A Floor Plan and Set Rendering

Making a Floor Plan

A scene designer will start with a floor plan. A floor plan is a bird’s eye view of the stage or where the actors play out the drama. It is a map of the setting. The floor plan shows the edges of the walls and outlines of what is in the setting, the set props.

Set props are big pieces like furniture or trees. Plays usually have some set props to let the audience know where the play takes place. Actors also use the set props. They need things to sit on or put their things on.

A chair, set prop. Photo by Jim Wright

Here is an example of a floor plan for “The Drug Store Robbery” a play by Mitchell that happens in and near a drug store 100 years ago. Notice that Mitchell shows where the door is. He has drawn the line as if the door is open. He also printed on the drawing that it was a door. He also labeled what was on the walls. He has only one set prop, the counter. He has drawn it in and labeled it.

Here is another floor plan. This is for a play on our school playground.

Make a floor plan for your drama.

Remember you’re looking at your setting from the top. Draw the lines where the walls or fences will be. Draw in the outlines of the set props, furniture or trees, etc.

All you’ll need to make your floor plan is:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Perhaps a straight edge to draw the lines for the walls

Making a Rendering of a Set

Now it is time to draw what the setting will look like. If we were going to build the set, we’d like to know what colors the walls are, what the furniture will look like. We’d even like an idea where some of the hand props will be.

Hand props are objects the actors pick up and use in the play. A hand prop would be the telephone the clerk uses to call the police after the robbery in Mitchell’s drama.

Here is an example of a rendering, a colored drawing of the setting for “The Drug Store Robbery.”

Here is the rendering for the playground scene.

Now it's your turn to make a rendering for your drama.
You’ll need:

• Paper
• Pencil
• Crayons, felt tip markers, or watercolors

Then you need to:

• Think about helping us see things on your floor plan, upright and from the front
• Draw the walls, or the background
• Draw in the furniture or trees
• Then color or paint your setting