Editing If.... (section)

==Production==
===Screenplay===
[[David Sherwin]]'s original title for the screenplay was ''Crusaders'', during the writing of which he drew heavily from his experiences at [[Tonbridge School]] in Kent. In 1960, he and his friend and co-writer [[John Howlett]] took it to director [[Seth Holt]]. Holt felt unqualified to direct, but offered to produce the film. They also took it to Sherwin's hero, ''[[Rebel Without a Cause]]'' director [[Nicholas Ray]], who liked it but had a [[Mental breakdown|nervous breakdown]] before anything came of it. Holt introduced Sherwin to [[Lindsay Anderson]] in a [[Soho]] pub.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 July 2007 |title=If.... |url=http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/dvd/if |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217065453/http://www.totalfilm.com/reviews/dvd/if |archive-date=17 February 2012 |access-date=26 May 2017 |website=[[Total Film]]}}</ref>

===Filming===
The school used for the early filming on location was Anderson's ''[[alma mater]]'', [[Cheltenham College]], Gloucestershire, but this was not made public at the time under the agreement needed to shoot there. The then headmaster, David Ashcroft, persuaded the school governors to agree that the film could be made. [[Aldenham School]] in [[Elstree]], Hertfordshire, was used for later scenes filmed after previous summer commitments prevented further shooting at Cheltenham. The sweat room scenes were filmed in the School Room in School House at Aldenham School (though they were redesigned for the film). The dormitory scenes were also at Aldenham—specifically The Long Room for the junior boys, and the room with the wooden partitions called Lower Cubs (short for cubicles). The shower scene and toilets were in School House changing rooms.

The transport cafe was the (now demolished) Packhorse Cafe on the [[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5/Watling Street]] in [[Kensworth]], Dunstable, Bedfordshire, close to the Packhorse Pub. The painting in the dining hall is of Aldenham School's founder, Richard Platt. The Hall scene was an amalgamation of the school halls at Cheltenham and Aldenham. [[Beddington#Carew Manor|Carew Manor]], in [[Beddington]], Surrey, was used for the opening staircase scene and for several other scenes. It was filmed during the summer when the school had closed for holidays. Some scenes were shot at the former [[Trinity School of John Whitgift]] in central Croydon, before it was demolished to make way for the [[Whitgift Centre]]; pupil extras from the separate [[Whitgift School]] were engaged at £5 per day.{{Citation needed|date=October 2021}}

Anderson originally approached [[Charterhouse School]] and later [[Cranleigh School]] for permission to shoot the film: negotiations were going well until the schools discovered the content of the film and pulled out. The outside shots of the school including the final showdown on the roof were filmed at Cheltenham College after term ended. The Speech Day interior was filmed inside St John's Church on Albion Street, [[Cheltenham]]. The church was later demolished. The motorbike shop was filmed at the Broadway Motor Company on Gladstone Road, [[Wimbledon, London|Wimbledon]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Behind The Scenes on If... |url=http://www.gloucestershireonscreen.co.uk/home/1960s-1/if-1968/behind-the-scenes-with-if |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304125042/http://www.gloucestershireonscreen.co.uk/home/1960s-1/if-1968/behind-the-scenes-with-if |archive-date=4 March 2012 |access-date=24 May 2017}}</ref>

The film makes use of [[black-and-white]] sequences. In the audio commentary to the 2007 DVD release, Malcolm McDowell confirmed that lighting the chapel scenes for colour filming would have taken much longer than for black and white.<ref>{{Cite AV media notes |title=If.... |orig-year=1968 |others=Lindsay Andersen |type=DVD audio commentary to the film |publisher=[[Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment|Paramount Home Entertainment]] |location=Los Angeles |id=PHE 9395 |year=2007}}</ref> The time they could use the school chapel was limited, so Anderson opted to not shoot those scenes in colour. Liking the effect this gave, he then decided to shoot other sequences in black and white to improve the 'texture' of the film. As a child, he was impressed watching a gangster film which started in black and white and then turned to colour.<ref>Sutton (2005).</ref>

===Post-production===
The black-and-white sequence featuring Mrs Kemp (Mary MacLeod) walking naked through the school was allowed by the then Secretary of the Board of the [[British Board of Film Censors]], [[John Trevelyan (censor)|John Trevelyan]], on the condition that shots of male genitalia from the shower scene were removed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gary Couzens |date=27 July 2007 |title=DVD review: if.... |url=http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/65418/if.html |url-status=dead |website=The Digital Fix |access-date=12 March 2014 |archive-date=12 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312213035/http://film.thedigitalfix.com/content/id/65418/if.html }}</ref>

Music featured in the film includes the 'Sanctus', from the [[Missa Luba]], a rendering of the Roman Latin mass sung to African beat by a Congolese choir.