From the Publisher: While critics have long disparaged commercial television as a vast wasteland, TV has surprising links to the urbane world of modern art that stretch back to the 1950s and '60s during that era, the rapid rise of commercial television coincided with dynamic new movements in the visual arts-a potent combination that precipitated a major shift in the way Americans experienced the world visually. TV by Design uncovers this captivating story of how modernism and network television converged and intertwined in their mutual ascent during the decades of the cold war. Whereas most histories of television focus on the way older forms of entertainment were recycled for the new medium, Lynn Spigel shows how TV was instrumental in introducing the public to the latest trends in art and design. Abstract expressionism, pop art, art cinema, modern architecture, and cutting-edge graphic design were all mined for staging techniques, scenic designs, and an ever-growing number of commercials. As a result, TV helped fuel the public craze for trendy modern products, such as tailfin cars and boomerang coffee tables, that was vital to the burgeoning postwar economy. And along with influencing the look of television, many artists-including Eero Saarinen, Ben Shahn, Saul Bass, William Golden, and Richard Avedon-also participated in its creation as the networks put them to work designing everything from their corporate headquarters to their company cufflinks. Dizzy Gillespie, Ernie Kovacs, Duke Ellington, and Andy Warhol all stop by in this imaginative and winning account of the ways in which art, television, and commerce merged in the first decades of the TV age.

The analysis of scenic design in film and television is often neglected, with visual design elements relegated to part of the mise-en-scène in cinema or simply as "wallpaper" in television. Critical Approaches to TV and Film Set Design positions itself from the audience perspective to explore how we watch TV and film, and how set design enhances and influences the viewing experience. By using semiotics, history and narratology and adding concepts drawn from art, architecture and theatre, Geraint D’Arcy reworks the key concepts of set design. Looking at the impact of production design on how the viewer reads film and television, these updated theories can be applied more flexibly and extensively in academic criticism. D’Arcy creates a new theoretical approach, representing a significant expansion of the field and filling the remaining gaps. This book is ideal for anyone interested in understanding how we can read and interpret design in film and television, and should be the primary point of reference for those studying TV and film set design.

TV Scenic Design is a comprehensive resource for aspiring and practicing set designers. Summarizing the principles and practices of scenic design, it details design approaches, structures, and staging methods. TV Scenic Design is a comprehensive resource for aspiring and practicing set designers. Summarizing the principles and practices of scenic design, it details design approaches, structures, and staging methods. The information contained in the book can be applied to a variety of design situations, from campus or network TV studios, to exhibitions, audio-visual presentations or window displays. Whatever the scale, space or budget, the methods described in TV Scenic Design will ensure professional results. Now expanded to cover 'virtual' set design, this new edition continues to be an invaluable aid to anyone involved in creating effective sets. Contents: The background of design * The basics of design organization * Scenic construction * Staging techniques * Staging practices * Shoestring staging * Scenic effect * Electronic reality * Scenic operation * The designer on location * Controlling the tone and color * Lighting and the designer * glossary * Index Gerald Millerson's books on television and video have been acknowledged as among the best ever published. His other titles for Focal Press are Video Production Handbook, The Technique of Television Production, The Technique of Lighting for Television and Film and, in the Media Manual series, Effective TV Production and Video Camera Techniques.

Social sciences.

Drawing on the fields of theatrical design, art, architecture and television theory, this book offers readers unique insight into the special challenges facing the television production designer. Readers will learn how to create floorplans, elevations, details, and plots, as well as how to transfer ideas into real working sets.

TV Scenic Design is a comprehensive resource for aspiring and practicing set designers. Summarizing the principles and practices of scenic design, it details design approaches, structures, and staging methods. TV Scenic Design is a comprehensive resource for aspiring and practicing set designers. Summarizing the principles and practices of scenic design, it details design approaches, structures, and staging methods. The information contained in the book can be applied to a variety of design situations, from campus or network TV studios, to exhibitions, audio-visual presentations or window displays. Whatever the scale, space or budget, the methods described in TV Scenic Design will ensure professional results. Now expanded to cover 'virtual' set design, this new edition continues to be an invaluable aid to anyone involved in creating effective sets. Contents: The background of design * The basics of design organization * Scenic construction * Staging techniques * Staging practices * Shoestring staging * Scenic effect * Electronic reality * Scenic operation * The designer on location * Controlling the tone and color * Lighting and the designer * glossary * Index Gerald Millerson's books on television and video have been acknowledged as among the best ever published. His other titles for Focal Press are Video Production Handbook, The Technique of Television Production, The Technique of Lighting for Television and Film and, in the Media Manual series, Effective TV Production and Video Camera Techniques.