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In this clip we're going to talk about how to create setting. Now in terms of screen
writing, movies usually need a lot more locations and they need to be very authentic. On the
other hand, when it comes to plays, you have a lot more freedom. You can create a set that's
a lot more suggestion than totally authentic. I mean, you can have a World War II trench,
you can create your setting to be a fancy mansion on a distant planet. You can set it
in a king and queen's chambers, you can set it in a seedy back alley. Really your creativity
is the limit. Now when I had the opportunity to have some of my plays that I wrote produced,
the one catch was, that I had to use the existing set that was up at that time. So when I first
went in, all they had was a bunch of drab, greenish flats up. So I had thought of a possible
idea with using an adult education class. And I thought that looked like an institutional
drab classroom. So we brought in some chalkboards and computer printers and it really worked
perfectly for that. Now the next set was amazing. It was actually an authentic Victorian hotel.
And then for the next play I went in, and I was excited to see what they had, and what
had happened was, they stopped building the set halfway through so there was just a bunch
of boards sticking up. And it was just was around that time that I knew a couple that
had moved out to Palm Dale, out to the desert commuting to LA for work just to be able to
buy a less expensive house. And so I created Dreams on a Desert Night, of course the lead
character was a construction worker, and it ended up working out great. Now hopefully
you won't have those same limitations, but there's a lot of things you can do, depending
on the space you get. You're, of course have a lot more freedom with the smaller or more
created space. A lot of times lighting can suggest a set. And it would even be a little
bit of overkill to have it a real elaborate or expensive set on some of the more created
spaces or smaller intimate theaters. Now through traditional proscenium stage, you'll generally
need a more elaborate set, but even that's not always the case, you have famous Broadway
musicals like Chorus Line, and that had no set at all. All that was was done with the
curtains. Or Godspell, which was another famous musical. The entire set was a chain linked
fence that surrounded the back, which made it look like a playground, and the only set
on stage was two saw horses and a board on top of that. So it really depends on your
individual play. A lot of times on those proscenium stages you might have your main set, which
is a living room for instance, then off to the side might be a very small little area
which is an outdoors alcove, or another small area over here which is the garage or something
like that. Also a lot of times what happens is you'll have a living room set and for the
next scene, lights go to black, stage hands will come out and simply take off the couch,
move in a desk and change a few pictures on the walls and it becomes an office. And that's
very accepted by audiences these days. Another thing that's really great if you can put into
your set somehow without getting too expensive is the use of different levels. And I had
mentioned Godspell and just having the two saw horses and the plank, and when someone
stood up there to talk to the others, it really gave it a lot more dynamics just having that
very simple level. Now a friend of mine who produced a play in Hollywood, one of his main
scenes was about this crochety old character who was always in the bathroom peering out
at the neighbors. And it just so happened that in this bizarre stage area there was
an upstairs, I guess, for storage of props or for where a band could play or lighting
could be, but it was above the stage area, and that's where they created the bathroom.
And it gave it so much impact to have that different level up there. So many use of levels
in your set that is not expensive, can be very effective. So again, you're going to
have certain limitations in movies, but in terms of a play, you have much more freedom.
Know your theater, know your venue, but from there, be creative and the sky is the limit.