Editing Taxi Driver (section)

===Filming===
[[Columbia Pictures]] gave Scorsese a budget of $1.3 million in April 1974.{{sfn|Wilson|2011|p=51}} On a budget of only $1.9 million, various actors took pay cuts to bring the project to life. De Niro and [[Cybill Shepherd]] received $35,000 to make the film, while Scorsese was given $65,000. Overall, $200,000 of the budget was allocated to performers in the movie.<ref name=budget/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67148/13-grimy-facts-about-taxi-driver|title=13 Surprising Facts About ''Taxi Driver'' On Its 45th Anniversary|date=February 8, 2016|first=Eric|last=D. Snider|website=[[Mental Floss]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330124400/https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/67148/13-grimy-facts-about-taxi-driver|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

''Taxi Driver'' was shot during a New York City summer heat wave and sanitation strike in 1975. The film ran into conflict with the [[Motion Picture Association|Motion Picture Association of America]] (MPAA) due to its violence. Scorsese de-saturated the colors in the final shootout, which allowed the film to get an R rating. To capture the atmospheric scenes in Bickle's taxi, the sound technicians would get in the trunk while Scorsese and his cinematographer [[Michael Chapman (cinematographer)|Michael Chapman]] would ensconce themselves on the back seat floor and use available light to shoot. Chapman admitted that the filming style was heavily influenced by [[French New Wave|New Wave]] filmmaker [[Jean-Luc Godard]] and his cinematographer [[Raoul Coutard]], as the crew did not have the time nor money to do "traditional things".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/taxi-driver-oral-history-de-881032|title='Taxi Driver' Oral History: De Niro, Scorsese, Foster, Schrader Spill All on 40th Anniversary|date=April 7, 2016|first=Gregg|last=Kilday|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330215309/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/taxi-driver-oral-history-de-881032|archive-date=March 30, 2021|url-status=live|access-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

When Bickle decides to assassinate Senator Palantine, he cuts his hair to a [[Mohawk hairstyle|mohawk]] style. This detail was suggested by actor Victor Magnotta, a friend of Scorsese's who had a small role as a [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] agent and had served in Vietnam. Scorsese noted that Magnotta told them that, "in Saigon, if you saw a guy with his head shaved—like a little Mohawk—that usually meant that those people were ready to go into a certain Special Forces situation. You didn't even go near them. They were ready to kill."<ref name="Rausch">{{cite book |last=Rausch |first=Andrew J. |author-link=Andrew J. Rausch |title=The Films of Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2010 |pages=27–32 |isbn=978-0-8108-7413-8}}</ref>

Filming took place on New York City's [[West Side (Manhattan)|West Side]], at a time when the city was on the brink of [[bankruptcy]]. According to producer [[Michael Phillips (producer)|Michael Phillips]], "The whole West Side was bombed out. There really were row after row of condemned buildings and that's what we used to build our sets [...] we didn't know we were documenting what looked like the dying gasp of New York."<ref>{{cite web |last=Lewis |first=Hilary |title=Tribeca: 'Taxi Driver' Team Recalls Filming in 1970s New York, Current Relevance of Classic |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taxi-driver-at-40-reunion-887025 |url-status=live |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=April 22, 2016 |access-date=March 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330220020/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/taxi-driver-at-40-reunion-887025 |archive-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>

The tracking was shot over the shootout scene, filmed in an actual apartment, and took three months of preparation. The production team had to cut through the ceiling to shoot it.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ebiri |first=Bilge |title=Martin Scorsese Remembers Shooting Taxi Driver in New York |url=https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/martin-scorsese-remembers-shooting-taxi-driver.html |url-status=live |url-access=limited |website=Vulture |date=April 1, 2015 |access-date=March 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210330220312/https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/martin-scorsese-remembers-shooting-taxi-driver.html |archive-date=March 30, 2021}}</ref>