SET DESIGNER

SET DESIGNER

Abdullah Al Mheiri

A set designer role is all about imagining and designing a full set and putting everything together, the role is a part of the Art department which is also in charge of props, wardrobes and make up, managed by the production designer who is connecting and keeping everything attached with the film director.

My role is the set designer and I’ll be in charge of a whole set, in our next movie there’ll be three sets but the set I’m in charge of is the biggest and it will require so much furniture, decoration and props. The other two sets are also as important as the set I’m working on which is the courtroom, the other two are the courtroom’s hallway and the execution chamber where the final scene will take place.

 I’ll be adding every small to big detail from a glass of water to a set of 20-30 chairs for the jury with an extra wooden fence to give a real feeling of a courtroom.

First imaginative sketch of the courtroom:

I’ll be talking about the role I was assigned to and give more examples.

Set designers aren’t necessary decorating and designing the decoration for a room but they even design a miniature room with realistic micro props and furniture whether they’re making a prototype of an actual life sized room or using the same miniature room for an animated film such coralline, nightmare before Christmas and even Wallace and Gromit.

Since I’m not a sculptor, instead of making a miniature model of the courtroom I just kept drawing images of how it will and should look like, almost a blueprint alongside with some storyboard sketches, not the best of their kind but to make the idea of the scene as clear as possible to the cast and crew because it’s all about delivering a clearer vision.

Imagining the actual courtroom:

I’m not in charge of the set of the execution chamber nor its props but since I’m good with wooden

items and how to get them right, I’ve drew the electric chair, I kept it as simple and basic as possible.

Out of 5 sketches and different styles, here’s the final sketch:

Some information from The complete film production handbook

A set designer must have a list of sets with their numbers, even the props will have to have their own numbers and to which set they belong with the set number,

Detail is always important, even if the prop wasn’t used it should be labeled under not used with the set it was intended to be used on and the same goes to the used props and all glass pieces must be crated. (Honthaner, Eve Light. The Complete Film Production Handbook. Focal Press, 2012)

Pictures of the final courtroom: