Project Overview

This set design submission describes the work recently completed for world class stand up comedian Adam Hills, who has been back in the host chair for a series of 12 one hour chat shows on ABC TV. These shows have built on Adam’s previous talk show : “Adam Hills Live at Gordon Street”. They feature celebrity guests and clever comedy in front of a live studio audience.

The set design provides a new environment for Adam, and his co-host Hannah Gadsby. The project is a co-production between Adam’s long time executive producer Bruce Kane, through his company Bruce Kane Media and ABC TV.

Project Commissioner

ABC TV

Project Creator

Baenziger Coles

Team

The genesis of this project came initially from Bruce Kane Media in association with ABC TV. Bruce Kane, who had been producer for Adam in his previous shows, had secured a new series with the ABC The ABC were to offer logistical support while Bruce would control the creative content for the series. The exercise of designing the set became one of satisfying the requirements of both parties. On the one hand delivering the creative requirement for Bruce Kane Media, while satisfying the logisitical and budgetry constraints of the ABC.

Included in the successful delivery of this project was the support I received from the ABC represented by Tarni James-ABC Executive Producer; Lauraine Colley - Production Manager; Frank Racina - Lighting Director; John Old - Director; Liz Seaton - Production Co-ordinator; Phil Scarano - Graphic Designer; Charles Morse - Workshop Supervisor; Mark Reynolds - Staging Supervisor;

And from Bruce Kane Media, my source of support was from - Bruce Kane - Executive Producer and Anthony Watt - associate producer

Project Brief

The brief for this project originated over a discussion with Adam Hill’s executive producer Bruce Kane, who had committed to producing a new series for Adam with ABC TV. The origins of this new series were founded in Adam’s previous shows for the ABC entitled “Adam Hills Live at Gordon Street”. That show had established many of the parameters that would be explored in this new series. Rather than re-invent the concept, Bruce felt that an evolution of the ‘earthy’ studio look would help to perpetuate the appeal that Adam has had with his audiences.

From our early discussions, it was decided to take some of the material elements from the previous show into the new concept to preserve a degree of continuity. The physical studio space allocated for the new set was much smaller than the previous show. This physical constraint combined with the intention to make it look more like an apartment than an arrangement of space, helped to set a more intimate style.

Project Need

Apart from the visual considerations of the project brief, there were also practical needs to develop a new environment for this show. The previous set was built in such a way that it took days to set and light. With increased volume of production in their main studio, the ABC stipulated that the new scenery had to be capable of being set / and struck in 2 hours to enable other production to follow on consecutive days.

To accommodate this requirement, the set had to be designed in such a way that the individual components could be made mobile, capable of being re-connected in a seamless way once in position.

Design Challenge

There is a difficulty in designing for a show that has already had a successful production run. To bring a new appeal to the visual elements without destroying those of the former concept can be a challenge. Fortunately the change in studio requirements and scheduling had meant that the previous physical layout would not work A re-organisation of the main set elements based on their inter dependencies resulted in a visual difference even before materials / colours were considered. Quite apart from these design constraints, was the overarching one of budget. The budget restrictions meant that much of the former set had to be re-purposed and re-utilised in the new configuration.

Sustainability

The need to re-purpose / re-use many of the former set elements, meant that a large portion of this set build was re-cycled from the previous show. As well as recycling, thought was given to keeping as much of the build as possible in-house at the ABC workshops. This avoided unnecessary transport and logistics.

Materials used in the set build included : “Ecoustic”wall coverings by Instyle - made from over 50% recycled polyester; Shaw - “Applied” carpet tiles for the floor - made from 100% recyclable solution dyed nylon; locally made furniture from Insitu - including the “Quoin” 3 seater lounge, and “Scape” tub chairs;upholstered in Instyle “Laser” upholstery - made from 60% sustainable, rapidly renewable content: EthEco® wool.

Installation Design - Set Design

This award celebrates innovative and creative design for a temporary building or interior. Consideration given to materials, fixtures, finishes, signage and traffic flow.  
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