Editing Dog Day Afternoon (section)

==== The bank ====
Most of the film took place inside of the bank. Lumet discarded the idea of building a studio set; instead, the director found a street with a warehouse on the lower floor of a building that used to be an automotive workshop. The crew built a bank set with movable walls, which allowed Lumet to place the cameras as he desired, and to use [[Long-focus lens|long lenses]] to shoot from a distance. The warehouse's location also allowed Lumet to transition freely between the bank and the street, and he avoided changing film locations,{{sfn|Lumet, Sidney|2010|p=100}} and allowed the street to be visible from the inside of the bank.{{sfn|Bouzereau|2006d}} The scenes were shot on Prospect Park West, between 17th and 18th streets.{{sfn|Harris, Scott Jordan|2011|p=56}} The bus line that ran through the street was re-routed for filming, and the second storey of the building housed the production offices and catering.{{sfn|Bouzereau|2006d}}

[[File:Al Pacino Penelope Allen in Dog Day Afternoon.jpg|thumb|Pacino and Allen, re-entering the bank on a scene|left|upright=1.13]]
To capture Pacino's movements in a natural fashion, and to allow the actor greater mobility, Lumet integrated the use of roller skates and wheelchairs for the cameramen in the panoramic shots. Lumet would order the camera operators to be pulled as Pacino acted to make the scene look "naturalistic", and "like it was shot by television cameramen, fighting their way through the crowd".{{sfn|Rapf, Joanna|2006|p=125}} He wanted the production to have the appearance of a newsreel.{{sfn|Lumet, Sidney|2005}} The film featured [[close-up]]s centered on Sonny and the situation in the bank.{{sfn|Cagle|Davis|2010|p=73}}

Two different cameras were used to cover the negotiations from Durning and Pacino's side.{{sfn|Bouzereau|2006d}} Lumet and cinematographer [[Victor J. Kemper]] relied on [[Wide shot|long shots]] to depict the point of view of the police, and the robbers' "entrapment".{{sfn|Cagle|Davis|2010|p=73}} Lumet wanted to use the light available on the set to avoid additional luminescence. He fitted the bank with extra [[fluorescent lamp]]s to achieve desired exposure, and he used other fluorescent lamps of lower power as [[fill light]] in close-ups. The film required seven nights of filming. Lumet needed the neighbors' cooperation for the use of their [[fire escape]]s to hold additional lights. The production was challenged by the weather, as temperatures dropped.{{sfn|Geisinger|Saland|1975}} On the day of the heist in August 1972, the temperature reached {{Convert|87|F|C|abbr=}} when the robbers entered the bank.{{sfn|National Weather Service|1972}} The film was shot during the fall; to avoid having their breath be visible, the cast placed ice in their mouths to even out the temperature.{{sfn|Bouzereau|2006d}} Lighting was provided for the scenes by [[emergency vehicle lighting|emergency vehicles]], that were specially fitted with four 7,500 watt lamps. The white brick [[façade]] of the building provided light reflection. An existing lamp post was utilized, and its lighting reinforced to keep the crowd visible. [[Emergency light]]s were used on set in scenes where the power was shut off by the police.{{sfn|Bouzereau|2006d}}

Pacino shot the first scene wearing sunglasses, but he asked the director to re-shoot it after watching the [[dailies]], as he felt that Sonny "wanted to get caught".{{sfn|Edelstein, David|2018}} He also shaved off a moustache he grew for the role after the replay.{{sfn|Bouzereau|2006d}} Lumet allowed the cast to [[Ad libitum|ad-lib]] lines with the condition that they did not deviate greatly from the script by Pierson.{{sfn|Erickson, Hal|2017|p=36}} The production team had recorded improvisations during the rehearsals that were added to the script.{{sfn|Lumet, Sidney|2005}} Lumet wanted the dialog to "feel natural",{{sfn|Malone, Aubrey|2019|p=96}} and he encouraged the actors to wear their own clothes and to not use makeup.{{sfn|Malone, Aubrey|2019|p=96}}

A crowd of three to four hundred extras was hired. Meanwhile, Lumet asked the neighbors to appear in the film by watching from their windows. The director offered to relocate to a hotel for those who did not want to be disturbed by the shooting. The crowd grew as filming progressed, and pedestrians joined the actors.{{sfn|Bouzereau|2006d}} Lumet directed the crowd and "whipp[ed] them up to a frenzy". By the second week, he felt that the crowd could improvise on its own. To amplify the effect in the film, he utilized hand-held cameras.{{sfn|Malone, Aubrey|2019|p=93}} In regards to the project while it was filming, Lumet said "It's out of my hands. It's got a life of its own".{{sfn|Yule, Andrew|1992|p=117}} In a scene on the street, before Pacino left the bank, assistant director Burtt Harris whispered to him to ask the crowd about Attica. Pacino then improvised the complete dialog with the crowd.{{sfn|Edelstein, David|2018}}