Editing The Thing (1982 film) (section)

===Visuals and lighting===
Cundey worked with Bottin to determine the appropriate lighting for each creature. He wanted to show off Bottin's work because of its details, but he was conscious that showing too much would reveal its artificial nature, breaking the illusion. Each encounter with the creature was planned for areas where they could justify using a series of small lights to highlight the particular creature-model's surface and textures. Cundey would illuminate the area behind the creature to detail its overall shape. He worked with [[Panavision]] and a few other companies to develop a camera capable of automatically adjusting light exposure at different film speeds. He wanted to try filming the creature at fast and slow speeds thinking this would create a more interesting visual effect, but they were unable to accomplish this at the time. For the rest of the set, Cundey created a contrast by lighting the interiors with warmer lights hung overhead in conical shades so that they could still control the lighting and have darkened areas on set. The outside was constantly bathed in a cold, blue light that Cundey had discovered being used on airport runways. The reflective surface of the snow and the blue light helped create the impression of coldness.{{sfn|Hemphill|2017}} The team also made use of the flamethrowers and magenta-hued flares used by the actors to create dynamic lighting.{{sfn|Hemphill|2017}}

The team originally wanted to shoot the film in [[black-and-white]], but Universal was reluctant as it could affect their ability to sell the television rights for the film. Instead, Cundey suggested muting the colors as much as possible. The inside of the sets were painted in neutral colors such as gray, and many of the props were also painted gray, while the costumes were a mix of somber browns, blues, and grays. They relied on the lighting to add color.{{sfn|Swires|1982b|p=38}} [[Albert Whitlock]] provided [[matte (filmmaking)|matte]]-painted backdrops, including the scene in which the Americans discover the giant alien spaceship buried in the ice.{{sfn|Hemphill|2017}} A scene where MacReady walks up to a hole in the ice where the alien had been buried was filmed at Universal, while the surrounding area, including the alien spaceship, helicopter, and snow, were all painted.{{sfn|Kirk|2011}}

Carpenter's friend John Wash, who developed the opening computer simulation for ''Escape from New York'', used a [[Cromemco Z-2]] to design the computer program showing how the Thing assimilates other organisms. Colors were added by placing filters in front of an animation camera used to shoot the computer frames.{{sfn|Kirk|2011}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch/ |title=Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) |access-date=July 9, 2024 |archive-date=May 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240526203624/https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/halloween-iii-season-of-the-witch/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Model maker Susan Turner built the alien ship approaching Earth in the pre-credits sequence, which featured 144 [[Strobe light|strobing lights]].{{sfn|Spry|2017b}} [[Drew Struzan]] designed the film's poster. He completed it in 24 hours, based only on a briefing, knowing little about the film.{{sfn|Nugent|Dyer|2017}}