大象传媒

Considering colour, condition, practicalities and scale

When designing a set, there are several aspects to consider, including:

  • colour
  • condition
  • practicalities
  • scale

Colour

Colour can be used within set design to symbolise various ideas on stage. For example, a set designer might make a Victorian schoolhouse look stricter by using dull greys and a palette.

Condition

The condition of a design can reveal important information about the setting or a character鈥檚 circumstances. For example, a living room with tatty, ripped curtains and stained carpets might suggest that the house is old or that the character who lives there is poor.

Practicalities

A set designer will need to consider the practical aspects of set design. If the play has lots of fast-paced scenes in various locations, set design may need to be kept minimal to help with the quick changes.

Scale

A set designer can experiment with scale to create different effects on stage. is a design technique used to make an object appear either further away or closer than it is in reality. For example, a scene set on a street could feature a row of houses on both sides of the stage, and those further from the audience can be smaller to create an optical illusion, making the road appear longer.

A forced perspective drawing of an English street in the early 1900s.
Image caption,
For this set to be constructed on a stage, the houses further away from the audience could be made smaller, using forced perspective to make the road appear longer