“There was a moment where nobody knew what SNL was,” says Jason Reitman. “I want to bring audiences back to that moment, when there was only one person on the planet who knew it.”
For Saturday Night Live, that person was Lorne Michaels. For Saturday Night—the upcoming biopic about the 90 minutes leading up to the very first episode—that person is Reitman, the movie’s director and co-writer. Thankfully, he’s shedding a few more details on the project in a new behind-the-scenes teaser for the film.
The two-and-a-half minute clip is full of interesting tidbits and first looks at the film, including tracking shots through the set, a recreation of Studio 8H built in a soundstage in Georgia.
“We were trying as much as possible to recreate a set that we’re all very familiar with,” Reitman says in the featurette. “We found the actual original blueprints for Rockefeller Center. All the engineering, where all the studs were, how the original floor was built.”
Actor Dylan O’Brien, who plays Dan Aykroyd in the film, calls that set “a living organism that enables you to do really long takes where you’re letting the action tell the story.”
O’Brien also reveals that the movie’s authenticity extended to the background actors playing SNL’s crew. “All the background actors did the whole bootcamp before we started, so they really know how to use the old ‘70s cameras, cranes, boom mics, and props.”
The video also hints at what viewers can expect from Saturday Night’s soundtrack.
While it’s been known that the score was being composed by former The Late Show with Stephen Colbert bandleader Jon Batiste (who also plays Billy Preston, SNL‘s musical guest, in the film), it turns out there’s an added twist to that element.
“We recorded the entire score on set in real time,” Reitman reveals.
“It’s Saturday Night Live, and we scored it live,” Batiste adds.
The clip also offers a quick glimpse of Nicholas Braun’s Andy Kaufman impression, as he talks to SNL’s infamous backstage llama.
“I want the audience to know exactly what it feels like when millions of people are about to watch what a handful of writers, actors, [and] craftspeople cobbled together in a matter of days,” Reitman concludes. “And minutes before, I want them to feel like, ‘Is this possible?’”
That anticipation might also describe those eager to see Saturday Night, and the moment of truth will come sooner rather than later for a lucky few. Saturday Night hits theaters on October 11—the 49th anniversary of the night it’s depicting—but will make its world premiere on Saturday, August 31 at the Telluride Film Festival, followed by a visit to the Toronto International Film Festival.
