Scenery flats are large, rectangular free-standing structures. Scenery flats are generally created 8-, 10- or 12-feet tall; however, larger stages may require larger flats for some scenes. Flats are generally 4 feet wide, and less than 4 inches thick. Stage flats are generally thinner, one inch thick or thinner for easy storage and set up. Hollywood flats are as much as 4 inches thick. Because of this size, stage directors can organize a series of flats, forming a large backdrop across the rear of a stage. Wooden rails lift flats off the ground, and are set perpendicular from the flat's base.
Set directors generally use wood to make the large, rectangular frames of scenery flats. Other materials, such as metals or plastics, are too expensive for flats and could even be dangerous for actors. You can use metal brackets to keep the scenery flat's structure and increase the amount of time they last. To ensure that a scenery flat can be reused from production to production, stage directors use cloth, paper, canvas or muslin. You can remove the scenery flat surface, replace it with another surface and make repairs as needed.
You can paint scenery flats to represent any backdrop that you need for a scene. This includes solid black to represent the night sky, buildings to represent a city scene, mountains to represent a natural scene or clouds to represent a sky. You can repaint scenery flats to depict other scenes, or replace a flat's surface to show a different scene. Set directors paint scenery flats to represent general scenes, allowing the flats to serve multiple productions.
An old stage tradition suggests that actors should sign the backs of scenery flats, after using the flats for their production. Because of this, older flats can collect a large number of signatures from the casts and crews of many different productions. This tradition creates an opportunity for you to find old scenery flats with a fascinating collection of signatures from former actors.