As a designer, I have always been intrigued by set design, especially the sets of TV shows, particularly sitcoms. As I watch TV shows that I enjoy, I look intently at the set and become very bugged if the layout of the room doesn't make sense or the inside doesn't match the outside of the set.
Sometimes it bothers me so much that I mention it to people in the room who may be watching the show with me. Of course the response is often a look as if I have lost my mind. I guess they are wondering 'who cares? Watch the show!' I can't help it though.
I can't remember when it started, I never made a conscious effort to look at the layouts on sets but as long as I can remember I tried to match the inside with the outside of TV sets and I envisioned the floor plan of the interior set in my head.
I often wonder how hard it would be just to make the inside match the outside. One example includes All In The Family, where they often show a porch but when they show the houses in the opening and closing credits, they have no porch. Other sets that don't match the front include King Of Queens; Rosanne and The Cosby Show.
One set layout that doesn't make sense to me is the The Jeffersons. How was Bentley's apartment next door when their apartment extended back and over to include three bedrooms and three bathrooms?
The plan layout to the Cosby Show always intrigued me. How was a basic brownstone that big? It seemed to be the size of two brownstones connected together. How can they explain rooms (Dining Room and Dr.'s Office) on the other side of the stairs? How was that basement that big? The layouts of the first and second floors make no sense and cannot be aligned.
In TV set layouts, I see the design discrepancies over and over and it bugs me. Why can't the people that work with set layouts have a basic understanding of floor plans and elevations? I am very curious about the profession. Is it a low level position to ignore such basic elements? Are the positions achieved through nepotism? Has anyone ever addressed issues of the design discrepancies? Does it bug anyone besides me? I'd love to get a dialogue going.
Sometimes it bothers me so much that I mention it to people in the room who may be watching the show with me. Of course the response is often a look as if I have lost my mind. I guess they are wondering 'who cares? Watch the show!' I can't help it though.
I can't remember when it started, I never made a conscious effort to look at the layouts on sets but as long as I can remember I tried to match the inside with the outside of TV sets and I envisioned the floor plan of the interior set in my head.
I often wonder how hard it would be just to make the inside match the outside. One example includes All In The Family, where they often show a porch but when they show the houses in the opening and closing credits, they have no porch. Other sets that don't match the front include King Of Queens; Rosanne and The Cosby Show.
One set layout that doesn't make sense to me is the The Jeffersons. How was Bentley's apartment next door when their apartment extended back and over to include three bedrooms and three bathrooms?
The plan layout to the Cosby Show always intrigued me. How was a basic brownstone that big? It seemed to be the size of two brownstones connected together. How can they explain rooms (Dining Room and Dr.'s Office) on the other side of the stairs? How was that basement that big? The layouts of the first and second floors make no sense and cannot be aligned.
In TV set layouts, I see the design discrepancies over and over and it bugs me. Why can't the people that work with set layouts have a basic understanding of floor plans and elevations? I am very curious about the profession. Is it a low level position to ignore such basic elements? Are the positions achieved through nepotism? Has anyone ever addressed issues of the design discrepancies? Does it bug anyone besides me? I'd love to get a dialogue going.