The Art of Set Design in Squid Game: Crafting Dystopian Playgrounds
Squid Game captivated audiences worldwide with its gripping storyline and visually striking sets. The Netflix hit's production design played a crucial role in bringing the dystopian world to life. Art Director Chae Kyung-sun meticulously crafted each set to reflect themes of inequality, capitalism, and the loss of innocence in modern society.
The show's sets act as powerful metaphors, enhancing the narrative and evoking emotional responses from viewers. From the pastel-colored stairways reminiscent of M.C. Escher's impossible constructions to the oversized children's playground equipment, every element was carefully chosen to create a surreal and unsettling atmosphere. These visual cues subtly reinforce the characters' feelings of disorientation and powerlessness within the game's brutal system.
The contrast between childlike aesthetics and deadly stakes is a recurring motif in Squid Game's set design. This juxtaposition serves to heighten the sense of unease and moral ambiguity that permeates the series. By blending familiar childhood imagery with life-or-death scenarios, the production team created a unique visual language that resonates with audiences on a deep, psychological level.
Conceptualizing the Set Design
The set design of Squid Game masterfully blends childhood nostalgia with dark symbolism. Art Director Chae Kyung-sun crafted intricate environments that reflect societal contradictions and amplify the show's themes.
Influence of Childhood Games
Squid Game's sets draw heavily from familiar childhood games and playgrounds. Oversized versions of traditional Korean games create a surreal, dreamlike atmosphere. The Red Light, Green Light arena features an enormous doll, evoking memories of schoolyard play.
The dormitory resembles a massive bunk bed structure, reminiscent of summer camps. Tug-of-war and marbles games take place in exaggerated, childlike settings. These elements tap into viewers' nostalgia while subverting expectations through scale and context.
Symbolism and Themes
Chae Kyung-sun embedded layers of metaphors throughout the sets. The stark contrast between vibrant game arenas and drab living quarters highlights wealth disparity. Geometric shapes dominate the architecture, representing rigid social structures.
The final squid game arena features a simple outline, focusing attention on the human drama. Maze-like stairways connecting game levels symbolize the characters' struggle to advance. The VIP viewing area's opulent design contrasts sharply with contestants' sparse surroundings.
The Role of Color and Imagery
Bold colors play a crucial role in Squid Game's visual storytelling. Pink dominates the guards' uniforms and many set pieces, creating an unsettling juxtaposition with the show's violent themes. Green tracksuits worn by contestants stand out against colorful backdrops.
Childlike imagery appears throughout, from the giant playground slide to cartoon animal decorations. These elements clash with the deadly nature of the games. Circus-inspired designs in some arenas add to the sense of spectacle and performance.
Physical Design and Architecture
The set design of Squid Game masterfully blends surreal architecture with psychological elements to create a visually striking and disorienting environment. The physical spaces serve as both backdrop and metaphor for the twisted games that unfold.
Architectural Inspirations
The labyrinthine corridors and staircases of the Squid Game facility draw inspiration from M.C. Escher's mind-bending artwork. Escher's "Relativity" lithograph, with its impossible staircases leading in multiple directions, is echoed in the show's iconic staircase set. The maze-like quality evokes a sense of confusion and entrapment.
Ricardo Bofill's La Muralla Roja in Spain influenced the bold use of color and geometric forms. The striking red exterior of the game complex contrasts sharply with the pastel hues of the interior spaces. This color scheme heightens the psychological impact of transitioning between areas.
Zaha Hadid's fluid architectural style, as seen in the Heydar Aliyev Center, inspired the curved forms and seamless transitions between spaces in certain game rooms. These organic shapes create a disorienting effect, blurring the lines between walls, floors, and ceilings.
Constructing the Maze-Like Spaces
The production team built intricate sets that could be easily reconfigured between games. Modular wall panels allowed for quick transformations, creating new paths and dead ends. This flexibility enabled the creation of distinct environments for each challenge while maintaining a cohesive visual style.
Forced perspective techniques were employed to make corridors appear longer or shorter than their actual dimensions. This optical illusion added to the players' sense of disorientation and emphasized the manipulative nature of the games.
