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Spotlight
 ARCHIVES 
All rights reserved on ALL content, including photographs and text. THIS MATERIAL IS FOR THE SOLE USE OF SETDECOR MAGAZINE and the SDSA. Reproduction or use of the material in any way or by any means for any purpose without permission from the Set Decorators Society of America is strictly prohibited.


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Surreal Life (chaises with mock Warhol mural of celebrities) PD - Scott Storey SD - Joanne Baker



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The Huntress (wide, high angle view of living room, dining room, kitchen) PD - Pam Warner SD - Michele Poulik



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The Shield (police headquarters, large fan in right foreground) PD - Kitty Doris Bates SD - Michele Poulik



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Will & Grace (beautiful dining room with autumn trees outside window) PD - Glenda Rovello SD - Melinda Ritz



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Titus (tiki cocktail bar) PD - Stephan Olson SD - Richard Walker



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Sabrina (diner with red booths and other red details) PD - Scott Heineman SD - Julie Kaye Fanton


Thoughts on Photographing The Sets

by Lisa Dare
SDSA Business Member
spiffy@flash.net




"Historically, most set stills were documentary photos taken for continuity or inventory. Today, they represent the skills of the artists who create and decorate the sets. Set stills must be more than a record, they should reveal the character of the sets, and the creativity behind them. Like a cinematographer, I scan the entire frame, and consider everything from edge to edge within the viewfinder."

"My photographic eye is cinematic. I studied film history before I became a photographer. I have watched and scrutinized hundreds of classic films, and I have an eye for style and drama, even with the absence of human subjects."

"A proper look requires the manpower, equipment, time and expertise of the electrical crew. To look professional, set stills should be shot with show lighting. The window of opportunity to shoot sets under show lighting varies. I have shot set stills during pre-lighting, rehearsal, lunch, just ahead or behind the shooting crew, and even during shooting with a live audience."
"Sometimes one must work very quickly in production, and sometimes one must knuckle down for a long haul. I can shoot a small swing set or a couple of swing sets in a half an hour or less, and I have also had very large, complicated jobs that required almost 4 hours of constant shooting."

"Decorators have varied preferences for the types of shots
they want. Sometimes a decorator is not fond of a particular set, or considers certain parts of a set to be much more important than others. While I can photograph sets from many different angles and distances, it is helpful to know a decorator's preferences."

"Clarity and cleanness matter. Things the eye passes over in everyday life will leap out at you in photographs."

"A fine photograph should be larger than life. It should have a vivid, arresting quality. This is a product of technical as well as aesthetic considerations: quality of lenses and cameras, appropriate lens or digital camera settings, fineness of film grain, type of film stock and paper, skills of the photo lab or digital lab. As with set decorating, in photography, details count, and I choose them carefully."

Spotlight Archives

Summer Street Festival 2010 2010-05-31
Jean Simone 2010-03-13
2010 SDSA Lifetime Achievement Award: Jeannie Gunn 2010-03-07
Mary Ann Biddle 2009-11-03
Bryan John Venegas 2009-07-17
Jon Danniells & Cindy Carr 2009-05-14
Set Decorator Robinson Royce, SDSA 2009-03-14
Set Decorators Lee Poll & Warren Welch 2008-12-12
Marketplace 2008 2008-10-12
Jerie Kelter, SDSA 2008-08-01
Leslie E. Rollins, SDSA 2008-04-05
Laura Richarz, SDSA 2008-01-04
Marketplace 2007 2007-10-08
Don Diers, SDSA 2007-07-04
Leslie Frankenheimer 2007-04-21
Susan Eschelbach 2007-02-15
George M. DeTitta, Jr 2006-12-10
Julie Bolder 2006-10-27
Denise Pizzini 2006-09-17
Phil Hoffman 2006-08-15
Julieann Getman 2006-07-11
Daryn Reid Goodall 2006-06-05
Architectural Digest Pre-OscarĀ® Party 2006-02-06
The New York Christmas Party 2006-02-06
That 70s Show 2005-08-15
Two And A Half Men 2005-08-15
Film Secrets Revealed 2005-05-15
Pirates of the Carribean 2005-02-15
A Day With Set Decorators 2004-11-15
Spring Flowers... 2004-08-15
Modern Props & The Vision of The Future 2004-05-15