<P> Gump's core character and personality are also changed from the novel; among other things his film character is less of an autistic savant--in the novel, while playing football at the university, he fails craft and gym, but receives a perfect score in an advanced physics class he is enrolled in by his coach to satisfy his college requirements . The novel also features Gump as an astronaut, a professional wrestler, and a chess player . </P> <P> Two directors were offered the opportunity to direct the film before Robert Zemeckis was selected . Terry Gilliam turned down the offer . Barry Sonnenfeld was attached to the film, but left to direct Addams Family Values . </P> <P> Filming began in August 1993 and ended in December of that year . Although most of the film is set in Alabama, filming took place mainly in and around Beaufort, South Carolina, as well as parts of coastal Virginia and North Carolina, including a running shot on the Blue Ridge Parkway . Downtown portions of the fictional town of Greenbow were filmed in Varnville, South Carolina . The scene of Forrest running through Vietnam while under fire was filmed on Fripp Island, South Carolina . Additional filming took place on the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, and along the Blue Ridge Parkway near Boone, North Carolina . The most notable place was Grandfather Mountain where a part of the road is named "Forrest Gump Curve". The Gump family home set was built along the Combahee River near Yemassee, South Carolina, and the nearby land was used to film Curran's home as well as some of the Vietnam scenes . Over 20 palmetto trees were planted to improve the Vietnam scenes . Forrest Gump narrated his life's story at the southern edge of Chippewa Square in Savannah, Georgia, as he sat at a bus stop bench . There were other scenes filmed in and around the Savannah area as well, including a running shot on the Richard V. Woods Memorial Bridge in Beaufort while he was being interviewed by the press, and on West Bay Street in Savannah . Most of the college campus scenes were filmed in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California . The lighthouse that Forrest runs across to reach the Atlantic Ocean the first time is the Marshall Point Lighthouse in Port Clyde, Maine . Additional scenes were filmed in Arizona, Utah's Monument Valley, and Montana's Glacier National Park . </P> <P> Ken Ralston and his team at Industrial Light & Magic were responsible for the film's visual effects . Using CGI techniques, it was possible to depict Gump meeting deceased personages and shaking their hands . Hanks was first shot against a blue screen along with reference markers so that he could line up with the archive footage . To record the voices of the historical figures, voice actors were filmed and special effects were used to alter lip - syncing for the new dialogue . Archival footage was used and with the help of such techniques as chroma key, image warping, morphing, and rotoscoping, Hanks was integrated into it . </P>

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