A sequence was added to Termintor Salvation during post-production, showing people listening to a broadcast from hero John Conner. Actors were shot on small sets to be extended with matte paintings.

Resistance fighters hiding underground in a subway were filmed on a sound stage.

Place your mouse over this image to see "before and after" versions of the shot:

A 3D scene was created to show a destroyed subway station. Photos of New York City subways provided texture details.

The final shot of the film is a Matte World Digital painting, with CGI helicopters flying overhead. Photographs from the desert of Southern California were combined to create a unique scene. The matte-painted sky was split into layers and distorted in composite to add motion and reveal the sun during the shot. Two matte paintings of the desert were made, one with direct sunlight and one with overcast lighting, so the compositor could  create cloud shadows moving across the landscape.