JAN
25

The Incredible Scale Model Set Design Lesson Plan

By Brian D. Taylor, Project Editor, Pioneer Drama Service 

Brian D. Taylor is a former middle school drama teacher and the newest addition to the Pioneer Drama editorial staff.  Working with K-12, college and community theatre groups, he has a theatrical background with experience in directing, acting and technical theatre.  When he’s not working on a production, Brian writes children’s and young adult fiction. 

So you want to teach set design...  but you don’t have year-round access to the stage.  Or you don’t have the resources to give your class free reign in the scene shop.  Or you are simply stuck in a classroom.  It’s always something, isn’t it?  If you want to move beyond set design sketches and give your students a chance to design real sets while still learning skills of play analysis, resource management, use of space and of course, design, it’s time to try a major project:  the scale model set.  The best part?  It’s a hands-on way for students to tackle several set design challenges without breaking the budget.

First, your kids will need to read a play.  You can have them each working on their own script or have them all work on the same play.  You might even break them into design teams.  Have the kids analyze the play, looking for set requirements and design clues just as they would if they were designing and building real, full-scale sets.

The next step should be done prior to sketching or designing.  It is key to the success of the design.  Have the students storm the theatre with tape measures, pencils and paper.  They will be getting measurements of all dimensions of the theatre for their scale model.  Important measurements are the stage depth and width, the height from the floor to the proscenium or fly system (if your stage has one), and the height from the audience floor to the stage level (important for determining sightlines on some set designs).  If you have curtains, measure the width of each as well as the distance from the curtain to the edge of the stage.  Be sure to get measurements for all of the backstage space.  This will allow them to determine how much space they’ll have to store sets that will be going on and off stage.  Also, get measurements of any doors in case their set designs require set pieces that would have to be brought in that way.  If you’re lucky enough to have a trapdoor, don’t forget those measurements either.  In short, measure everything you can, down to the very last leg and teaser.

To make sure nobody goes astray, get the students together to compare measurements.  Or, if you like, you can take your own measurements and grade the students on their accuracy.  The point is that by the end of this step, everyone needs to have accurate measurements from which to work.

Now that they’ve measured every nook and cranny of the theatre, the students have all the information they need to actually build a scale model of the stage for which they will be designing sets.  Before they can begin, however, they need to set a scale.  Either one foot to one inch or one foot to one half inch is usually a good starting point, but will depend on the size of your stage and the size model you want.  Many professionals build their scale models with foamboard and glue, but cardboard and tape or wood and nails work just as well.  At its core, all it really needs is a stage floor and backstage walls.  If you really want to go all out, have the students recreate the theatre’s curtains and fly system with a little fabric and some wire or string.

Once the stage model is built, the students can see the space they’re working with and the actual design of the set can begin.  Hopefully, the students have been thinking through their play analysis and brainstorming possibilities as they’ve worked on building their stage.  Start them off with set design sketches.  These should be to the same scale that they used to create the stage model.  Be sure to have them complete both ground plan and elevation sketches.  This is another good point to stop and grade.

The final part of the process is to have the students build the model set design.  This is the most fun part of the project if they allow their creativity to shine.  There are limitless craft items you can use to build the models:  cardboard, foamboard, paper clips, Popsicle sticks, toothpicks, paper towel tubes, planting wire, string, newspaper and scrap fabric.  Needless to say, these items and so much more can be collected year-round in preparation for this project and stored in large plastic bins.

You might check with fabric stores about free sample swatches to use for model drapes, upholstery, rugs or wallpaper.  Likewise, some hardware stores give out free samples of their wood flooring.  These can be used to create model platforms, flats, set props and beyond.  With both these suggestions, however, be careful not to over-indulge.  You definitely don’t want to lose support for your theatre program from neighborhood stores!

And your supplies can be even more creative, too.  The left-over plastic rings in empty tape dispensers or credit card paper rolls could be put to good use in a model set.  My favorite “out of the box” idea for a supply to use in the scale model set is literally out of the box!  Those little plastic rings that keep the pizza box lid off the pizza make great model round tables.

You can see that there are no limits to the creativity involved in building these scale model sets, and students love the hands-on aspect of the work.  So, if letting your students design real sets isn’t a possibility due to whatever limitations you have, the scale model set design is hands down the next best thing.  Your students will love this project!