Set Design + Props

Our 50s Set and Props:

Our 50s set is made up of a cardboard cut-out jukebox, and also two cars mounted onto cardboard, one red and one blue. The set will be lit red as outlined in my lighting post. We decided it's best to have the jukebox in the center of the stage with a car either side, as that way the characters can meet by the jukebox.

We chose a cardboard cut-out jukebox and also the cars because they were inexpensive and effective at connoting the era, also giving the set a home-made feel that will be present throughout the era sets, especially the 70s.

(Below: The Jukebox and one of our mounted cars)

(Above: Two 1950s cars, which are similar to the ones we will mount on cardboard)

(Below: An advert/article for a jukebox brand in the 1950s)

The diner in Grease, with the Jukebox on the right of the frame

70s Set and Props:

Our 70s set consists of a handmade disco floor and a disco ball, with purple lighting. The disco ball was bought online, as it would have been too hard to make, and was relatively cheap as well, while being necessary to connote the disco aspect of the 70s.

The group making the disco floor

Saturday Night Fever, our main influence for the 70s era

We based the disco floor on what we researched on google, and also particularly from what we saw in the dance scenes in Saturday Night Fever.

80s Set and Props:

Our 80s set is minimalistic, with only a school-gym bench, 'The Handmaid's Tale' book and orange lighting. This was based on 'The Breakfast Club', an iconic 80s film, so we used the school-gym bench to connote the school setting, as well as to recreate the well-known shuffle that the film is known for.

The shuffle from 'The Breakfast Club'

The bench was sourced from the girls gym next to the studio, while the book was brought in by Juliette, as it was published in the 80s.

90s Set and Props:

For our 90s set, we're going to have a sofa and a coffee table, in order to reference the Central Perk scenes from 'Friends', with green lighting. We'll also have a mug with the Central Perk logo on it (Juliette's), in order to solidify the reference for the audience, and clearly connote the era. 

A shot from 'Friends', our main influence for the set.

We chose to reference Friends as it is a TV show that has a large fan base, and is well known even outside of it's fan base, so would be known to our audience.

The 90s set is slightly more complex to set up, with two armless chairs placed together, a sheet over it, and three cushions on top, in order to make it seem like a sofa. Originally we were going to source a sofa from school, but there were complications about how we'd get it to the studio.

Modern:

For modern, the set is once again very simple, with a zebra crossing and blue lighting. We will have the characters use mobile phones as props, which we will source ourselves, in order to show technology in the modern era, which is a huge part of the world today. These phones will have to be old/broken, as they would be thrown around during the scenes.

The broken/old phones will still be modern phones, in order to ensure they clearly demonstrate the era.

We chose to have the zebra crossing set as there are no specific iconic settings that we would be able to set up and easily reference modern with, so we thought that something simple and normal would more easily connote the modern era as it is directly relatable for the modern-day audience. We will also try to ensure the era is connoted properly through clothing.

We will be using the zebra crossing from the 'Girls' remake video

Band:

The band set is the drums in the background, guitar and bass either side, and microphone in front. Juliette has brought in her own guitars, while amps were sourced both from school and friends, and the microphone and drums were sourced from school. We also had to ensure that the amps were not too small so that they could be seen on camera, so we tried to get ones that were large enough to be seen, but not so large as to be distracting, or make this seem like a high budget production.

Juliette's bass

Juliette's guitar

We especially liked the bass as it gives the instruments some colour, making the band seem more lively and indie (similar to San Cisco's instruments), while not being garish. The microphone we use also helps our band to stand out, and connotes the indie-pop genre:

The microphone style we are using, rather than a normal microphone, to make the video more memorable and to connote the genre.

The set is based on the set up of San Cisco in 'Awkward' and also the 1975 in 'Girls'.

The 1975 in 'Girls'

San Cisco in 'Awkward'