I've long said that Studio B is a really unpleasant environment for television. Just take a look here (screengrab thanks to
ginnyfan):
What makes it look so poor is how much dark, wasted space can be seen in most of the shots. The matte finish on the floor looks so dull. It would have looked so much better with a glossy finish that could have reflected the set. Secondly, while the studio is large and rather high, the set doesn't really use the height to its potential. That means there's a lot of darkness above it, and because all the monitors on that side of the set are spaced pretty far apart, many of the shots have to show a lot of black at the top and the bottom of the screen. And I'm fine with lightboxes and colorful sets, but the LED lighting isn't very well focused on anything, so it looks really washed out while also letting off that cold blue that LEDs are prone to do. Lastly, the two parts of the set are completely disjointed. Aside from Victoria Live (I think), most of the shows tend to stick to either one side or the other. That just seems like a wasted opportunity for such a large studio. Imagine what they could have done had the set been designed as one large environment rather than two mostly separate ones.
Then compare that to
Studio C. While it's much smaller, you don't see very much of a dull floor at all, the set is built to its proper height, the monitors all have more definition to them than in B, and all the lightboxes let off a warmer and more focused glow. I also think the fact that it's circular and features those crazy cameras on rails means that while there are fewer shots overall, they are all lit properly and all have great depth of field.
I think one of the best examples of C looking its greatest is for Hardtalk. Had they moved it from A to B, they probably would have set up the show in front of the big video wall, and there wouldn't have been very much to look at. But in C, the show has a very nice two-shot of Stephen and the guest, and then the guest has a really nice, clean backdrop of one of the huge monitors from behind. The desk is a little awkward for an interview show, but it still works really well.
Last edited by Charles on 26 December 2016 6:19am - 3 times in total