovə; 3 July 188117 October 1962) was a Russian avant-garde artist, painter, costume designe ...
,
Nathan Altman Nathan Isaiovych Altman (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: , transliterated: ''Natan Isaiovych Altman''; – December 12, 1970) was a Russian, Soviet and Ukrainian artist, Cubist Painting, painter, stage designer and book illustrator. Early life ...
, Nicholas Georgiadis, Oliver Smith,
Ralph Koltai Ralph Koltai CBE, RDI (31 July 1924 – 15 December 2018), was a German-born, naturalised British stage designer, who worked as associate designer of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and latterly as a sculptor. Early life Koltai was born on 31 ...
,
Emanuele Luzzati Emanuele Luzzati (3 June 1921 – 26 January 2007) was an Italian painter, production designer, illustrator, film director and animator. He was nominated for Academy Awards for two of his short films, ''La gazza ladra'' (''The Thieving Magpi ...
, Neil Patel, Robert Wilson,
Russell Patterson Russell Patterson (December 26, 1893 – March 17, 1977) was an American cartoonist, illustrator and scenic designer. Patterson's art deco magazine illustrations helped develop and promote the idea of the 1920s and 1930s fashion style known as t ...
,
Brian Sidney Bembridge Brian Sidney Bembridge (born 1973) is an American scenic, lighting, and costume designer for theater and film. His work has been seen on stages and screens throughout the country and Internationally in Australia, Germany, Prague, Ireland, and ...
,
Santo Loquasto Santo Richard Loquasto (born July 26, 1944) is an American production designer, scenic designer, and costume designer for stage, film, and dance. His work has included the films ''Big'', ''Radio Days'', '' Cafe Society'', ''Blue Jasmine'', ''D ...
, Sean Kenny,
Todd Rosenthal Todd Rosenthal is an American scenic designer. He won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design and the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Set Design for Steppenwolf Theatre Company's '' August: Osage County''. A native of Longmeadow, Massach ...
, Robin Wagner, Tony Walton,
Louis Daguerre Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre ( , ; 18 November 1787 – 10 July 1851) was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photog ...
, Ralph Funicello, and Roger Kirk.


See also

*
Film sculptor A film sculptor is employed within the art department of a feature film. Their skills are and can be used to create any number of different things from giant rocks in a landscape or oversized stone blocks cladding the facade of a castle to statuary ...
*
Scenic painting Scenic may refer to: * Scenic design * Scenic painting * Scenic overlook * Scenic railroad (disambiguation) * Scenic route * Scenic, South Dakota, United States * Scenic (horse), a Thoroughbred racehorse Aviation * Airwave Scenic, an Austr ...
*
Scenographer A scenographer or production designer, develops the appearance of a stage design, a TV or movie set, a gaming environment, a trade fair exhibition design or a museum experience exhibition design. The term originated in theater. A scenographer work ...
*
Scenography Scenography (inclusive of scenic design, lighting design, sound design, costume design) is a practice of crafting stage environments or atmospheres. In the contemporary English usage, scenography is the combination of technological and material st ...
*
Set construction Set construction is the process undertaken by a construction manager to build full-scale scenery, as specified by a production designer or art director working in collaboration with the director of a production to create a set for a theatrica ...
*
Stage machinery Stage machinery, also known as stage mechanics, comprises the mechanical devices used to create special effects in theatrical productions. See also * Scenic design Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the ...
*
Theatrical scenery Theatrical scenery is that which is used as a setting for a theatrical production. Scenery may be just about anything, from a single chair to an elaborately re-created street, no matter how large or how small, whether the item was custom-made or ...


References


Further reading

* ''Making the Scene: A History of Stage Design and Technology in Europe and the United States'' by Oscar G. Brockett, Margaret Mitchell, and Linda Hardberger (Tobin Theatre Arts Fund, distributed by University of Texas Press; 2010) 365 pages; traces the history of scene design since the ancient Greeks. * ''Designing and Painting for the Theater'' by Lynn Pecktal. (McGraw-Hill, 1995 - Performing Arts - 601 pages) Detailing production design for theater, opera, and ballet, Designing and Drawing for the Theater is a foundational text that provides a professional picture and encyclopedic reference of the design process. Well illustrated with detailed lined drawings and photographs, the book conveys the beauty and craft of scenic and production design.


External links

*
Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space
- the largest scenography event in the world - presenting contemporary work in a variety of performance design disciplines and genres - costume, stage, light, sound design, and theatre architecture for dance, opera, drama, site specific, multi-media performances, and performance art, etc., Prague, CZ

Article illustrating the differences between US and European theatre design practices. {{DEFAULTSORT:Scenic Design Design Theatrical occupations Stagecraft Film production