Editing Batman Returns (section)

===Sets===
The sets were redesigned in Welch's style, including the Batcave and Wayne Manor. They were spread across seven soundstages on the Warner Bros. lot (the largest of which had {{cvt|70|ft|m}} ceilings) and the largest set owned by Universal Pictures.{{sfn|White|1992|p=10}}<ref name="NYTimesWelch"/> ''Batman Returns'' was filmed on sets, although some panoramic shots (such as the camera traveling from the base of Shreck's department store to its cat-head-shaped office) were created with detailed miniatures.<ref name="EWSetsAppeal"/>

Welch found it difficult to create something new without deviating from Furst's award-winning work. The designs were intended to appear as a separate district of Gotham; if ''Batman'' took place on the East Side, ''Batman Returns'' was set on the West Side.<ref name="NYTimesWelch"/> Welch was influenced by [[German Expressionism]], neo-fascist architecture (including [[Nazi Germany]]-era styles), American [[precisionism]] painters, and photos of the homeless living on the streets in affluent areas. He incorporated Burton's rough sketch of Catwoman, which had a "very S&M kind of look", by adding chains and steel elements which would appear to hold together a city on the verge of collapse.<ref name="AFICatalog"/><ref name="NYTimesWelch"/>{{sfn|White|1992|p=11}} The key element for Welch came early in design, when he realized that he wanted to manipulate spaces to convey specific emotions (emphasizing vertical buildings to convey a "huge, overwhelmingly corrupt, decaying city" filled with small people): "The film is about this alienating, disparate world we live in."<ref name="NYTimesWelch"/> The wintertime setting took advantage of the contrast between black and white scene elements, influenced by ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' (1941) and ''[[The Third Man]]'' (1949).{{sfn|White|1992|p=11}}

Welch's concept designs began by carving out building shapes from cardboard with images of fascist sculptures and [[depression era]] machine-age art. The resulting {{cvt|1|by|4|ft|m}}-tall rough model represented Gotham Plaza, described as a futuristic, oppressive, and "demented caricature" of [[Rockefeller Center]].<ref name="NYTimesWelch"/> It was designed overbuilt, emphasizing the generic-but-oppressive heart of Gotham's corruption. Despite complaints from the film's financiers about its necessity, Burton insisted on the location with a detailed church overshadowed by plain surroundings.<ref name="NYTimesWelch"/><ref name="EWSetsAppeal"/>

Designs attempted to create the illusion of space; the Wayne Manor set was partially built (consisting primarily of a large staircase and fireplace) with a scale which implied that the rest of the structure was massive.<ref name="NYTimesWelch"/> Penguin's base was initially scheduled to be built in a standard {{cvt|35|ft|m}} tall Warner Bros. soundstage, but Welch thought that it lacked "majesty" and did not create enough contrast between itself and the "evil, filthy, little bug of a man". A {{cvt|50|ft|m}}-tall Universal stage was acquired for the production, its raised ceilings making it seem more realistic and less like a set.<ref name="EWSetsAppeal"/> Minor modifications were made to the set throughout the film to make it appear to be gradually deteriorating.<ref name="NYTimesWelch"/> The location featured a water tank filled with {{cvt|500000|USgal|liter}} of water surrounding a faux-ice island.{{sfn|Resner|1992}} Selina Kyle's apartment had a large steel beam running through its center to appear as if it had been built around a steel girder, which Welch said made it depressing and ironic.<ref name="NYTimesWelch"/> The wood used to build the sets was donated to [[Habitat for Humanity]] to help build low-cost homes for the poor.<ref name="AFICatalog"/>