Set Decor: One of the Best Magazines You're Probably Not Reading

One of the best magazines you are probably not reading is Set Decor. Why? Because you probably don't know about it.

Set Decor is the official magazine of the Set Decorators Society of America, a non-profit organization for the profession whose work graces film, television, commercials and even music videos. 

I discovered the magazine several years ago when I started research on my book and haven't missed an issue since. Not only is it an excellent visual resource but has a great back story on the film and shows it profiles. Published seasonally, mere mortals not in in the business can subscribe. For more details, see the organization's website www.setdecorators.org.

And in these uncertain times for shelter magazines, it's great to find something new.

Photo Credits: Heroes/NBC Universal Television/Set Decor

The Art of Film: Renderings from the Cinema

Before the advent of computer graphics,  movie sets were often created by beautifully rendered illustrations. From water color images to pen and ink sketches, these works of art were the template for some of the most memorable interiors seen on the silver screen. 

William Cameron Menzies

Many production designers and art directors of Hollywood's Golden Age were talented draftsmen and artists, drawing on their ability to sketch artists to set the visual scene for a film. Such was the case of William Cameron Menzies, the prolific production designer of the film Gone With the Wind (1939) who prepared over two thousand watercolor sketches detailing the interiors, placement of the actors and scenery. From the burning of Atlanta to the landscape of Tara, Menzies was involved in every frame. (He even directed the Atlanta hospital scene and came up with Scarlett's famed line "As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again.")

HIs attention to color, scope and detail is legendary. The parlor of Belle Watling (as shown above) was designed in lush red velvet, clearly considered the appropriate color for women of the night at that time. The interior for Atlanta's leading madam even featured a nude portrait which somehow got past the censors.

The interiors for Twelve Oaks were understated, pristine and formal....

The entry hall and library of Twelve Oaks

while Scarlett and Rhett's Tara was heavily ornamented and over the top, representing the prosperity of the New South.

Scarlett and Rhett's remodeled Tara

Famed production designer John De Cuir Sr. was known as Hollywood's Da Vinci as well as one of the greatest film artists (draftsmen, illustrator and painter) in history. The Academy Award winner designed the mammoth production of Cleopatra (1963) along with The King and I (1956) and South Pacific (1958) in his illustrious career that spanned four decades.

The King and I

South Pacific


Cleopatra

Oscar winning production designer Dante Ferretti studied fine arts and has a degree in architecture which shows in his work on the lavishly designed period film The Age of Innocence (1993). Steeped in period correct Victorian interiors, Ferretti and his team spent two years on research alone. Shown below are the sets for Mrs. Mingott and Newland Archer and the Troy opera house.

The Age of Innocence 

Production designer Luciana Arrighi is another talented artist responsible for the design of Merchant Ivory films such as Howards End (1992) and Remains of the Day (1993). Howards End required creating a sunny Edwardian style countryside cottage while Remains featured dark and repressive interiors to reflect the plight of unrequited love between the British butler (Anthony Hopkins) and housekeeper Miss Kensington (Emma Thompson). 

Howards End

Remains of the Day

Photo Credits: Courtesy of MGM, Dante Ferretti, Luciana Arrighi, On the Road to Tara (Abrams), John De Cuir Jr. 

The Fountainhead Style

"There is no room for originality in architecture."

--Howard Roarke

It is rare a best selling novel translates successfully onto the silver screen. (Gone with the Wind, yes. Bonfire of the Vanities, no). And often it's a toss-up.

Such was the case of novelist Ayn Rand's critically reviewed yet immensely successful book The Fountainhead (1943), the story of maverick architect Howard Roarke who some say is loosely based on Frank Lloyd Wright. Roarke battles the staid architectural establishment against mediocrity, refusing to compromise his ideals and most particularly, his designs. As the lone proponent of modernism, Roarke's style was said to be modeled after Wright's work of the thirties and forties (take a look at his renowned work on Fallingwater)  and the International Style. It was a time where European modernism met forties corporate American modernism.

Six years later, Warner Brothers turned The Fountainhead (1949) into a film, casting leading man Gary Cooper as Roarke and Patricia Neal as love interest/architecture critic Dominique Fanchon. Much like the book, the film is a cult classic yet met outcry with both movie critics and the architectural community alike. (Perhaps architects hated the devoid-of-soul portrayal of their profession). The film has camp, melodrama, romance, manipulation and yes, great sets. 

Naturally architecture plays a dominant role and the sets needed to be of major importance. As film lore goes, Warners approached Wright to design the film but quickly balked at his

$250.000 fee, hiring a young set decorator Edward Carerre instead. It was his first solo effort on a film.

