When Science Fiction is describing an imaginative new world or time in the future one of the ways the creators help the audience suspend their disbelief and become part of that world is to have just the right set and prop designs.
Therefore today I am going to list 5 examples of great Sci Fi Set Design.
1. Star Trek - The Original Series. The automatic doors, the "Captain's chair" on the bridge," the Communicator, so much has already been said about the prescience of the set and props designs on the original Star Trek series. Its spare 60's futuristic look was perfect for the Utopian vision of the show.
2. Dr Who - Pick your favorite Dr. The Tardis- larger on the inside than on the outside, what a fantastic idea. Dr. Who used more cheesy special effects and silver duct tape than most shows and I really respect their optimism that the audience would be having such a good time watching the story they wouldn't care. And they didn't.
3. Alien. Trapped on the ship in space, an utterly frightening idea. But the set design of the ship with its close quarters and dark environs foreshadowing of the entrapment to come helped make this movie super scary.
4. Firefly, and Serenity. The set designers of Firefly made the ship be as much of a mish-mash as the rag tag group of space pirates in this show. The ship shows signs of wear, and each characters room is painted a different color to help express their individuality. The use of ladders and vertical spaces on the 2 sets allowed the filming to continue from one scene to the next keeping a documentary style continuity.
5. Battlestar Galactica - The New Series. Calling on a steampunk sensibility, the new Galactica shows us what happens when the future of the human race rests on an 100 year old battleship that was being used a a museum. Having to eschew the use of anything computerized (to avoid the Cylons being able to hack into it) bring up some great opportunities for old fashioned props such as the big war planning board in the General's office, the terrible sounding analog speaker systems in the fighter ships, and the crazy pipes and wires that accompany any sort of low technology system in the ships.
And yes, there was alot of charm in those old B movies where they went to the local store or furniture catalog and got stuff and spray painted it silver.
