At that time, he had completed 132 pages of the shooting script, with another 195 pages that remained to be written. Due to this, Mankiewicz shot the film in continuity leaving several actors waiting indefinitely until their scenes were ready to be shot. For the first few months of filming, he filmed scenes at day and wrote the script at night, resorting to amphetamine injections and wearing protective gloves because he contracted dermatitis in both hands. Overwhelmed, in February 1962, Mankiewicz re-hired MacDougall to script several battle scenes (particularly the battles of Moongate and Actium) and the final 50 remaining pages of the second half.