Passage: Terminator Salvation had a $200 million budget. The shooting of the film started on May 5, 2008, in New Mexico, with parts of the filming taking place at Kirtland Air Force Base, after the United States Air Force agreed to provide the crew guidance and aircraft. The filmmakers had originally intended to begin filming on March 15 in Budapest or Australia, but a 25 percent tax rebate and absence of an interest rate cap and floor made the filmmakers seek the cheaper New Mexico, because of their elevated budget. To avoid delays caused by a possible 2008 Screen Actors Guild strike in July, all exterior scenes were completed by then, so production could restart easily. The shoot ended on July 20, 2008, though some pick-ups took place in January 2009.In addition to Bale breaking his hand and Worthington hurting his back, special effects technician Mike Menardis almost lost his leg filming an explosion. The sequence required a manhole cover being blown into the air, which hit Menardis and partially severed his leg. McG noted it was a testament to the gritty style of the film. "I say with respect, I didn't want that Star Wars experience of everything's a blue screen, tennis balls, and go for it. I had Stan Winston build all the machines. We built all the sets, the explosive power, the explosive power so you feel that wind and that percussion and that heat blowing your eyebrows off. And with that, you get a couple bumps and bruises on the way, but you get it in an integrity and a realism that hopefully echoes Apocalypse Now. You couldn't say, 'Let's just shoot Apocalypse Now in Burbank, I think it's going to feel just as good.'"The film used Technicolor's Oz process during post-production. This is a partial silver retention on the interpositive, similar to bleach bypass, which will be used to lend to the sense of detachment from the modern world McG was looking for. Industrial Light & Magic developed shader programs to make the desaturated lighting of the CGI realistic and well-integrated to the on-set footage. The...

Question: Why were the exterior scenes created so quickly?
so production could restart easily