Radio age research, manufacturing, communications, broadcasting, television (1941)

Workmen assemble walls, balustrade and doorways to form an interior scene for a television production. Wizardry of scene painters creates an illusion which the television camera cannot penetrate. Diary of a TV Set Designer By Tom Jewett "Television Playhouse" Designer, National Broadcasting Company A SET DESIGNER for an hour-long weekly television program such as NBC's "Television Playhouse" has everything at his command except a 14-day week. Tools are there in abundance, talent is always available but time is a relentless taskmaster. This unusual situa- tion is created by the fact that while the designer is creating 15 or 20 sets for one show he is currently planning a similar volume of scenery for the program that is scheduled a week later. For purposes of illustration let us use the Decem- ber 23 production of the Vogeler story "I Was Stalin's Prisoner". In diary form, this is the procedure that was followed by the writer during the seven days pre- ceding the actual broadcast. Monday: Worked all morning on paint shop eleva- tion and detailed plans which included specifications of colors to be used in all sets. In the afternoon, accom- panied a camera crew to a rural area near New York to film outdoor scenes which would be inserted in the program. Tuesday: After a production meeting in the morning hours were devoted to the selection of furniture, pictures and lamps for the indoor sets. Came evening, and a conference called by the producer to make last minute changes in settings. Wednesday: This was the day set aside for the designer's weekly visit to the property shop in the base- ment of NBC's huge storage warehouse and production plant on West 56th Street. Stored there are more than 1250 pieces of furniture and miscellaneous "props" that may number 2,500 or more. To sort over and inspect this mass of material takes time. Some of the items sought may come from shelves of imitation breakfast foods or from the stalls where old taxicabs and horse- drawn shays are stored. Whatever is chosen, it must be in precise keeping with the period and locale of the drama. Errors here are quickly detected by astute view- ers. On Wednesday afternoon plans were begun at a production meeting for the program of December 30. At this conference, the designer was expected to come through with a rough floor-plan of the stage settings. This he did, and then returned to the warehouse to continue his selection of props for the show of the 23rd. Thursday: Morning hours devoted to the making ot drawings for the second production after which attention was turned again to supervising the construction and painting of the scenery for the Vogeler story, then only three days away. In the construction shop, the designer showed his blue print specifications to the foreman and then selected additional pieces of stock scenery from a photographic catalogue. The twelve experienced stage carpenters employed here can build almost any object from a "flat" to a castle. The many out-of-the-ordinary requirements placed upon these artisans have taught them that nothing is impossible to simulate. In the past they have reproduced rocks, a Gothic cornice and a Victorian gingerbread porch. It is in this stage of set production that ingenuity comes to the fore. Both time and money must be saved, wherever possible. One way of doing this is to design sets that are flexible. It is not unusual to make two 18 RADIO AGE