Ball remained involved throughout production ; he had signed a television show development deal , so had to get permission from his producers to take a year off to be close to American Beauty . Ball was on @-@ set for rewrites and to help interpret his script for all but two days of filming . His original bookend scenes — in which Ricky and Jane are prosecuted for Lester 's murder after being framed by Col. Fitts — were excised in post @-@ production ; the writer later felt the scenes were unnecessary , saying they were a reflection of his " anger and cynicism " at the time of writing ( see " Editing " ) . Ball and Mendes revised the script twice before it was sent to the actors , and twice more before the first read @-@ through .