Lighting played a crucial role in defining spaces. Harsh fluorescent lighting in some areas contrasted with dramatic shadows in others, creating an unsettling atmosphere that kept both players and viewers on edge.
The Iconic Staircase
The multi-colored staircase set became one of Squid Game's most recognizable visual elements. Its design draws clear parallels to Escher's "Relativity," with staircases intersecting at impossible angles. The bright pastel colors create a jarring contrast with the dark themes of the show.
This set piece serves multiple functions:
Visual metaphor for the characters' struggle to ascend the social ladder
Transition space between games
Arena for tense confrontations between players
The staircase's constantly shifting perspective mirrors the unstable nature of alliances and fortunes within the game. Its complex geometry challenges viewers' perceptions, much like the moral ambiguities presented in the story.
Creation of Key Props and Sets
The set design of Squid Game relied heavily on meticulously crafted props and environments to create its distinctive visual style. These elements played a crucial role in bringing the games to life and immersing viewers in the show's world.
Designing the Playground
The iconic playground set served as the backdrop for the "Red Light, Green Light" game. Its design featured oversized elements to make the adult contestants feel child-like. The giant doll at the center stood out as a focal point, with its eerie appearance and rotating head mechanism.
Bright colors contrasted sharply with the dark themes of the show. The set designers used flat surfaces layered strategically to create depth, incorporating common roof designs and gate elements from traditional Korean multi-family houses.
This approach helped achieve a surreal, almost cartoonish quality that belied the deadly nature of the games.
The Giant Piggy Bank
The massive piggy bank suspended above the players' dormitory was a key visual element. It symbolized the growing prize money and the high stakes of the competition.
Filled with stacks of cash, the transparent acrylic structure allowed contestants and viewers to see the fortune accumulating with each elimination. The piggy bank's imposing presence served as a constant reminder of the ultimate goal.
Its design merged childhood imagery with adult greed, reinforcing the show's themes of desperation and moral compromise.
Recreating Childhood Relics
Props like the dalgona honeycomb treats and marbles were essential in evoking nostalgia for Korean childhood games. The production team created real dalgona on set, ensuring authenticity in the actors' interactions with these items.
For the marble game, designers crafted a maze-like alleyway reminiscent of traditional Korean neighborhoods. This setting added emotional depth to the pivotal "gganbu" moments between players.
The tug-of-war platform emphasized the precarious nature of the competition, with its height and industrial design amplifying the sense of danger.
The Role of Set Design in Storytelling
Set design plays a crucial role in Squid Game, shaping the viewer experience and reinforcing key themes. It creates immersive environments that evoke powerful emotions, enhance the narrative, and build tension throughout the series.
Evoking Emotions in the Viewer
The vibrant, childlike aesthetics of Squid Game's sets contrast sharply with the dark themes of the show. Oversized playground equipment and bold primary colors create an unsettling juxtaposition with the life-or-death stakes faced by contestants.
This dissonance heightens the emotional impact on viewers, making the violence more shocking. The cramped dormitory set, with its stark bunk beds, emphasizes the contestants' desperate circumstances and loss of individuality.
Lighting plays a key role in mood-setting. Harsh fluorescents in game areas create a clinical, oppressive atmosphere, while warm lighting in VIP viewing rooms highlights the stark divide between players and observers.
Enhancing Narrative through Space
Set design in Squid Game reinforces central narrative themes. The maze-like structure of game areas mirrors the contestants' confusion and lack of control. Towering walls and dizzying staircases emphasize their powerlessness against the faceless organization running the games.
The opulent VIP viewing rooms, adorned with gold and animal motifs, showcase the decadence and detachment of the wealthy spectators. This visual contrast with the spartan player areas underscores the series' commentary on wealth inequality and exploitation.
Props and set dressing provide subtle storytelling cues. The giant piggy bank filled with cash looms over players, a constant reminder of the prize driving their actions and symbolizing the corrosive power of greed.
Creating Tension with Environment
Environmental design in Squid Game amplifies tension throughout the series. Confined spaces like the glass bridge or tug-of-war platform create a sense of claustrophobia and impending danger for both contestants and viewers.
The stark, empty spaces surrounding game areas emphasize the contestants' isolation and vulnerability. This vastness contrasts with the tight framing during intense moments, increasing the feeling of pressure on players.
