Two Examples of Great Set Design

I worked as an on-set dresser for film and television for seven years in Salt Lake City. I have also production designed some films and I decided to take time off from work to update my skills and study architecture and interior design.

Anyway, I just saw "Ugly Betty" for the first time on television. It has great set design; Betty's home and the office she works in. The office is such a great set because it has a "feature film" quality. The designer created a strong spatial feeling of depth by aligning offices in a row and separating them by wall-sized arched openings. The office colors are cool blue and its complementary color, orange.

Ugly Betty's set feels "designed". It wasn't put together by a production designer that thought his job was to just throw up some walls and fill the space with office stuff. This is an incredibly well thought out set, and a feast for the eyes as you watch the story. The Story! That's the most important part, I believe, and these sets are great also because they support the story but don't overshadow or distract from it.

Another great set is Michelle's Pfeiffer's modern home in "I Am Sam." This movie is a powerful story about a mentally challenged father, his daughter, and an attorney. Pfeiffer's home is really featured and it is a wonderful backdrop for the story. In one scene, Phiffer's character is coaching Sam (Sean Penn) for court. They sit at a small table against a bright red wall, and next to the red wall is a bookcase. Sam sits more in front of the books in the bookcase and Pfeiffer's character sits engulfed by the bright red wall behind her. It comes out in the scene how clear, grounded, and bright Sam is and how frustrated and lost Phiffer is, and I realized the set dressing is supporting the story. He is now the bright, intelligent one and the books support that, and she is, in a sense, blanked out and suddenly inarticulate and unsure, and the red wall supports that. That, to me, is great design. Check it out, it's worth watching.