Editing Witness (1985 film) (section)

===Filming===
[[Principal photography]] took place between April 27, 1984 and June 29, 1984.<ref>{{cite news|title=Filming of 'Called Home' Will Begin In Area Today|work=[[Intelligencer Journal]]|page=40|first=John|last=Drybred| date=April 27, 1984}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=It's A Wrap: 'Witness' Crew Finishes; Film Opens In '85|work=[[Intelligencer Journal]]|page=28|first=Jon|last=Ferguson| date=June 30, 1984}}</ref> The film was shot on location in Philadelphia and the city and towns of [[Intercourse, Pennsylvania|Intercourse]], [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania|Lancaster]], [[Strasburg, Pennsylvania|Strasburg]], and [[Parkesburg, Pennsylvania|Parkesburg]]. Local Amish were willing to work as carpenters and electricians, but declined to appear on film, so many of the [[Extra (acting)|extras]] were actually [[Mennonites]]. Halfway through filming, the title was changed from ''Called Home'' to ''Witness'' at the behest of Paramount's marketing department, which felt the original title posed too much of a promotional challenge. Principal photography was completed three days before the scheduled DGA strike, which ultimately failed to materialize.{{sfn|Feldman|2005|pages=189–191}}

During the set-up and rehearsal of each scene, as well as during [[dailies]], Weir would play music to set the mood, with the idea that it prevented the actors from thinking too much and let them listen to their other instincts. The barn-raising scene was only a short paragraph in the script, but Weir thought it was important to highlight that aspect of Amish community life. They shot the scene in a day and did, in fact, build a barn, albeit with the aid of cranes off-camera. To film the scene in the corn silo, corn was actually dropped onto the actor, while a scuba diving regulator with a compressed air tank was hidden on the floor so the actor would be able to breathe.<ref name="dvdextra" />

Originally, the script ended with a scene of Book and Rachel each explaining their feelings for each other to the audience, but Weir felt the scene was unnecessary and decided not to shoot it. The studio executives were concerned that the audience would not understand the conclusion, and tried to convince him otherwise, but Weir insisted that the characters' emotions could be expressed only with visuals.<ref name="dvdextra" />