Sound design interacts with set elements to build suspense. The echo of footsteps in cavernous spaces or the creaking of precarious structures keeps the audience on edge, enhancing the impact of each game's deadly stakes.
Technical Aspects and Production Challenges
Squid Game's set design required meticulous planning and execution to bring its unique vision to life. The production team faced numerous technical hurdles while balancing artistic goals with practical constraints.
Balancing Aesthetics and Practicality
Production designer Chae Kyoung-sun focused on creating visually striking sets that also served functional purposes. The iconic giant doll for the "Red Light, Green Light" game posed significant engineering challenges. Its size and weight required careful consideration for safety and mobility.
The team constructed oversized playground equipment and colorful backdrops to emphasize the contrast between childlike games and deadly stakes. This approach enhanced the visual impact while ensuring actors could interact realistically with the environment.
For the glass bridge game, designers had to develop a system that allowed for safe "shattering" effects while supporting the weight of performers. They used specially treated sugar glass and hidden support structures to achieve the desired look without compromising safety.
Behind the Scenes: Managing Workflow
The production schedule demanded efficient workflow management to complete complex sets on time. Chae Kyoung-sun implemented a modular design approach, allowing simultaneous construction of multiple game arenas.
3D modeling and previsualization techniques helped streamline the design process. This allowed the team to identify potential issues early and make adjustments before physical construction began.
The production utilized a combination of practical sets and digital enhancements. This hybrid approach maximized efficiency, allowing for quicker turnaround times between scenes while maintaining a cohesive visual style.
Collaboration with Director and Crew
Close cooperation between Chae Kyoung-sun, director Hwang Dong-hyuk, and other department heads was crucial to the show's success. Regular meetings ensured that set designs aligned with the director's vision and met practical filming requirements.
The art department worked closely with the cinematography team to optimize lighting setups and camera movements within the confined spaces of game arenas. This collaboration resulted in dynamic shot compositions that enhanced the claustrophobic atmosphere.
Costume designers and prop makers coordinated with the set design team to ensure visual cohesion. The iconic green tracksuits and masked guards' uniforms were developed in tandem with set color schemes to create a unified aesthetic throughout the series.
Audience Reception and Cultural Impact
Squid Game's set design captivated viewers worldwide, sparking discussions on capitalism, inequality, and Korean culture. Its visual elements resonated deeply, influencing popular culture and design trends.
Global Reception and Critique
Squid Game's striking visuals left a lasting impression on global audiences. The series' critique of capitalism and structural inequality struck a chord with viewers across cultures. The iconic set pieces, like the giant doll from Red Light, Green Light, became instantly recognizable symbols.
Social media platforms exploded with Squid Game-inspired content. TikTok users recreated challenges based on Korean children's games featured in the show. The distinctive pink uniforms worn by the guards became popular Halloween costumes.
Critics praised the show's ability to convey complex themes through its visual storytelling. The stark contrast between the contestants' living conditions and the game's colorful, childlike settings highlighted societal disparities.
Influence on Contemporary Design
Squid Game's aesthetic has had a significant impact on contemporary design trends. The show's bold use of color, particularly the juxtaposition of pastel hues with dark themes, inspired fashion and interior design choices.
The geometric shapes and patterns featured in the game arenas influenced graphic design and architecture. Many businesses incorporated elements of Squid Game's visual style into their marketing campaigns.
The show's retro-futuristic look, exemplified by the Waiting Lounge, sparked renewed interest in 1960s and 1970s design aesthetics. This blend of nostalgia and modernity resonated with designers and consumers alike.
Set Design as Cultural Commentary
The meticulously crafted sets in Squid Game served as powerful metaphors for modern society. The childlike game environments contrasted sharply with the deadly stakes, mirroring the façade of fairness in a capitalist system.
Gi-Hun's journey through the games reflected the struggles of ordinary people in a competitive world. The contestants' living quarters, with their stark bunk beds, symbolized the dehumanizing effects of extreme poverty.
The opulent viewing room used by the VIPs highlighted the vast wealth disparity between the elite and the desperate contestants. This visual representation of societal stratification sparked discussions about economic inequality and the nature of power in modern society.
