Quote:
Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie
I was thinking cost of materials and lighting, etc, vs using an already existing, full "set"...
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All fair, but I think the most important consideration would have been that this was a production based in North Carolina for logistical (mostly cost, probably) reasons, one which used a couple of days expensive shooting in New York quite far from their base in order to convincingly set the movies there. They most likely shot in New York with as small a crew as possible, and only basic camera equipment - they shot right outside a Henson owned building in II probably to save some money and have somewhere the crew could use the facilities
*. A key interior like the Turtles' home was always going to be a build.
*Believe me, this is the most important consideration on any shoot.
The second most important consideration is the Turtles and Splinter - Each one character on screen was backed by quite a big team of people, and Splinter for example needed the whole set to be planned around him. Panels in the floor that could be removed so the puppeteer could operate him from beneath for example. You need facilities on hand - catering, toilets etc - that for the number of required shooting days - especially on III, check how much of that movie was in that environment, it's quite a lot - makes for a much more comfortable and safe workplace for dozens of people.
The specific part you mention, falling through the roof, is an argument for a build in itself - With a difficult sequence like that, you really want full control of the environment.
I don't know if the somewhat poorer realisation of the Turtles themselves in III was down to skimping on cost, necessarily. All I know is that the Henson workshop wasn't available for that one, and I suspect the company who did make them for III would probably take a review that said,
Not as good as Henson quite amiably. I don't think anyone gettable by the production could possibly have been as good as Henson. Maybe moodier lighting would have hid their faults better, Steve Barron certainly hid a lot of visible joins with good lighting in the first movie.