“The Art that is closest to cinema is architecture.” – René Clair

What is set designing?

Set design, scenic design, theater design, or stage design is the formation of the physical space in which the action of a performed event takes place. Primarily used to describe a film or theatre production, it is comprised of all the scenery, furniture, props, appearance, and overall look of the stage. Set Design is more widely known as Art Direction, as it contains a bit of all three sections, i.e., Art, Architecture, and Interior Design – the dependency of Set Design is more on Art and Replication.

Set designing is creating a space with the quintessence of a few specific feelings, figments, and states of intellect that a story requires. A collected set, moreover, speaks for a certain location for a motion picture, theater, or event. The prime distinction between architecture and set design is the aging of the made structure. Architecture is about built structures that last for a more extended period and speak to the territorial contexts. In differentiation, a set is developed for a shorter span, possibly indeed less than a day to portray a location, genuine or hypothetical, for a movie, theater, or any other kind of show.

Crossover between Architecture and Set designing

Architecture and set design go hand-in-hand. To create a believable and convincing set, the architecture must be carefully considered. Every element of the set must be designed with the purpose, to create the desired effect. The first step in the set design is to understand the script. What is the story trying to tell? What is the mood of the piece? Once the story and mood are clear, the set designer can start to conceptualize the world that the story takes place. Next, the set designer will create a floor plan for the set. This is a bird’s-eye view of the set, showing all the elements and how they are arranged.

A floor plan is a critical tool in set design, as it ensures that everything fits together logically and that the set can be built within budget and time constraints. After the floor plan is complete, the set designer will start to flesh out the details of the set. What kind of furniture will be used? What colors will dominate the palette? What kind of lighting will be used? All of these details must be carefully considered creating a believable and effective set.

Once the set is built, the final step is to dress it. This includes adding all the small details that make a set come to life. Things like books, dishes, and personal items are added to make the set feel like a real place. Set design is a critical part of any production. A well-designed set can transport the audience to another world, and help to bring the story to life.

Hence, the relationship between architecture and set design is a close one. The skills of an architect are often called upon in the design of film, television, and theatre sets. In turn, the work of set designers can inspire architects and influence the design of buildings. The art of set design can be traced back to the Renaissance, when painters and architects began to work together to create stage sets for theatre productions.

In the 19th century, the development of new stage technologies, such as electric lighting and fly towers, allowed for more elaborate and realistic sets. Today, the work of set designers is as varied as the productions they work on. They may be involved in the design of simple television sets, or create entire worlds for big-budget films.

Whatever the scale of the project, set designers must have a good understanding of architecture and be able to visualize how their designs will work in three dimensions. As well as being skilled designers, set designers must also be able to work within tight budgets and deadlines. They may be required to make last-minute changes to their designs, or to find innovative ways to reuse existing sets and props.

The close relationship between architecture and set design means that there are many opportunities for architects to work in the film, television, and theatre industries. Whether you’re interested in designing sets for blockbuster movies or smaller-scale productions, a career in set design could be the perfect way to combine your creativity and technical skills.

The architectural space has numerous correspondences with cinematic space, i.e., space on the screen. The audience enters the movie theatre and latterly becomes immersed in the body of a film or a theatre as they would a building. While creating a movie or theatre scene, the director arranges shots or scenes in sequence as the architect designs a floor plan, framing and confining, anatomizing, and condensing rudiments through which the onlooker is encouraged to partake in the flow of movement.

Set designing, just like architecture, is a pure representation of space, how one space can be used for the definition of a particular emotion, and how it can foster a sense of connection between the onlooker and the scene. Thus, both architecture and a movie or theatre set retain the capability to affect the followership in a kindly unconscious manner.

A Parallel between Architecture and cinema

Cinema and Architecture stand as distinct arts, dynamic and static respectively, whose complex association gives life to each other. Architecture gives movies their believability by setting the mood, place for the character, time, and action. Movies, on the other hand, give an outlet for realizing perceptions that live or can live and solicit experiences that in reality have occurred or haven’t occurred, when we talk about both pictures grounded on the real world and science fiction respectively.

“Film provides a vibrant representation of architecture” – Christophe Gérard.

According to Christophe Gérard, film, as a medium, develops the generality of architecture with both the mental picture and the art of conceiving. He developed this content by describing how the filmic space confronts the observers with specific aspects of physical space that the architects can contribute to.

Architecture compliments the process of Set design

The art of architecture and set design can be seen as a form of communication. It is a way to tell a story or convey a message through physical space. These two disciplines have a long history and are constantly evolving. They are integral to the film, television, and theatre industries, and continue to be a source of inspiration for artists and audiences alike. The notion of design and architecture entwines various fields of art and creativity.

Accordingly,  architecture as a field constantly evolves and hence offers a lot of possibilities for the process of set designing to reach advanced points of imagination. Set designing is a field of creativity and set designers play a vital part in depicting and defining space on the screen. And having a piece of detailed knowledge of the paradigm of space arrangements, Architects hold the capability to enrich the field of set designing.