Importance of Sets

Settings can be used as an extension of a character in film production. A certain location that is directly linked with a certain character may share characteristics or be totally opposite. For example, in the film Lost in translation, the characters, Charlotte and Bob are in Tokyo. To reinforce how the characters feel out of place in the foreign land, the setting shows several shots of signs written in Japanese etc, with a lot going on but not a lot understood to the non-Japanese audience. This reflects on the characters as they feel out of place with their significant other, showing a rift between them and the city and their partners in parallel. As the characters go throughout the film, they learn how to deal with their problems and ultimately become more in tune with each other at which point the shots go from being close up and confusing with features of Japanese signs etc to more wide, open shots of the city, showcasing their growth and the progression of the storyline.


With such a hidden role in the dynamic of film, setting can contribute more than any other storytelling technique in film production.