Shortly after 5, Matthews, sporting a blue IOP baseball cap, stepped onto the podium to film a live segment answering questions from MSNBC anchor Lester Holt.

“I am surrounded by a chorus of intelligence,” Matthews quipped as director Max Schindler checked camera angles.

Schindler sat in the production truck behind the KSG along with lighting directors and producers who watched the broadcast on monitors and relayed comments to Matthews and other production staff.

Production manager Rick Jefferson described the truck as a “control room on wheels.”

The cameras in the IOP were connected to the production truck, which then sent the footage to the neighboring satellite truck that broadcast the signal.

After answering Holt’s questions about the campaign, Matthews stepped down and headed off to prepare for the episode.

“It’s a way of coming to the students,” the host said of his appearances at Harvard. “It’s about engagement.”

When asked how the series ended up being at Harvard, Matthews added, “Harvard’s always hot.”

IOP Director Dan Glickman said that Matthews contacted him more than a year ago with the idea of hosting the candidates at the IOP, and he thought it fit well with the Institute’s mission.

“Our job is to inspire young people into politics and public service,” Glickman said. “The...height of political participation is a presidential election.”

Schindler, who has directed all of Hardball’s College Tours, said the IOP is an ideal location.

“I love the spirit here. I love the layout of the Forum,” Schindler said. “It feels like a forum.... The focus here is on politics.”

Jefferson adds that the venue already had much of the necessary technical equipment in place, including monitors and lights.

“We didn’t have to recreate television as we do in a lot of places,” Jefferson said.

About six students served as interns for MSNBC, Schindler said, performing duties ranging from research to lighting to getting coffee for crew members.