Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” opens with a nearly three-and-a-half-minute single shot as the camera quickly passes through Studio 8H as the now-iconic NBC series “Saturday Night Live” prepares to go “live.” It captures the confusion and energy of the moment. From New York” premiered October 11, 1975.
“When approaching all of the visuals for this film, the biggest consideration was to accurately capture the feeling of being there,” he says, using moving cameras and long takes to create a meticulously crafted film. said cinematographer Eric Steelberg, who guided the audience through the carefully crafted sets. “We thought this was the best way to make people feel like they were there every beat of the show for the next 90 minutes.
“The reason we did this was because [opening] This shot in particular was our first exposure, our entrance into the space, and we just wanted to hit the audience with all the sights and sounds and chaos that was happening. We didn’t want to separate from it, we wanted to travel with it,” he continues. “There are so many details and nuances. It’s like information overload, and that’s the feeling it should have.”
Preparation was critical as the team created this careful choreography with cameras, actors, extras and props moving in and out of the frame. “We kept throwing people around because we could only afford so many background actors,” says Steelberg.
“At the beginning of the shoot, we have the extras run down the hallway, go around the outside of the set and into the studio, and then they run out and come back down the hallway.” Additional members of the team are off-screen and props. and set pieces pushed in and out of the frame.
“Saturday Night” was lensed on an Arriflex 416 Super 16mm film camera with Kodak 200T stock to define the look of the era. For the opening shot, the camera was mounted on a remote head on a dolly. Steelberg elaborates:[Dolly grip Darryl Humber] I was operating the camera throughout the set. [camera operator Matthew Moriarty] It needed to be as small as possible, so it was located far away. Dollygrip more or less had to be danced with all the lead actors and background actors. ”
Lighting the scene while keeping the camera moving was no easy task, and shots relied on practical light placement. “There’s probably some hidden lighting in the ceiling, but no matter how you look at it, it’s actually lit,” says Steelberg, who joined production designer Jess Goncor and set decorator Claudia Bonfe in preparation. “I was thinking about how to light it up,” he added. Illuminate the studio set with built-in lights that will illuminate the scene [and the actors] In the way I wanted it. ”
After a full day of rehearsals, the team shot the film on the first day of filming and returned to shoot on the final day of production. “We thought if we could get that shot right on the first day, it would set the pace and tone for the crew and cast,” Steelberg explains. “As the movie progressed and everyone became a well-oiled machine, we realized that we could probably do a better job with that shot, so we tried again on the last day.” One of those final takes made it into the film.
