Restraint. That's what was required when designing the NBC DC studio. Is it possible to mix classical/Federal style with modern? Yes. But something tells me that somebody's imagination ran a little bit wild with what they
could
do and didn't ask if they
should
do.
The Queen Anne anchor desk is an example of this. I'm not convinced you can blend the legs and shape of the Queen Anne style with a modern desk. If I'm honest, it's the sort of thing one expects to see knocked together on 'Money for Nothing' having spent an hour at the local recycling centre.
The arched ceiling is lovely. I totally get the idea behind replicating both the high vaulted ceilings of the neo-Classical and Federal styles and the specifics of Union Station. I just expect to see people lining up behind and gathering around pay stations and fare terminals to buy tickets.
And what of the colours? There's a lot of orange/red in the background and combined with orange/red anchor desk and orange/red green room it's... woah. That's a lot. It reminds me of something but I can't quite put my finger on it. To then move over to the colonial dark blue wood effect... It's all a bit full on.
I'm with Mouseboy33 on this. NBC are usually so good at this but I think they've missed the mark with the new design.
The studio isn't all that bad. The space is good. The division between different parts of the studio is good. It's the amount and variety of colour used in graphics and lighting. It's like an explosion in a crayon factory. Coupled with the dashed lighting elements it's too much. I'm not sure the flooring helps all that much either.
The new Meet The Press studio is going to take a bit of getting used to. At the moment the new set feels like the dining room of a posh house and I prefer the old one.
The studio isn't all that bad. The space is good. The division between different parts of the studio is good. It's the amount and variety of colour used in graphics and lighting. It's like an explosion in a crayon factory. Coupled with the dashed lighting elements it's too much. I'm not sure the flooring helps all that much either.
But if you strip out the business and just have the screens you risk ending up with something like the Sky Westminster studio.
I agree entirely. It could be even worse than Sky Westminster; it could be the glass box and the main newsroom at Sky...
I agree, it's a lot about how it's used rather than a fault with the set design itself. Today mostly seems to be using shots with the two real windows looking out onto the Capitol, for example, which I think is great:
Larry King, the veteran broadcaster and TV personality who was a fixture on the air for decades, has died at the age of 87. He had been hospitalized with COVID-19. @kevtibs takes a look back at King’s life. pic.twitter.com/IXKaSgyRmF
The problem is the scattered-lines design is overused in the studio and graphically – tone it down on the desk and pillar screen graphic and the set would look great here.
I do hate the tendency of NBC and Sky towards vast, three-walled video walls, however. They just look crap, and either washed out (Sky's at times) or oversaturated (NBC's) without providing any kind of visual depth or interest. At least when the BBC has used them (think N6 and TC7), they used them with newsroom or skyline backgrounds that didn't distract, but added needed depth and 'authenticity'. A shot like:
The Meet the Press set reminds me a bit of that time NBC decided to create a fake 'ye olde' London townhouse library from which to host their primetime London 2012 Olympics coverage (complete with whisky decanter).
A good general rule of design is to limit the number of textures/materials you use - not use every material known to man.
There are a lot of issues with the NBC Washington set - but it's the flooring that is by far the biggest issue. If that was a standard block colour studio floor, the set would look far better.
A good general rule of design is to limit the number of textures/materials you use - not use every material known to man.
There are a lot of issues with the NBC Washington set - but it's the flooring that is by far the biggest issue. If that was a standard block colour studio floor, the set would look far better.
Yeah a solid floor or even faux marble floor. Just looking at it now all the patterns on the floor limit layouts if they do full shots.
The studio isn't all that bad. The space is good. The division between different parts of the studio is good. It's the amount and variety of colour used in graphics and lighting. It's like an explosion in a crayon factory. Coupled with the dashed lighting elements it's too much. I'm not sure the flooring helps all that much either.
But if you strip out the business and just have the screens you risk ending up with something like the Sky Westminster studio.
I agree entirely. It could be even worse than Sky Westminster; it could be the glass box and the main newsroom at Sky...
I agree, it's a lot about how it's used rather than a fault with the set design itself. Today mostly seems to be using shots with the two real windows looking out onto the Capitol, for example, which I think is great:
Larry King, the veteran broadcaster and TV personality who was a fixture on the air for decades, has died at the age of 87. He had been hospitalized with COVID-19. @kevtibs takes a look back at King’s life. pic.twitter.com/IXKaSgyRmF
The problem is the scattered-lines design is overused in the studio and graphically – tone it down on the desk and pillar screen graphic and the set would look great here.
I do hate the tendency of NBC and Sky towards vast, three-walled video walls, however. They just look crap, and either washed out (Sky's at times) or oversaturated (NBC's) without providing any kind of visual depth or interest. At least when the BBC has used them (think N6 and TC7), they used them with newsroom or skyline backgrounds that didn't distract, but added needed depth and 'authenticity'. A shot like:
The upstairs studio on other shows isn’t that bad. It was relatively simple last night during The Rachel Maddow Show with her colored blocky graphics.
I never cared for the old BBC TVC Barco studios, in my opinion they were too washed out (more so than Sky) but maybe because it’s in SD. The fake newsrooms never looked good.
I think many agree (By the way, I think we should call it the MTP-Meet The Press set/newsroom) the MTP set is very out of character for NBC. Im conflicted about it, because its not badly done or badly presented or layed-out. I dont think its necessarily ugly, it just doenst fit with NBC News set history. It looks great on tv. They only thing I can think of is because MTP is the longest running programme on air since 1945....maybe that was the thinking. Something that felt permanent and established. If this was ABC News this would be ground-breaking set for them. They have a history of doing crap overly designed sets (im looking at you GMA and your odd lighted corridor behind the anchor desk..really?). Ive always hated ABC News. There is something out their sets, music and tinny strange audio that irritates me. I guess this set will have to grown on me. I hope this doesnt set a precedent for NBC and their more than excellent track record of sets.
I never cared for the old BBC TVC Barco studios, in my opinion they were too washed out
(more so than Sky)
but maybe because it’s in SD. The fake newsrooms never looked good.
