the films setting proved to be a potential problem for carpenter who needed to create a decaying semi-destroyed version of new york city on a shoe-string budget he and the films production designer joe alves rejected shooting on location in new york city because it would be too hard to make it look like a destroyed city carpenter suggested shooting on a movie back lot but alves nixed that idea "because the texture of a real street is not like a back lot" they sent barry bernardi their location manager and associate producer "on a sort of all-expense-paid trip across the country looking for the worst city in america" producer debra hill remembers