PHOTO : DANA EDELSON / NBC
PHIL HYMES & GEOFF AMORAL
kind of last-minute fixes , and then we go through a run-through where they do the whole show , not in order , but [ closer ] to real time . Then it ’ s update , rehearse , update , then dress [ rehearsal ], and then the show .
PL & P : How many crew are working on the lighting and set design on the show ?
McGuinness : We have probably about seven on Thursday and Friday , then on Saturday it can go up to 12 , depending on how many follow spots we have for music . The scenic design department , they have their own crew that ’ s separate from us . I mean , we work with them , but they have their own people .
PL & P : Are the pre-taped segments that are interspersed in the show a separate thing ?
McGuinness : Yes , those are totally separate crews . It used to be , years ago , that there was sort of little things that they would do , sometimes , in the hallways or other studios in the building , and Geoff or I would go help out or look over them . But now , they ’ ve grown so massive , they ’ re like small Hollywood productions , and you can see that in some of those tapes that they send in . They also start on Wednesdays , and they gather like a tornado on Thursday and Friday to do all their taping . But those are done at separate studios or locations or somewhere else and we don ’ t have anything to do with it anymore .
PL & P : As you mentioned , the sketches can be anything from a movie or TV show parody to being set in an apartment , to some sci-fi setting , and everything in between , so I ’ d image your lighting rig needs to be versatile . Can you tell me about your setup ?
McGuinness : We do have a variety of moving lights , but you ’ d be amazed that , I think , more than half of the lighting is done with equipment that ’ s older than me [ laughs ].
Amoral : Mole Richardson Fresnels are our workhorses , from 200 [ watts ] to 2Ks , and the soft lights . But yeah , the rig that ’ s there has been there forever . Really , we use moving lights and some colour — I mean , the ETC Leko was new to us when we started [ laughs ].
PL & P : Are you often bringing in gear for specific sketches or episodes , or always just using what ’ s in-house ?
Amoral : I mean , occasionally there ’ ll be something like a black light that ’ s requested , but most of the stuff we have , we have available . We ’ re using a lot of LED tape now . The scenic designers are tending to put a lot of LED tape in their sets , but that ’ s all built on-site .
McGuinness : In terms of working with the scenic department , it ’ s amazing people that we have who are getting this stuff together . If you see on Saturdays , some of the game show or talk show [ sets ], and they have all these colour LEDs , and that all gets started on Wednesday night . I mean , it still amazes me after all these years that we actually do it . On Saturday , there ’ s been instances where we ’ re
20 | Spring 2022