Editing Independence Day (1996 film) (section)

===Filming===
[[Principal photography]] began on July 28, 1995, in New York City. A second unit gathered plate shots and [[establishing shot]]s of Manhattan, Washington, D.C., an [[Recreational vehicle|RV]] community in [[Flagstaff, Arizona]], and the [[Very Large Array]] on the [[Plains of San Agustin]], [[New Mexico]].<ref name= "Aberly and Engel p. 91"/> The main crew also filmed in nearby [[Cliffside Park, New Jersey]] before moving to the former [[Kaiser Steel]] mill in [[Fontana, California]] to film the post-attack Los Angeles sequences.<ref>Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 62.</ref> The production then moved to [[Wendover, Utah]], and [[West Wendover, Nevada]],<ref>Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 104.</ref> where the deserts doubled for [[Imperial Valley]], and the [[Wendover Airport]] doubled for the [[Marine Corps Air Station El Toro|El Toro]] and Area 51 exteriors.<ref>Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 96.</ref> It was here where Pullman filmed his pre-battle speech. Immediately before filming the scene, Devlin and Pullman decided to add "Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!" to the end of the speech. At the time, the production was nicknamed "ID4" because [[Warner Bros.]] owned the rights to the title because of a film from 1983 which is also called ''[[Independence Day (1983 film)|Independence Day]]''. Devlin had hoped that if Fox executives noticed the addition in [[dailies]], the impact of the new dialogue would help them to win the rights to the title.<ref name="dvd"/> Pullman had stated in a 2020 interview that Fox had otherwise been aiming to use ''Doomsday'' for the film's release to match with other disaster films of the time, and Devlin and Emmerich had hoped the impact of this speech scene would help win Fox over to the ''Independence Day'' name.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2547380/how-bill-pullman-helped-independence-day-change-its-original-bad-title | title = How Bill Pullman Helped Independence Day Change Its Original (Bad) Title | first = Mike | last = Reyes | date = June 8, 2020 | access-date = June 8, 2020 | work = [[CinemaBlend]] | archive-date = June 9, 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200609232213/https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2547380/how-bill-pullman-helped-independence-day-change-its-original-bad-title | url-status = live }}</ref> The right to use the title was eventually won two weeks later.<ref name="EW"/>

The production team moved to the [[Bonneville Salt Flats]] to film three scenes, then returned to California to film in various places around Los Angeles, including Hughes Aircraft where sets for the cable company and Area 51 interiors were constructed at a former aircraft plant. Sets for the latter included corridors containing windows that were covered with blue material. The filmmakers originally intended to use the [[chroma key]] technique to make it appear as if an activity was happening on the other side of the glass, but the [[compositing|composited images]] were not added to the final print because production designers decided the blue panels gave the sets a "clinical look".<ref>Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 98.</ref> The attacker hangar set contained an attacker [[mockup]] {{convert|65|ft}} wide<ref name="Aberly and Engel 1996, p. 72"/> that took four months to build.<ref name="EW"/> The White House interior sets used had already been built for ''[[The American President]]'' and had previously been used for ''[[Nixon (film)|Nixon]]''.<ref name="ID43"/> Principal photography completed on October 8, 1995, after 72 days of filming.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

The film initially depicted Russell Casse being rejected as a volunteer for the July 4 aerial counteroffensive because of his alcoholism. He then uses a stolen missile tied to his red [[biplane]] to carry out his suicide mission. According to Dean Devlin, test audiences responded well to the scene's irony and comedic value.<ref name="dvd"/> However, the scene was re-shot to include Russell's acceptance as a volunteer, his crash course on flying modern fighter aircraft, and him flying an F/A-18 instead of the biplane. Devlin preferred the alteration because the viewer now witnesses Russell ultimately making the decision to sacrifice his life.<ref name="dvd"/>