How do you start building a film set?

Answer 1

Building a film set can be a simple exercise or one of tremendous complexity. Firstly based on any script details of the set and action to take place there in, the vision of the director, producers, production designers and any special effects or stunt coordinators and often actors dictate the design, location, materials and time of any set to be constructed. Only once the construction coordinator has a firm set of plans, based on the input of all of the above mentioned departments and there is a space or place where the set will be erected, does construction usually start. In the beginning of a film a carpentry workshop is set up, followed shortly there after by a scenic art shop. Often a good approach is to look at what the final look and function ought to be and work backwards. This approach will give you your time line, suggest a building method and materials.

In this example I'll go through the steps for a medium size set of say 4000 sq.'. The over all height is 20'. It will be a studio set and will be a dominantly interior set with a backing or back drop. Let's say one end of the set will have a localized outbreak of fire and the other end will have a stuntman slammed against a wall strafed by gunfire.

The set carpenters start with a layout on the floor or do a layout of the footprint of the set on a riser, an elevated platform the set will sit on. A riser is a raised floor a structural element that the technicians work on and the shooting crew works on, so it has to be able to carry the required load. Usually a riser is made from 3/4" plywood and often a layer of homasote is sandwiched in between for sound absorption. The basic riser units are usually 4' X 8' and the height varies. These units act like tables that can be fastened with screws and once connected form a larger raised surface. This in turn acts as a support for whatever the floor treatments are to be. Raised wooden platforms like this often have to be painted with fire retardant if they are over a certain height as per local bylaws. While the riser is being built other carpenters begin assembling flats. These are the basic building pieces that eventually make up the walls and often ceilings as required. Basics flats are made of 1/4" virola plywood with a 1" X 3" support frame around the perimeter of the back of each PC of virola as well as cross braces each 2'. Theater flats have the 1" X 3" lain wide side down making the flat have a thinner profile. Other wise the 1" X 3" is fastened small side down, giving the flat a thickness of 3 1/4". As the components "flats" come ready they are screwed together from the ground up. Pilasters, windows and doorways are pre-built and incorporated into the walls. As the walls go higher bracing is required, in the form of wailers and jacks or an exoskeleton of scaffolding. Wailers are lengths of wood that span the rear of one flat to the next, these brace the wall laterally. Jacks are wooden braces 8' or more high that connect to the wailers and are weighted giving the wall vertical support and preventing it from falling over. Any walls that will be subjected to flame will have to be built using fire retardant paint and or gypsum board. Walls that have to be very stable need to be constructed of thicker plywood than virola.

Once the flats are secured and in place a preliminary coating of plaster is applied if the walls are to be simple flat painted walls. If the walls are to be brick then mold plaster brick sheets are glued and stapled to the surface. If heavy texturing is required then styrofoam board can be applied , sculpted and plastered and the like. The carpenters can apply decorative moldings and materials at a suitable time to the construction of a set and the scenic artist will create the final patina as required. Any backdrops and or backings go outside of the set walls and act as distant background during the filming. They are usually to fill the space and create the setting in which the set sits.

Once construction is complete the Set Decorators bring in furniture and fixtures. The set then requires lighting, rehearsals and is then ready to film.

Exterior film sets and filming on location often require special consideration.