southern would eventually share the writing credit with hopper and fonda, but there has been dispute over their various contributions to the screenplay. hopper and fonda later tried to downplay southern's input, claiming that many sections of the film (such as the graveyard scene and the mardis gras sequence) had been improvised, whereas others involved in the production (including southern himself) have asserted that most of these scenes were fully scripted and primarily written by him.