Editing Independence Day (1996 film) (section)

===Development===
[[File:Independence Day (film logo).svg|thumb|Official film logo]]
The idea for the film came when Emmerich and Devlin were in Europe promoting their film ''[[Stargate (film)|Stargate]]'' in 1994. A reporter asked Emmerich why he made a film with content like ''Stargate'' if he did not believe in aliens. Emmerich stated he was still fascinated by the idea of an alien arrival, and further explained his response by asking the reporter to imagine what it would be like to wake up one morning and to discover 15-mile-wide spaceships were hovering over the world's largest cities. Emmerich then turned to Devlin and said, "I think I have an idea for our next film."<ref name="dvd"/><ref name="ID41">Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 8.</ref><ref name="EW7">[http://www.ew.com/article/1996/05/24/1996-summer-movie-preview-july The 1996 Summer Movie Preview: July]  ''Entertainment Weekly''. Retrieved July 8, 2008.</ref>

[[File:F-18s from VFMA-314 in formation.jpg|thumb|F/A-18 Hornets of [[VMFA-314]], "Black Knights"]]
Emmerich and Devlin decided to expand on the idea by incorporating a large-scale attack, with Devlin saying he was bothered by the fact that "for the most part, in alien invasion movies, they come down to Earth and they're hidden in some back field …[o]r they arrive in little spores and inject themselves into the back of someone's head."<ref name="ID42">Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 93.</ref> Emmerich agreed by asking Devlin if arriving from across the galaxy, "would you hide on a farm or would you make a big entrance?"<ref name="ID42"/> The two wrote the script during a month-long vacation in Mexico,<ref name="ID41" /> and just one day after they sent it out for consideration, [[20th Century Studios|20th Century Fox]] chairman [[Peter Chernin]] [[greenlight|greenlit]] the screenplay.<ref name="EW"/> [[Pre-production]] began just three days later in February 1995.<ref name="dvd"/><ref name="ID41"/> The [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. military]] originally intended to provide personnel, vehicles, and costumes for the film; however, they backed out when the producers refused to remove the script's [[Area 51]] references.<ref name="dvd"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Boguslaw |first=Daniel |date=2024-12-31 |title=Pentagon Approved Funds for MrBeast, Kelly Clarkson, Guy Fieri Last Year |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/pentagon-support-mrbeast-kelly-clarkson-guy-fieri-1235221946/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}</ref>

A then-record 3,000-plus special effects shots would ultimately be required for the film.<ref name="EW7"/> The shoot utilized on-set, in-camera special effects more often than [[computer-generated imagery|computer-generated effects]] in an effort to save money and get more authentic pyrotechnic results.<ref name="dvd"/> Many of these shots were accomplished at [[Hughes Aircraft Company|Hughes Aircraft]] in [[Culver City, California]], where the film's art department, [[motion control photography]] teams, [[pyrotechnics]] team, and model shop were headquartered{{dubious|date=July 2018}}. The production's model-making department built more than twice as many miniatures for the production than had ever been built for any film before by creating miniatures for buildings, city streets, aircraft, landmarks, and monuments.<ref name="Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 72">Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 72.</ref> The crew also built miniatures for several of the spaceships featured in the film, including a {{convert|30|ft|adj=mid}} destroyer model<ref>Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 54.</ref> and a version of the mother ship spanning {{convert|12|ft}}.<ref>Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 121.</ref> City streets were recreated, then tilted upright beneath a high-speed camera mounted on a scaffolding filming downwards. An explosion would be ignited below the model, and flames would rise towards the camera, engulfing the tilted model and creating the rolling "wall of destruction" look seen in the film.<ref>Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 78.</ref> A model of the [[White House]] was also created, covering {{convert|10|ft}} by {{convert|5|ft}}, and was used in forced-perspective shots before being destroyed in a similar fashion for its destruction scene.<ref name="ID43">Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 82.</ref> The detonation took a week to plan<ref name="EW"/> and required 40 explosive charges.<ref name="ID43"/>

[[File:USA little colorado pano AZ.jpg|thumb|The [[Little Colorado River]] [[canyon]]; a World War II training aircraft with a camera mounted on its front navigated through the walls of the canyon and the footage was used as pilot point-of-view shots.<ref>Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 112.</ref>]]
The film's aliens were designed by production designer [[Patrick Tatopoulos]]. The actual aliens in the film are diminutive and based on a design Tatopoulos drew when tasked by Emmerich to create an alien that was "both familiar and completely original".<ref>Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 86.</ref> These creatures wear "bio-mechanical" suits that are based on another design Tatopoulos pitched to Emmerich. These suits were {{convert|8|ft}} tall, equipped with 25 tentacles, and purposely designed to show it could not sustain a person inside, so it would not appear to be a "man in a suit".<ref name= "Aberly and Engel p. 91">Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 91.</ref>

[[Christopher Weaver]], founder of video game publisher [[Bethesda Softworks]] consulted with the movie's production team, Centropolis Films, and provided scientific collaboration.<ref name="Weaver"/> Dean Devlin used Weaver as the basis for the film character David Levinson.<ref name="Weaver">{{cite web|first=Bod|last=Starzynski|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/1996/08/19/newscolumn6.html|title=Erol's sees C&W deal as ticket to business market|newspaper=[[American City Business Journals#List of publications|Washington Business Journal]]|date=August 19, 1996|access-date=July 27, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Steven|last=Ginsberg|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1996/12/23/at-bethesda-softworks-an-emphasis-on-cool/24d7f055-c228-4568-a674-e9c136d794e5/|title=At Bethesda Softworks, an Emphasis on Cool|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=December 23, 1996|access-date=July 27, 2021}}</ref>