 Production designer Carey Meyer built the ship Serenity in two parts ( one for each level ) as a complete set with ceilings and practical lighting installed as part of the set that the cameras could use along with moveable parts . The two @-@ part set also allowed the second unit to shoot in one section while the actors and first unit worked undisturbed in the other . As Whedon recalled : " ... you could pull it away or move something huge , so that you could get in and around everything . That meant the environment worked for us and there weren 't a lot of adjustments that needed to be made . " There were other benefits to this set design . One was that it allowed the viewers to feel they were really in a ship . For Whedon , the design of the ship was crucial in defining the known space for the viewer , and that there were not " fourteen hundred decks and a holodeck and an all @-@ you @-@ can @-@ eat buffet in the back " . He wanted to convey that it was utilitarian and that it was " beat @-@ up but lived @-@ in and ultimately , it was home " . As Joss Whedon discusses in the DVD commentary , each room represented a feeling or character , usually conveyed by the paint color . He explains that as you move from the back of the ship in the engine room , toward the front of the ship to the bridge , the colors and mood progress from extremely warm to cooler . Besides evoking a mood associated with the character who spends most time in each area , the color scheme also alludes to the heat generated in the tail of the ship . Whedon was also keen on utilizing vertical space ; thus , having the crew 's quarters accessible by ladder was important . Another benefit of the set design was that it also allowed the actors to stay in the moment and interact , without having to stop after each shot and reset up for the next . This helped contribute to the documentary style Whedon strove for . 
