The production scouted more than 500 farms in Iowa before finding one near Dyersville that had all the physical qualities they wanted plus enough isolation to make filming easier.

Don Lansing, the owner of the property chosen, agreed to let the production reconfigure his house and open it up inside to accommodate cameras and equipment. He was paid $12,000 for his consent. An air conditioning system was installed, a porch built, and the floors leveled.

Kinsella's book was suffused with references to the 1960s, so the art director and set decorator put 60s relics and images in the house, even though they seemed incongruous with an Iowa farm.

Filming began in late May 1988 with street scenes and house exteriors.

The story depended on the farm having row after row of high corn, but when shooting was set to begin the crop was stunted due to the worst drought in Iowa since the Dustbowl. Three weeks before shooting was scheduled for the fields, the company spent $25,000 to truck in water from the Mississippi River to help the corn grow. As a hedge against that possibly failing, production designer Dennis Gassner ordered 50,000 silk corn stalks from Korea, but it turned out not to be necessary as the crop began to grow in time. Producer Charles Gordon later related how the production and farm owner Lansing became unpopular among the locals whose own crops were suffering in the drought.

The corn grew so fast that it became taller than Kevin Costner. Boxes had to be laid out in the field so he could walk between the rows of corn and still be seen by the camera.

The shooting schedule was very tight, so as soon as the full cornfield scenes were completed, the crop had to be cut down to begin construction of the baseball field.

The field was constructed over the July 4 weekend under the direction of the Los Angeles Dodgers groundskeeper.

Because of the drought, the sod for the field began dying quickly. The Dodgers groundskeeper suggested they do what he did at his stadium, paint the dead grass green.

To get the most evocative visuals, director of photography John Lindley shot during the "magic hour" as the sun was setting. The term is a misnomer, as the right lighting lasts only about 10-15 minutes. Single scenes had to be shot over a period of several days each.

Ray Liotta had no baseball experience and batted right-handed, although Shoeless Joe Jackson was a leftie. Director Phil Alden Robinson allowed Liotta to bat with his right but still put him through several weeks of extensive training with University of Southern California baseball coach and former Brooklyn Dodger Rod Dedeaux in order to be convincing as one of the sport's greatest hitters. Liotta eventually developed a good swing. The scene where he hits a line drive straight back at Costner actually happened. Costner's fall on the mound was real, and although it was a surprise, he kept in character.

James Earl Jones said he had J.D. Salinger in mind and worked hard to translate him into the black journalist character.

At some point during principal photography, Robinson began to lose confidence in his ability to tell the story effectively. He dreamed angry fans of the book were coming at him with knives. Producer Larry Gordon had to call him with a pep talk, telling him his script was great and that he just needed to trust it and shoot what he had written.

The aerial shot near the end showing cars lined up coming to the field required a complete blackout of the town. About 1500 locals were enlisted. The number of cars, however, brought the traffic almost to a standstill. Drivers were instructed to flash their brights on and off to create the illusion of movement.

Editing began in August 1988.

Preview test audiences did not take well to the original title (taken directly from the book), Shoeless Joe, saying it sounded like a film about a homeless person. The studio decided to change it to Field of Dreams, which writer-director Phil Alden Robinson opposed until he called W.P. Kinsella with the news. Kinsella said the change was fine with him because he originally wanted to call his book "Dream Field" but was overruled by his publisher.

Phil Alden Robinson wanted very little said between Ray Kinsella's character and his father's ghost in the last scene. He originally wrote and shot it to have Ray catch himself as he was about to introduce the ghost of his father to his wife. Preview audiences were either confused about who the character was or thought Ray was cruel for not acknowledging their relationship. Robinson added the line, "Hey Dad, you wanna have a catch?" It tested very well.

By Rob Nixon