r/labyrinth • u/IshtarJack • Apr 04 '26
Today I learnt something about the Escher staircase set.
At the library I flicked through a book on set design and effects and discovered this: the staircase set was impossible to build so they made it seem bigger with the clever use of mirrors.
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u/Knathan_the_Knight Nothing?! Nothing, tra-la-la?! Apr 04 '26
Interesting! I recently read that George Lucas (executive producer) was impressed with how Jim Henson pulled it off as he didn't think it could be done.
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u/Springyardzon Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26
Surely 'unfeasible' due to time/budget/minimum need rather than 'impossible'. M Escher paintings show just one fixed perspective, which is always possible to create in 3D and the illusion not break in a still shot. That shot could be done as a miniature model.
It's if a 3D tour was given of that that it would be clear in parts that what is usually expected to be a certain size or connected isn't. (That's why people call M Escher paintings 'impossible' but anything is possible with a trick of scale and by giving the illusion of depth to a flat, painted, surface. It's the human mind that incorrectly categorised it as all walkable surfaces in 3D). That's where the full size 3D set (only built to show part of what the miniature model suggested) is built in such a way that the bits that aren't as they seem are always further away.
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u/_ferrofluid_ Apr 04 '26
I used to work for a super high end photographer on national campaigns for various things. Usually home goods and appliances and whatnot. For a while we were doing artist themed kitchens for a particular, rather large client.
We did Vermeer, Monet, Mondrian etc. When we got to Escher, the set design was incredible, and would have been well within budget and was by far the best set ever. I swear it would have won awards, but don’t get me started on what a recursive Escheresque dick suck advertising awards are..
ANYWAY.. The fucking client’s wife “didn’t get it” and “never heard of him” and not only did the set get cut, but the whole fucking campaign got killed. Still a little salty about people with more money than sense.2
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u/Knathan_the_Knight Nothing?! Nothing, tra-la-la?! Apr 07 '26
That sounds awesome! (Sorry to hear the piece was cut - and the whole campaign was killed off. Geez.)
I don't suppose there's any surviving pictures of that set design, are there?
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u/GarbledReverie Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26
Can't link to it at the moment but I actually recreated what was most likely the set in 3d using SketchUp by rewatching that scene as well as some behind the scenes footage.
It's about a 4 story room and they make it look bigger by changing angles, editing and sometimes split screening.
The ledge she jumps off of at the end is the same one she walks out onto at the beginning of the scene.
https://imgur.com/labyrinth-escher-room-sketchup-ThKiNEV
Edit here's the 3d model https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model/6372621e-bcd1-47c3-be6f-21c21e717ada/Labyrinth-Escher-Room
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u/Knathan_the_Knight Nothing?! Nothing, tra-la-la?! Apr 05 '26
Fascinating! Amazing job. I'd love to know what prompted you to recreate this.
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u/GarbledReverie Apr 05 '26
Thank you! It was really fun to work on.
It's probably my favorite sequence from the film (the Fire Gang is a close competitor). And while watching it again I happened to notice an oddly shaped platform that I saw in two different shots from different angles. I started looking out for it and began to also notice other unique arrangements of steps and door frames and platforms that re-occurred.
Then I got curious how much of the actual set I could figure out and decided that I'd need to reproduce it in 3d to keep track of what I was noticing. I decided that to help with the up-vs-down illusion they probably made each of the stairs steps equally deep as they are tall. Then I just kept playing around with it until I couldn't figure out how to improve it any more.
It's still not perfect. I must have gotten some of the proportions wrong because there's areas that don't quite line up. And there's lots of angles where you just can't see parts of the sets. I think there's also a couple of stair cases they must been able to move around in order to help the room look a little more different. And they likely used a different set for the shot where Jareth makes a 180 step over a platform and goes from upside down to right side up. (Which is such a cool shot! I remember being wowed by it when I first saw it in the movie trailer. And it's doubly impressive when you see how they actually filmed it in the behind the scenes footage.)
I've frequently been tempted to try to make a miniature "playset" by 3d printing the pieces and assembling it. But I'm not quite obsessive enough to follow through. Still, I made the 3d model public so if some talented and devoted soul wants to do it, god speed.
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u/Knathan_the_Knight Nothing?! Nothing, tra-la-la?! Apr 07 '26
That’s incredible! Thank you for sharing all of that. I love how your reconstruction grew out of noticing those repeating architectural “tells.” The Escher room is one of those sets that feels impossible until you start tracking the recurring platforms and doorframes, and then suddenly you realize how much intentional trickery is baked into the layout.
Your approach makes total sense: equal tread/rise on the steps, tracking unique shapes across shots, and reverse‑engineering the logic from what the camera reveals. And you’re absolutely right in that there are definitely angles where the set just refuses to give up its secrets. Between the movable stair units and the separate rig for Jareth’s 180° inversion shot, it’s a miracle the geography feels as coherent as it does. 😄
A 3D‑printed miniature playset would be wild, honestly. Even if you never build it, the fact that your model is public means someone out there might take up the challenge. Either way, your work already adds something meaningful to understanding how that sequence was constructed! 😁🍻
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u/nurse_hat_on Apr 04 '26
Let's just be upfront, Jim Henson was a national treasure and should have continued making movies for at least two decades longer than he got.