DIRECTIONS UNIT: (Project Prep) Set Design and Props

As an important part of my production design, I decided to conduct a little bit of research into set design and how I could use this in order to set the mood of my scene.

I decided to look into the set design of romantic scenes within romantic dramas and romantic comedies as I knew I needed to convey some sort of air of romance in my piece. However, I needed to find a way of making the romance in the atmosphere an underlying feeling rather than a really obvious one. To do this I decided to take aspects of the set design in the romantic scenes I researched, and incorporate these into my set design in splashes. This would help to create a subtle romantic vibe that helps to hint to Mark's feelings towards Juliet. 

The Fault In Our Stars 

In this romantic restaurant scene, the set is filled with warm lighting and fairy lights. This helps to create a very warm and loving feel to the scene due to the dream-like atmosphere. As my piece is set at Christmas I will incorporate fairy lights into my set design - this shows that the lights are actually a Christmas decoration but they also have an underlying purpose. 

Legally Blonde

In one of the first scenes of the film, Elle and Warner can be seen at a romantic restaurant. Although the set design is minimal, it still manages to perfectly convey that romantic atmosphere. This proves that set design does not need to look extremely complex in order to create an atmosphere or mood. The table cloth set on the table is a red colour - a colour I aim to make a prominent feature of my piece. However, I will add the colour in more subtly. I will use red in small amounts in my production, using features such as red candles, photo frames and general house accessories. This will help to create an underlying romantic atmosphere to suggest Mark's underlying romantic feelings towards Juliet.

Most romantic scenes use warm toned lighting in order to create an atmosphere of warmth and love. I will take this on board and make the lighting of my project slightly warmer than it would normally be in natural daylight.

Here are some of the set design pieces and props I have prepared for my shoot:

I also put a lot of work into the look of the DVD collection due to this being a very important part of the set despite it not being visually featured for a lot of screen time. I decided to pick out some films that are visually striking due to Mark's artistic personality. I also arranged the DVDs in such a way to make them look visually pleasing, something I believe the character Mark would do anyway.

For the disc of Peter and Juliet's wedding, I decided to scribble out a word and then add the title 'Peter and Juliet's Wedding'. This was to make Mark's dialogue more believable when he says he may have taped over it. This suggests that he does in fact often tape over things, but it just isn't the case for the wedding video.