Cinematographer Peter Suschitzky noted that Russell was especially meticulous about the framing of shots: "Russell's very visual approach is a great help but he can be demanding. He has strong obsessions which are sometimes difficult to understand. He has an obsessive fear of things being cut off, for instance, and will do retakes just to get a fraction of an inch more headroom or space around the feet, retakes not for an improved performance but for camera." Filming was officially completed in January 1977, after what Russell characterized as "twenty-one weeks of concentrated anxiety."