5 episodes
Scenic Construction National Theatre
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- Arts
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4.0 • 2 Ratings
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A theatre set is constructed by a team of highly skilled tradesmen such as carpenters, plasterers and metal workers. They work with the set designer to replicate to scale the original model box and create the surfaces to be worked on by the scenic artists. Styles in scenery have evolved and it is rare to see a simple box set today. Although timber is still the backbone of most construction projects it is not the total material used, there is more experimentation with materials now than in the past. The design and build process can produce something almost sculptural as a stage setting. This collection gives an insight into the work and processes of scenic construction.
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Scenic Construction Skills
Although most of the personnel in the scenic construction department are specialists in a particular field – such as carpentry or metalwork – they need to have a wide range of skills which reach beyond their core discipline. This is often due to the wide range of materials which the scenic construction team works with.
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Metal Workshop
Many of the complex sets at the National either have a steel skeleton, or have steelwork visible on display. Steel is a very strong and safe material with which one can build items like bridges or walkways, but it's always vital to keep the weight of the structure down as much as possible.
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Materials
Lots of productions need large flat areas of scenery to be covered quickly and economically. New materials like MDF and quad-wall polycarbonates help with this, while other materials like polystyrene are used for details like mouldings.
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Massive Sets
Some of the sets built in the National’s workshops are very large, sometimes up to 10 metres tall and 15 metres across. Keeping the pieces of set flowing along the production line from the workshop into the paintframe requires skilful time management.
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CNC Machine
The CNC (or ‘Computer Numerical Control’ machine) enables the scenic construction team to cut complex shapes in wood and plastic with a bare minimum of manual intervention. All that is needed is a design, which can be fed to the machine direct from a CAD (Computer Aided Design) package.