Setting the scene

With all the talk about new and developing technology, it might be easy to overlook how the studio sets actually come about. Philip Stevens invited four leading set designers from three different countries to talk about their work

By Philip Stevens

Published: March 31, 2021

With all the talk about new and developing technology, it might be easy to overlook how the studio sets actually come about. Philip Stevens invited four leading set designers from three different countries to talk about their work

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin> With all the talk about new and developing technology, it might be easy to overlook how the studio sets actually come about. Philip Stevens invited four leading set designers from three different countries to talk about their work

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Towards the end of a degree course in Production Design, Joshua Grace was awarded work experience at the BBC on a comedy entertainment show. That turned into weekly commitment, followed by the offer of a position as an art department assistant.

I worked as an assistant on exciting projects like the MTV Europe Music Awards in Frankfurt and Barcelona and became part of the team. I taught myself CAD and took a course in technical drawing for television. This provided an arsenal of tools useful to art directors and designers. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to step up to being an art director at a young age and eventually started to pick up my own work. About 14 years ago this evolved to working solely on my own design projects and I put together a team.

Grace's clients now include BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, MTV, Fremantle, Thames, Talkback, World of Wonder, Banijay, Endemol, Remarkable, Studio Lambert, and many more.

So, what does he see as essential information from clients in their initial brief?

Joshua Grace I would normally be furnished with the format document and an idea of the direction that the client has in mind for the aesthetic look and tone of the show. It is also good to know the time slot for the show, intended audience, and a colour palette. Sometimes I might be given free rein to come up with ideas from just a chat about the show's format.

He says it is also key to know number of contributors or performers, any specific show mechanics, any automation the show might need, if screens are needed for visuals or to show in VT clips or to become a theatrical backdrop for music or dance numbers and so on.

Other considerations Grace continues, Obviously, budget is a major consideration, but so is the timeline from the brief to the first use of the set. You always have to take into account that there may be last minute notes and tweaks that might come from executive producers and the commissioners.

The location of the set is also a consideration from the outset. Is it a fit-for-purpose television studio or concert venue with the infrastructure needed to erect scenery easily or, on the other end of the scale, an abandoned warehouse with no facilities?

With all those considerations in mind, is the workflow - from original meeting with client to full implementation - always the same?

One of Joshua Grace's design, Britain's Got Talent It's very client, and sometimes broadcaster, dependent. With long-standing collaborative working relationships there can often be an assumed level of trust and the design process is freer in those circumstances I can present to the client an idea based on a chat in that first meeting and we hone and finesse together, collaboratively. For some new clients or those who already have the set in their mind it can be more prescriptive, sometimes they might offer a sketch or present a mood board of ideas and I take those away and work them in to a design for the show.

Beyond the person paying for the design, other production people have some input. On some shows my services have been engaged before, say, a director is recruited, and in that instance a design concept is created keeping in mind that once he or she is onboard we will collaborate to ensure it works for the camera plan and direction. It is much the same for lighting directors. A great deal of modern set design combines integrated lighting and I would incorporate this into the set and then make sure that the lighting designer is happy with my choices.

Search for suppliers He goes on to say that it is vital to work with suppliers of other pieces of integral equipment. Over time and with experience one gathers a database of places to go for certain materials, but often the scenery fabrication company will have great swatch books and samples and new things to show which can really spark an idea. It's worth remembering that you might also see something fantastic that will be useful down the line for future designs. Try to soak it up like a sponge!

Technology has also meant there is less call for physical scale models of the set to be presented - but, says Grace, making full colour 3D mock-ups does still happen from time to time. Some people like the physicality of picking up something and holding it close to peer in. I probably create two of those a year now, whereas five years ago I would have been making one for most shows. The photo realistic nature of CAD models means being able to approximate how it would look with different coloured lights and the atmosphere can really bring an idea to life. However, some producers respond far better to something that feels hand-drawn. So, I take a view on the project and the feel for the team and make a decision about whether it requires something with pencil lines, warmth and a hand drawn quality, something shiny and photo real, or a model.

Another Anglo angle Sally Lock studied architecture at un

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