#HTE

Watch SNL Crew Frantically Tear Set Down During Opening Credits

While watching your average “cold open” on SNL, you may not realize that the second the skit ends and they cut to the opening credits, crew members start frantically ripping the set down. They’ve got to turn, say, Donald Trump’s apartment back into that blank stage for the guest speaker to trot out onto. And it is chaos.

Take a look at what we TV viewers didn’t see after last week’s cold open, where they’ve got just one minute and forty-one seconds to get the job done:

It’s always fun to see behind-the-scenes stuff. For instance, while both doors match physically and are painted with gold trim on the “inside” of the set, the set dressers of course only paint the outside of the only door that will be seen when opened:

The wall panels aren’t held vertical by much more than contact with each other at the corners, and these:

The triangular supports appear to be hinged; I suppose they fold flat for storage. The wall panels appear to be modular and are held together with C-clamps (plus the header holding the crown molding.)

The doors appear to be framed by 1x6’s rather than 2x-lumber. I suppose they’re trying to keep weight down?

Anyways, after watching the video several times I’m surprised no one got hit with anything!

http://www.core77.com/posts/59143/Watch-SNL-Crew-Frantically-Tear-Set-Down-During-Opening-Credits