WHAT! IT'S WHITE! Set designer Michael Gill on his surprising new 3Talk set: 'We opened it out. This wasn't possible 20 years ago.'

''What we wanted to do is to turn 3Talk on its head. We wanted to make the show's set fresher, cleaner, more stylized and something that completely pops.''

So says Michael Gill from Michael Gill Designs, the South African set designer extraordinaire, responsible for the new look and feel of the brand-new set of 3Talk with Noeleen (SABC3, weekdays, 15:30) that was unveiled live on air today. Plans for a new set for the 8 year old talk show produced by Urban Brew Studios for SABC3, started in earnest a year ago.

ALSO READ: 3Talk with Noeleen gets a touch-up as South Africa's local daytime talk show queen unveils her brand new white and red set.
ALSO READ: The scale model miniature of the new 3Talk with Noeleen set.

The new 3Talk with Noeleen set simply breathes white.








But white is actually a no-no colour when it comes to television. White easily washes everything else out, can come across as glaring and harsh, and you don't want to be in the final control box to hear the language of technical production staff when white plays havoc with their colour, brightness and especially contrast levels. The fantastic feat that South Africa's foremost set designer pulled off with great success, is probably something that only Michael Gill could - and more importantly, would, attempt.

''Twenty years ago we couldn't have done this,'' says Michael Gill. ''But television on a technical level has evolved to the point where it's finally doable. You can have white on television and have it look great. With better contrast control that's possible, you can have white that creates wonderful sharp contrast on the TV screen,'' he says.

Besides the ox blood red couch, the new 3Talk with Noeleen set (henceforth known as and referred to as Three Talk) also has an interchangeable anthracite grey couch which looks as amazing on the gleaming white set that's infused with plasma screens on the sides and one in the middle that can handle a split video feed.

Viewers will soon see additional set pieces: the new 3Talk with Noeleen kitchen for food preparation as well as a multi-purpose area for demonstrations. ''We had to come up with a brand-new 'everything' for what the 3Talk producers require,'' says Michael Gill.

The new 3Talk set looks a lot bigger but the white is only a part of the secret. ''We've opened it out,'' says Michael Gill, ''and we've put in wide open spaces. For TV we need to cheat. This studio isn't big, but we make it look a lot bigger. We make it look more layered that what it really is and we added plasma TV screens on either side. The look is clean and fresh.''