WHAT IS SET CONSTRUCTION? (In the Entertainment industry.)

Set Construction / Photo Credit: Jorge Royan - Semperoper

WHAT IS SET CONSTRUCTION? (In the Entertainment industry.)

Bruce Bisbey…please follow me at: https://dumbdogproductionsllc.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/DumbDogProductionsLLC/ thank you.

WHAT IS SET CONSTRUCTION?

Set construction is the process undertaken by a construction manager to build full-scale scenery, as specified by a production designer or art director working in collaboration with the director of a production to create a set for a theatrical, film or television production. The set designer produces a scale model, scale drawings, paint elevations (a scale painting supplied to the scenic painter of each element that requires painting), and research about props, textures, and so on. Scale drawings typically include a ground plan, elevation, and section of the complete set, as well as more detailed drawings of individual scenic elements which, in theatrical productions, may be static, flown, or built onto scenery wagons. Models and paint elevations are frequently hand-produced, though in recent years, many Production Designers and most commercial theatres have begun producing scale drawings with the aid of computer drafting programs such as AutoCAD or Vectorworks.

In major film production, a Supervising Art Director is responsible for a team of Art Directors, each drafting separate sets or sections of a single set. Construction supervisors interpret the drawings and allocate labor and resources, with the Production Designer giving approval of the finished set on the Directors behalf. Film construction is rigidly compartmentalized on major motion pictures.

Construction of a film set is mainly done on studio stages or back lots, often within a studio complex and several studio stages may be allocated purely as workshop space during the construction process. Many disciplines are employed under construction managers but craftsmen tend to not multi-task and so there are a range of job titles, such as, carpenter, rigger, plasterer, stage hand, poly waller, scenic painter, standby painter and standby carpenter are among them. A prop making workshop is set up in a similar stage and may be paid for out of a Construction or Art Department budget depending on the nature and size of the props in question.

The construction department is led by a construction coordinator. The coordinator reports to the art director and production designer and is in charge of budgeting and implementing designs. The construction coordinator has a general foreman to assist. Next there are other foremen, lead carpenters called gang bosses, and then all of the carpenters and craftsmen.

The construction coordinator, or construction company, provides all tools and equipment apart from small hand tools specific to a craftsman's work, such as screw guns, paint brushes and plastering trowels. This makes logistics and efficiency the responsibility of the construction manager and leaves each crew member as fluid freelancers to be hired and off hired at extremely short notice throughout the production.

Studio complexes tend to have support services such as Drape Shops, general stores, timber stores and plaster shop as well as special effects companies, on site to support construction and other departments.

In the United States, set construction workers are usually members of the entertainment union, IATSE, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Sources, References & Credits: Bruce Bisbey, Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, How Stuff Works, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Bright Hub, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Variety, Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite, Realty 101, Liberty Me, Careers Hub, Sokanu, Raindance, Film Connection, Cast & Crew, Entertainment Partners, My Job Search, Prospects, David Mullich, Gear Shift, Video University, Oxford Dictionaries’, Boredom Therapy, The Bold Italic, Nicholas Persac, The Guardian, Jones on art, Studio Binder, Film Tool Kit, Still Motion, Film Under Ground,

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Set Construction / Photo Credit: Jorge Royan - Semperoper