Through the use of miniature skyscrapers, matte paintings and soundstage sets, Carerre designed prewar modernist apartments complete with spectacular views of the city, sweeping terraces, Alvar Aalto/Scandinavian style modular furniture, seemingly unsupported cantilevered  staircases and reflective tabletops, floors and glass everywhere. He was also heavily influenced by German Expressionism. 

Carerre's design is characterized by themes of shapes - hexagonal grids, rectangular rug with woven pattern of squares in an orthogonal room with a sofa placed on the diagonal. 

Film historians note the sets represent the "last gasp of modernism of the times." Ironically, the very elements the architectural press disputed (such as the contemporary designs of the Enright House) became popular years later in Manhattan.

Wright's famous Fallingwater house became the inspiration (or copy if you will) for the house of the Hearst-like character Gail Wynand.

 

Symbolism abounds in the film -- from the phallic shapes of the skyscrapers to Cooper's jackhammering and chiseling ... well you get the picture. The sexual chemistry made the film that much campier. Legend has it Barbara Stanwyck wanted the role, Ayn Rand wanted Greta Garbo and Humphrey Bogart was considered for Roarke. Imagine what a different film it would have been.



A sultry Patricia Neal graces the cover for my story on classic movie inspiration for Array Magazine (Winter 2004/5). Amazingly she was only 22 years old when the film was made and a relative unknown. Cooper was 47.

Rumor has it Atlas Shrugged may be turned into a movie for release in 2011. Imagine adapting that book to the screen!

Photo credits: Courtesy of Warner Brothers, Array Magazine

Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design

One of my favorite  books is the lavishly illustrated and comprehensive behind the scenes look at a century of costume design in the cinema. (It also happens to be the sister to my book on a century of Hollywood art direction which is in the works at Harper Collins).

Written by Deborah Nadoolman Landis,  former President of the Costume Designers Guild, Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design (Collins Design, 2007) offers many never before seen sketches and photographs from films of all genres. Landis, an Academy Award nominee, worked on diverse films such as Animal House and The Blues Brothers (she married the film's director John),  Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Michael Jackson Thriller video. She is perhaps one of the most knowledgeable on the subject of costume and film in Hollywood.

Like a great set, costumes set the mood, define the character, provide inspiration and have been known to start many a fashion trend. Landis notes that "more than a few acting careers have been launched on the basis of an unforgettable costume" and many have left an indelible impression. Who can forget Givenchy's take on the little black dress and pearls for Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's?

Or  Faye Dunaway's entrance in

Theadora Van Runkle's  micro-mini suit for the sixties film Thomas Crown Affair?

And famed designer Edith Head took her cues from director Alfred Hitchcock, who wanted Grace Kelley to look like "dresden china" in the films Rear Window and a "fairy tale princess" for  It Takes A Thief.

Often the costumes become a character of sorts, taking front and center stage. Academy Award winning designer Catherine Martin and Angus Straithie's elaborate costumes for the musical Moulin Rouge! became an integral part in establishing the character Sabine. The Australian designer used actual Swarovski crystals for Nicole Kidman's stunning  corset which became quite taxing for the dance numbers. 

Perhaps the most extensive designs are those found in the genre known as  "costume dramas" a.k.a. period films. Heavily researched, authentically reproduced and labor intensive, the costumes for Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette had to reflect the decadence and frivolity of the period. Academy Award winning costume designer Milena Canonero purposely created a fresh young look with pinks and turquoise as opposed to the jewel tones used in most period films. (Canonero designed another one of my favorites -- Out of Africa).  If you haven't seen the film, it's great eye candy.

Photograph credits: Courtesy of Collins Design

The Set Decorator

“I am sure you’ve seen barren sets on empty sound stages come to life under the set decorator’s touch. Compare it to the architect who has completed a house, but it is the interior decorator who breathes life into the rooms.”

--Henry Grace, longtime set decorator at MGM


They report to a budget minded production designer, take their design cues from the pages of a script, accommodate the needs of a director and cinematographer, juggle a variety of decorating demands and often design a fantasy setting all in a day. Their workspace can be the size of a football field on a backlot or in the middle of nowhere on location. Just think of them as the glamorous cousin of the interior designer -- the set decorator.

Set Decorators are part of a creative design team for a film, television, commercial or video and responsible for the overall design and decoration of the sets. This can include everything from furniture and accessory selection to working with furniture craftsman and scenic artists. Their jobs are as diverse as the medium itself  which can range from decorating a high-end interior for a period film to a high-tech lab for CSI:pick a city.

And while their responsibilities are similar to those of interior designers (budgets, fabric selection, floor plans, demanding clients, etc.), the job differs when fantasy has to overstep reality. Such was the case for the Moroccan meets Park Avenue kitchen in A Perfect Murder (1998)-- look closely and you will see those fabulous travertine floors are actually wallpaper and the lampshades throughout the house are cork paper. While some budgets allow visits to the to-the-trade-only design centers, others require scavenger hunts on ebay and visits to the proverbial prop house. (Design concessions are made on every film so I won't spoil anything else for you.)

