Theatre Design & Technology - Spring 1981 - 27

Teaching Television Design Techniques
The following articles are edited from a panel entitled,
"Teaching Television Design Techniques," presented on
March 7, 1979 at the USITT Convention in Seattle, Washington. The panel was organized and chaired by Paul S. Hoffman,
USITT Scenography Vice Commissioner for Television and
Film and a designer for New Jersey Public Television. The initial transcriptions and editing were done by Mr. Hoffman.

An Approach

Television

to Teaching

Scene

Television Design

Design

by Val Strazovec

by Herbert Zettl

To deal with the problem of teaching television design we
must first take a hard look at the medium itself: its development to the present stage, the role of design in creating a production, and especially a brave look to the future-where is
the medium going and where do we, creative professionals,
want it to go? As we all know, these two questions seldom
have the same answer. The following are some problems
which I consider to be significant factors in establishing an approach to the method of teaching and training television designers.
To begin with, television can be used in two different ways:
as a communicative device, and as a means for creative expression. It is only this second form that places television in
the category of audio-visual arts together with theatre and
film; TV being the youngest of the group.
The role of a designer in television (if using the medium as
an expressive tool) is related to that of the designer in theatre,
but is perhaps more complicated. In my opinion, there are no
significant differences in the conceptual part of design for all
three areas. If the principle of scenography is a design of the
relationships between space and the actor in the space, and
these relationships serve as a vehicle for the expression of
ideas and emotions, then the designer has basically the same
expressive means available in theatre, television, and film.
The first of these means is environment in all three forms:
graduated, simultaneous, and multi-simultaneous. The second
is time, in two aspects-as a period in history, or as a duration. The third is movement, in its objective or subjective form.
The fourth is sound, in its informative or emotional use. And
(continued on p. 38 .. .)

Quite obviously, the most fundamental requisite for the television scene designer is a thorough knowledge of scenery and
the television medium. The television designer ought to be familiar with television production, the process of moving from
idea or script to a finished televsion program, and the potentials and limitations of each medium element, such as the
camera, lighting, audio. Most of all, we ought to learn the specific esthetic and technical requirements of each of these elements. We have to learn to listen to, respect, and respond to
the medium's peculiar needs so that we can work with, rather
than against it.
The more conspicuous medium elements and their requirements are: (1) space, (2) time and motion, (3) light and color,
and (4) sound.

USITT /Spring, 1981

Space

In theatre, we generally re-group and redefine our actual
three-dimensional environment into a highly articulated threedimensional space of the stage. This articulation, however,
does not change the basic three-dimensional space to which
we are accustomed. Yet in television, we must transform, perhaps even transcend, real space into two-dimensional screen
space. This process requires three major space-manipulation
tasks: (1) to provide life-space for the performers in which
they can operate and relate to each other in a more or less
logical and organic way; (2) to provide operating space for the
television equipment: cameras, microphone booms, cables,
lights; and (3) to articulate the actual three-dimensional space
for the television cameras so that they can transcend this
space into convincing, multi-point-of-view screen space.
(continued on p. 50 ...)
Theatre Design & Technology

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