The Day After

The Day After is an American TV-movie aired in 1983 on the ABC network. The film presented a theoretical situation which led to nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union, and its consequences as felt by residents of Lawrence, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. The film was written by Edward Hume and directed by Nicholas Meyer.

Production

The Day After was the idea of ABC Motion Picture Division president Brandon Stoddard, who commissioned veteran television writer Edward Hume to write the script in 1981. The American Broadcasting Company, who financed the production, was concerned about the graphic nature of the film and how to tastefully present such a situation. Hume went through several drafts until ABC accepted the plot and characters as acceptable to the viewing public.

Related Topics:
1981 - American Broadcasting Company

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Production began in late 1982 on location in Lawrence, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri with feature film director Nicholas Meyer (Star Trek II) at the helm. Before filming began, Meyer and his casting directors had put a Kansas City professor of theater and film in charge of the local casting. Over 2,000 Kansas Citians volunteered to play supporting or bit roles in the film, and some were paid as much as $75 and a free lunch to shave their heads bald and put on make-up to make themselves look as if they were suffering from radiation sickness. Other locals were paid slightly smaller scales to run around and drive cars into one other for scenes of panic in the streets just before the bombs drop. In using average, Midwestern people in small roles, viewers were allowed to identify with these characters' troubles without the baggage of preconceived notions. Indeed, out of the 80 or so speaking parts, only 15 were cast in Hollywood. The remaining roles were filled in Kansas City and in Lawrence.

Related Topics:
1982 - Lawrence, Kansas - Kansas City, Missouri - Nicholas Meyer - Star Trek II

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Many scientific advisors from various fields were on set to ensure the accuracy of the explosion, its effects, and its victims. The government, nervous of how it would be portrayed, didn't allow the production to use stock footage of nuclear explosions in the film, so ABC hired some of the best special effects creators to work on the film. The result was a frighteningly real explosion and iconic "mushroom cloud" (created by injecting colored dye in small tanks of vegetable oil).

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The Day After received one of the largest promotional campaigns prior to its broadcast. Commercials aired several months in advance, ABC distributed half a million "viewer's guides," which discussed the dangers of nuclear war and prepared the viewer for the graphic scenes of mushroom clouds and radiation burn victims. Discussion groups were also formed nationwide.

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