At the request of the Long Beach Police Department, in the scene where the 3 US Marshals are looking into the little girl's window the following morning, the actors were not wearing their tactical vests or carrying weapons. This was done because Demetrius Phillips, Gordon G. Lee, and Peter Haas were positioned in a way that could have made them visible from the busy street in front of the filming location, and all film equipment was positioned inside the house and out of view.
Due to the amount of noise made by the post-war German Arri 16S camera used during filming, capturing sound was not possible while the camera was rolling. In order to capture the actors' lines, all takes were performed twice: once with the camera rolling, and the second time without to capture sound.
The character of Deputy Craig was specifically created by the director, Robin Phillips, and was based in part on the film's law enforcement advisor, Peter Haas.
During cast auditions, the director was unable to find an actor who could properly perform the role of Deputy Craig and was willing to hide his or her face by wearing a gas mask. He eventually asked the film's law enforcement advisor, Peter Haas, to play the role since the character was partially based on him anyway.
Due to the camera's non articulating viewfinder, the director was forced to lie partially upside down with his eye against the viewfinder in order to capture the super low-angle opening dolly shots.