Scenic design Information & Scenic design Links at HealthHaven.com

Scenic designer Robert Edmond Jones (1887-1954) drawing at a waist high table (c. 1920).

Scenic design (also known as stage design, set design or production design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A. degrees in theatre arts.

The 'stage picture' is the 'look' or physical appearance of the stage for a play, whether in rehearsal or performance. It reflects the way that the stage is composed artistically in regard to props, actors, shapes and colours. The stage picture should express good principles of design and use of space. It should be visually appealing for the audience or should express the show's concept. The stage picture is also crucial for the creation of atmosphere for the audience.

The scenic designer is responsible for collaborating with the theatre director and other members of the production design team to create an environment for the production and then communicating the details of this environment to the technical director, production manager, charge scenic artist and propmaster. Scenic designers are responsible for creating scale models of the scenery, renderings, paint elevations and scale construction drawings as part of their communication with other production staff.

One of Russell Patterson’s (1893-1977) rough scenic designs, for the film Give Me a Sailor (1938).

In Europe and Australia^{[citation needed]} 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.

Like their American cousins, European theatre designers and scenographers are generally trained with Bachelor of Arts degrees in theatre design, scenography or performance design.

A set designer discusses the set with carpenters

Notable scenic designers, past and present, include: David Gallo, Robert Brill, Tony Walton, Adolphe Appia, Boris Aronson, Howard Bay, Edward Gordon Craig, Luciano Damiani, Ezio Frigerio, Barry Kay, Sean Kenny, Ralph Koltai, Ming Cho Lee, Santo Loquasto, Jo Mielziner, Oliver Smith, Franco Colavecchia, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Josef Svoboda, George Tsypin, Robert Wilson, Franco Zeffirelli, Natalia Goncharova, Vadim Meller, Aleksandra Ekster, Nathan Altman, Maria Björnson, David Borovsky, Daniil Lider, Inigo Jones, Nicholas Georgiadis, Alexandre Benois, Francoise Cherry-Cohen, Léon Bakst, and Russell Patterson.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Scenography - The Theatre Design Website Theatre Design / Scenography
Society of British Theatre Designers Theatre Design
What is Scenography Article illustrating the differences between US and European theatre design practices
Stagelink Production and Set Designer Directory
Josef Svoboda Article on www.scenography.co.uk
Theatre Set and Costume Design Archive at the University of Bristol Theatre Collection, University of Bristol