Set building 101

I have been asked a few times about building this. So I thought I would do a write up here so everybody can see it. I have had this idea for about 12 years. It is not a new idea by any means. And I have seen it done several times. But wanted to do it any way.

I do a shoot for a local boutique a few times a year. We had done the white sweep and black background stuff before. So i was wanting to do something different this time. I presented the idea and the added cost. And she loved the idea! So off to Home Depot I went!!

I normally build flats the same way film crews do. But this time it would be leaning against a wall. So no need to make it self standing or overly strong. Plus it needed to be transportable. I would be building it at home and moving it to the location the day before the shoot.

This build is about as simple as it gets, just 4 furring strips and two sheets of luan plywood. Some paint, and 20 lightbubs and sockets. And a bit of wire.

The gap between the two boards was kind of a problem. There was no chance I could patch it as it would be broke down to be moved. So I decided to make it a feature. I had the plywood cut in half so I had 4 sheets of 2 foot by 8 foot wood. Now the seam is part of the pattern and will be passed off as just part of the look.

The final would be one panel wide and 4 panels high. 8 foot by 8 foot. With a row of 5 lights in the middle of each panel.

I laid all 4 sheets of plywood on some saw horses. Lined them up and clamped them in place.


Found center and drilled a hole through all 4 to keep the lights as exactly the same spacing as I can.


Moved 20 inches each way and did the same thing

The bit I had was not quite big enough to get to the contacts of the light socket easily. so I had to chisel a key hole to each one.


Throw on a little flat black paint. One quart was exactly the right amount to do 2 coats on two sheets of plywood. Dont forget to paint the edges. The blonde of the wood will easily show up next to black! I painted the face of the furring strips as well incase of them showing through the seams.


I decided to pop rivet on the light sockets. Didn't have to worry about getting tiny nuts to tight, or getting loose and falling off. Plus it was way faster. Just center it on the hole. Drill a couple smaller holes. and on goes the rivet. Done.


Wiring is very basic. 2 core wire. black wire to the copper screws. White wire to the silver screws. Then make a pig tail so you can plug it in.


A couple days later I loaded it into the car and headed off to the location.

Assembly is simple. Just lay out the two end furring strips. They should be the same lengh as the 4 panels of the background. So just align them with the edge of the panel and nail it on place. the middle two are a bit tricky as the wire might be in the way. But mine went in fairly easy. Nail them in place as well. The i just stood it up and slid it against the wall.

And the next evening... I installed the light bulbs, plugged it in, we were in business!!

One lesson learned: 20 light bulbs is not that bright. I brought my Calumet traveler pack thinking I would need some power to shoot into that many lightbulbs. But even at its lowest setting it was 5 stops to bright. So I brought out the small lights. and even then they were at half power. (150 watt)

Final light set up was a single gridded beauty dish. Boomed over head at about 7-8 foot high.


If I was to do this again I would but the spacing in half for the bulbs. But that would mean 80 bulbs and sockets! But the look would be worth it I think

It seems like I kind of glossed over building this. But in fact it really was/is that simple. Other than waiting for paint to dry. You could do this in one afternoon. with waiting for paint 4 short session over 4 days.