To showcase the city of Paris during its coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics, NBC and HD Studio collaborated to take full advantage of production venues with prime views of the city the network secured — but the project also required finding ways to bring in French flair in enclosed spaces.
Bryan Higgason at HD Studio spent an extensive amount of time researching, designing and adjusting the studio designs, working closely with Mike Sheehan and Atila Ozkaplan at NBC. The projects also required careful coordination with fabricator Blackwalnut and The Lighting Design Group to finalize the details that made the spaces shine.
“Everyone did an incredible job getting us to air under some very difficult time constraints,” noted Higgason.
NBC Sports created five studios for its coverage of the 2024 Summer Olympics: With the exception of the IBC studio and a setup for “NBC Nightly News” near the Arc de Triomphe, NBC’s remaining studios were all clustered relatively close to each other around the Trocadéro. This prime real estate gave all of the venues sweeping views of the Paris skyline and the Eiffel Tower that sits just across the Seine.
Given that some studios would have access to that natural view of Paris, HD Studio opted to keep that at the forefront of many of its design decisions for the cafe and TV tower setups.
At Cafe de l’Homme, the restaurant’s outdoor dining area provided a platform for creating two distinct studio spaces, both with Eiffel views.
Studio A involved bringing in faux stonework columns, walls and iron gates for a more enclosed feel, while Studio B was more open and airy.
Both spaces, however, also featured secondary spaces that couldn’t feature the view of the city but still channeled Paris thanks to temporary scenery brought in.
Design proposals included multiple ways to use both spaces, including options for movable furniture, standup pods, and blocking options that involved shooting across both spaces.
The TV tower space had a similar view as Cafe de l’Homme, albeit from behind glass windows, the space combined the decor of a small apartment with a movable wall with integrated video screen. Here too, a variety of furnishings could be move around or completely stowed off-camera to create multiple looks for different hours of coverage.
At the Balcon des Sciences, it wasn’t practical to get a real city view, so the design went a different direction, creating a more contemporary, upscale feel with a Planar LED video wall “disguised” as a giant gilded frame casually leaning against one wall.
This could be used to showcase photos or videos from around the city and event venues or for large graphics.
Because the IBC was outside of Paris proper, it didn’t afford the same stunning views of the city, so NBC opted to have a smaller on-air presence there — a single studio with simulated windows.
The space here also had the feel of a contemporary living space, complete with French doors overlooking the faux view of the city. This space also relied on an eclectic collection of art and furnishings, including an LED panel disguised as a picture frame.