From 2011 to 2014, the show used a stock design Kent found online. He wanted a similar feel once I stepped in, but I wanted to give him something far better than the trash found on the internet as we speak. This high-energy design made use of wash lights and vertical 16:9 displays, which were still in style at the time.

Since the show was inspired by the long-running Euromaxx as well as classic MTV, I created the spinning globes as an homage to MTV News. The main screen was a random idea I came up with based on the show’s title card at the time. That graphic would replace the old title for the rest of the season.

This studio contained six camera angles, plus an interview set.

I created my second set for the show fresh off the heels of a failed pilot. Always making use of a great design, the set was repurposed for MSTv’s seventh season, which would become my first season as host. This allowed me more control over camera placement in the design to ensure that the compositing would look as natural as possible. Much like the previous set, this one made use of imagery shot on-location in and around downtown Baton Rouge, anchored by a video loop of the city’s Town Square.

Geared towards a younger generation, I added the show’s hashtag backlit on a faux brick wall. Midseason, I’d replace rightmost corner of the set with a lounge featuring a video loop driving through the city’s Third Street nightlife district. I revived the mini-stage concept from the first design—this one was adorned with the show’s logo—with a social media wall and marquee plugging the web and email addresses.

This set contained 25 camera angles and a whopping 30 cutaway shots.

Before I began filming the hosting standups on my own, we filmed them in an old bank building, whose main room measured 40 feet wide and 25 feet deep. Here, built to scale, a 50” x 25” cube would serve as my muse. Elements were then copied, pasted and optimized from the 2016 re-design, directly inspired by a photo from user @notflavio on Instagram.

Most of the set pieces were rearranged or improved through increased experience in 3D modeling and virtual set design, with the studio now anchored by a hardwood stage and a curved wall that would change depending on the block (segment) of the show or the topic being discussed.

Calling back to my very first design, as well as the Instagram photo, I reintroduced wash and spotlights for accents, adding a miniature bar as a nod to the coverage of local bars in the Baton Rouge area. The far left side of the room was then filled with a video array and seating area directly based on the lounge from 2015, but modeled after a similar setup in the 4th floor newsroom at NBC’s 30 Rock.

This set contained eight camera angles and three cutaway shots.

Virtual sets were reintroduced after a year of filming on a makeshift set. After watching old MSTv episodes, as well seeing new set designs for studio 1A at NBC’s 30 Rock and the NBC/MSNBC Democratic Deabtes, I began playing around with ideas for the upcoming season, ultimately calling back to the show’s roots.

This current design included elements from all of my other sets, while being arranged in a way directly in accordance to the show’s original backdrop. Kent noticed the parallels immediately. Trading hot pink for metals and blues, this simplified design relied more on graphic elements than structures, with images of LED panels burnt into the graphics of the video walls for photorealism.

A 72” TV was mounted to a grille pillar from my first set, with a video loop from my second design hidden behind the exaggerated “MSTv” signage—changing colors for each of the six international branches of the show. The sign lit pink to honor the Spanish Town Carnival parade.

This final set has only three camera angles.