The sets are a beautifully decorated mixture of antiques, artwork and contemporary furnishings for the world of a Wall Street titan (Michael Douglas) and his heiress/UN translator wife (Gwyneth Paltrow). The completely convincing Fifth Avenue abode was decorated by Beth Rubino (who also gave us Something's Gotta Give, 2003) and of course, the film's interiors were shot on a soundstage.

For those interested in a career as a Set Decorator, a background in interior design and studies in set decoration, production design and filmmaking in general are strongly advised. While it is not a career for everyone -- many find themselves off on location or living on a studio backlot for months on end --  seeing your work on the silver screen can be pretty rewarding.

For more information on Set Decorators, check out the Set Decorators Society.

Photo credits: Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures

Cinema Soundtracks

While I admittedly will see just about any movie to check out the sets, I have also been

known to race out of the theater to buy the soundtrack too. Here are a few of my favorite film soundtracks (some classic and some quirky but  always great for background music). I would love to hear your picks ...

A Man and A Woman

Almost Famous

August Rush

Best of James Bond

Bridget Jones Diary

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Chinatown

Cinema du Monde

Cinema Italiano

Cinema Paradiso

Dances with Wolves

Disclosure

Doctor Zhivago

Fabulous Baker Boys

Four Weddings and a Funeral

Gone with the Wind

Good Night, and Good Luck

Havana

Indecent Proposal

John Barry Moviola

La Vie En Rose

Legends of the Fall

Love Affair

Love Story

Mamma Mia

Manhattan

Marie Antoinette

Married Life

Message in a Bottle

Moonstruck

Mulholland Falls

North by Northwest

Only You

Out of Africa

Paris je t'aime

Sex and the City

Sneakers

Something's Gotta Give

Somewhere in Time

Sunset Boulevard

The Graduate

The Holiday

The Reel Quincy Jones

The Talented Mr. Ripley

The Way We Were

Thomas Crown Affair (original and sequel)

Tortilla Soup

Twenty First Century Film Classics

Unfaithful

Varese Sarabande 25th Anniversary

Waiting To Exhale

West Side Story

The Designing Director

One of my favorite writer/directors in Hollywood is Nancy Meyers who gave us the romantic comedies What Women Want, The Holiday and Something's Gotta Give.

Her female characters are smart yet vulnerable, funny yet quirky and always classically chic. A Meyers film will almost certainly have a powerful woman, a love triangle and to-die-for interiors.

Besides being a master with the pen and the camera lens, she is a devoted design devotee as well. Her imprint is seen in every painting, club chair and window treatment from the Los Angeles bungalow of character Amanda Woods (Cameron Diaz) in The Holiday to Erica Barry's (Diane Keaton) Hamptons beach house from SGG. Both films were huge hits with the design community (and the general public), both widely envied and ultimately copied.

Many of SGG's furnishings came from Clarence House, Lee Jofa, Mimi London and Rug Loft. Laura Holland, Director of Marketing Services for Hickory Chair, noted Erica's Chelsea Bed from their Thomas O'Brien Collection was very popular with their customers (the film's designers requested the nail head trim be left off). Incidentally, the Chelsea Bed gets another fifteen minutes of fame as designer Michael Smith has ordered it for none other than the Obamas in the White House.

Inspired by designer Marcel Wolterinck's book, In/Ex (Antique Book Collectors Club, 2005, available on Amazon), the tailored contemporary interiors of The Holiday give new meaning to the terms sleek and serene.

Rooms in earth tones of gray, brown and green mixed with modern furnishings for a Spanish Colonial house in Brentwood (via soundstage) fit the bill as Meyer's wanted "Cameron's home to be classic and elegant and only slightly edgy and young."

Along with production designer Jon Hutman and set decorators Beth Rubino of SGG, Cindy Carr, Anna Pinock and David Martin Smith on The Holiday, Meyer's own interior designer James Radin of Los Angeles was a contributor to the design aesthetic as well. For more of his cinema style interiors, see the website www.jamesradin.com.

Meyers is hard at work in New York on her next romantic comedy with Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin vying for the attentions of Meryl Streep. Not to divulge any plot lines but I hear there is an architect/character involved -- no doubt there will be a strong design element as well. The film premieres Christmas Day and I can hardly wait.

Photo Credits: Courtesy of Columbia Pictures, Courtesy of Hickory Chair and The Holiday/David Smith

Many thanks to Jayne Chase for plugging Cinema Style on her radio show A Fashionable Life.

Be sure to check out her fashionable website too!