"In fact, I was more faithful to the script in 'Altered States' than in any previous movie, and I think I did it great justice." "We're saying every word exactly as he wrote it," said Brown during filming. "I suppose the truth is he [Chayefsky] and Ken are such different personalities they found it impossible to work together." "Ken has been scrupulous in following the text," said Melnick. "Right from the start Ken accepted that he was doing a Paddy Chayefsky screenplay not a Ken Russell screenplay." According to one source close to the film, "Two strong artists were jockeying for control and, at a given point, a movie becomes a director's movie. You can't stand over his shoulder. You either support him or fire him." Russell admitted he did not "shoot scenes as he was used to having them shot in other movies he has been involved in. I try to avoid the covering shot, long shot, close-up technique. Instead, I try for long, fluid sequences." The director said he felt Chayefksy had never "been involved with a director who wasn't malleable. He would make suggestions, and I would listen courteously, and then disagree. Paddy hated the lighting, for example, and he didn't like the color scheme of some of the sets. 'I can't use your eyes,' I told him. 'I've got to use my own. In any case, there can be only one director on a picture." Russell added, "there is a great deal of dialogue in 'Altered States,' and as I saw it, my task was to make those scenes as visually interesting as possible so they wouldn't be swallowed up by the special effects." Russell also wound up replacing special effects expert John Dykstra with Bran Ferren, who is credited for Special Visual Effects in the front titles, and created the VFX actually used in the film. Dick Smith worked on the effects. It was the first time Russell made a film in Hollywood. He later said "I thought I would hate Hollywood, but I rather liked it. Everyone there is supposed to be terribly materialistic, but "Altered States" was the first movie I ever worked on where nobody—not Warner Bros., not Dan Melnick, the executive producer, or Howard Gottfried, the producer—ever mentioned money." Melnick said the film was "really scary stuff, a huge leap forward from films like "Star Wars".