Set Making

[Joe Citizen]

Not really asking this from an indy POV here, more of a "guy who doesn't know much about how movies are made to people who do know how movies are made" POV. How does set making work? If they're making a big interior from scratch, do they use scaffolding or what? Is it mostly plywood underneath the pretty surfaces of a sci-fi set? How would you go about making an entire set that looks like it's made of weathered iron or steel? Marble? I suppose there are different methods, depending on whether it's going to be walked on, or just looked at?

 

[chilipie]

I haven't seen it yet myself either, but I think they were going for a pretty stylized look. I recall something about shooting in brown and white instead of black and white.

Yep! "Being a comedic tale about the struggles of old-time manure salesmen competing with new aggressive modern fertilizer salesmen, set in the early 1960’s, the Polish Brothers, in a twist on the all-grey color scheme of “Northfork”, have imagined this movie as being only in brown tones. And I mean literally, down to skies and plants and food, etc. being painted in shades of brown."

Looks a lot better than it sounds…

 

[Joe Citizen]

Looks a lot better than it sounds…

Any warm but not too vibrant color sounds better for monochrome than black. Actually, brown seems like the logical choice. I can easily see wanting to watch a movie in brown-and-white more than I want to watch movies in black-and-white.

Oh hey, that reminds me. Can you shoot vegetation and pull off changing the color to blue or red or yellow and have it look like actual blue or red or yellow vegetation?

 

[directorik]

You almost say this like an offhand remark, but that's something I didn't know! It's also good news, as it means what I know about traditional painting, I also know about set painting. Which isn't much, but it's a familiar subject, and I know what's entailed. Is there a dominant medium for "tricky" stuff like weathered metal or stone, say oils, or is it all situation and preference dependent? Good to know, either way.

I guess it is an offhand remark. I've been involved
in theater, TV and film since I was 14. I've grown
up around scenic painters, my roommate for years
was an art director/production designer, I've dated
set painters. What these people do is amazing.

Hard to see in this photo, but these rusty, corroding
pipes are cardboard shipping tubes, the chain was
once white plastic and the hooks styrofoam. That angled
pipe on the left is made of the cardboard roll inside of
paper towels.