<P>--Alexander Pope, Eloisa to Abelard, 207 - 10 </P> <P> Kaufman did not want to make the film a thriller and wanted to downplay the science fiction aspects of memory erasure, focusing on the relationship . He had an "enormous struggle" with the script, particularly encountering two problems while writing the script: showing "the memories, Joel's reactions to the memories, and Joel interacting with Clementine outside of the memories in the memories," and the fact that characters could refer in later scenes to already erased memories . Kaufman resolved the first problem by making Joel lucid and able to comment on his memories and solved the second by making the memories degrade instead of immediately erasing, with complete erasure occurring at awakening . Kaufman's original name for the screenplay was 18 words long, as he had wanted a title that "you couldn't possibly fit on a marquee," however, he eventually decided on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a title originating from the 1717 poem Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope . </P> <P> The shooting of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind began in mid-January 2003 after six weeks of preparation, lasting for three months on a budget of $20 million mostly in and around New York City . The production crew, however, recreated some key scenes, such as Joel's Yonkers apartment and the 1950s - style kitchen, in a New Jersey former U.S. Navy base . The shoot was difficult, sometimes shooting for seventeen hours per day in harsh environments . </P> <P> The shoot was challenging for cinematographer Ellen Kuras, due to the difficulty of filming Gondry's vision for the film, which aimed to "blend location - shoot authenticity with unpredictable flashes of whimsy ." According to this vision, Gondry wanted available light used exclusively for the shoot . Kuras disagreed with this choice and would get around it by lighting the room instead of the actors and by hiding light bulbs around the set to increase light levels . Another issue the cinematographers encountered was due to the frequent improvisation, the lack of marks and the few rehearsals completed, the cinematographers often did not know where the actors would be . Two handheld cameras filmed near 360 - degree footage at all times, shooting 36 000 feet of film a day to deal with this . Gondry called back to the work of famed French New Wave director Jean - Luc Godard by filming using wheelchairs as well as using sled and chariot dollies instead of traditional dollies . When using wheelchairs, the shot was not consistently smooth, however as Kuras liked the aesthetic of the low - angle, wobbly movement, the final film contains the footage . </P>

Where is eternal sunshine of the spotless mind filmed