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

Record Details:

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stage settings Jo the work of four or five. The dressing can be altered, tapestries can be rolled down like maps, pictures shifted and furniture changed. There are numerous other money saving "kinks." A cellar window can be produced by turning a fireplace wing upside down and topping it off with an inexpen- sive mullion. Doors and windows are constructed so that they may be used front and back, and even an elaborate cave can be built out of heavy wrapping paper, staples and paint. Friilj): Now with only two days to go, the tempo increased. First came a rehearsal of the Vogeler drama, then more time across town in the paint shop. Dinner over, back to NBC studio 8G in Radio City to supervise the erection of "fiats." Flats are the vertical surfaces which comprise the walls of a set. After being com- pleted at the production shop these flats, together with furniture, draperies, etc., had been trucked to a receiving platform ^4 feet under ground below the RCA building and brought to studio level on a freight elevator. Satiirda): Beginning at 8 a.m., the set designer, together with the "dressing crew", went to work in 8G putting drapes and furniture in their prescribed places and touching up paint jobs where necessary. Then back to the designer's drawing board for more work on the following show which already was creeping up. Sniuia): The Day! The set designer moved back and forth between the studio stages and the control r<K)m. At a time like this, u is always amazing what the camera will reveal. For instance, at one point the producer decided on a higher camera shot than had been specified originally. The producer was satisfied by having one flat mounted above the other, bolted on and then painted to corresjxjnd with the color already applied. A chair which, on the monitor screen, didn't seem quite authentic enough was removed and a replacement located by making a fast taxi tour of theatrical rental firms and antique shops. Of course, the correct chair was found eventually, and placed on the stage. But just as the designer was about to put his O.K. on the setting, he realized that one picture was so brilliant that its reflection bhickened the face of an actor standing beside it. A spray gun solved this problem, but immediately the control room reported that a coflee pot was casting a bad reflection. This time a coating of wax deadened the glare. And so it went on, right up to the minute when the little buttons on the front of the television cameras glowed red to warn the performers that they were "on the air." Then and only then could the set designer sit back and relax. There was nothing more that could be done for the Vogeler story, but, facing him like another necessary spectre was the show of the 30th. On Monday, the hectic pace would be picked up again. Truly, fourteen days in a week would be a solution— after a fashion. Dress rehearsals give the set designer his final chance to moke the changes in scenery and "props" that wil add reality to the drama.