Stage design began in Ancient Greece with simple props and the natural world around where the play was taking place. The natural environment around the stage, such as a forest or a river, would serve as background for scenes or locations from which characters had traveled from. The stage itself would often have a skene, a tent and later wooden or stone buildings from which the actors could enter and exit from that would serve as a changing area. This skene would often have a door or several doors that would allow actors to enter and exit from. The skene could also have real buildings and architectural items such as windows, doors, pillars, and alcoves. Skenes would often have many doors for actors to enter from and could also have platforms above the stage which would allow actors to set themselves apart to play “gods” when called for.  The skene would also often have painted panels that would serve as the background for the plays. These panels could often display buildings, temples, or landscapes. These paintings often made use of early perspective allowing for the buildings and temples to appear real.