A few years before CONTACT, I was with Robert Zemeckis, Wendy Finerman, Steve Tisch, and Rick Carter on perhaps one of the most astonishing days of their lives. On this day, they would spend a few hours on the South Carolina coast and fly on to Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. Remembering the words of a young vet pilot as we flew over the Carolina coast on a scout years ago - "Please excuse me if I get a little quiet. When I look down, I get serious Vietnam flashbacks" - We Carolinians began our journey with Zemeckis and crew with a purpose and a plan to plant the seeds of Vietnam in the 18th Century rice fields of Bluff Plantation later that morning. FIRST STOPS. In the tiny town of Varnville, Production Designer Rick Carter envisioned as Forrest's Alabama home town, Bob Zemeckis practically jumped out of his seat. "THIS PLACE IS TALKIN' TO ME !" Calming ourselves, we knew well the Zen-like ups and downs of production decisions and guarded against any creeping sense of optimism. At Bluff Plantation, the boarding house, bus stop, Jenny's house (later bulldozed in the movie), the oak tree, and some unexpected locations were found. A lively comparison of South Carolina and Vietnam rice planting took root and became the topic of conversation. It felt good to be manipulative. NEXT LEG. After a 50's football field, 30's classroom, and old-fashioned doctor’s office later, something subtle and powerful happened on Warsaw Island delta. It just looked like Vietnam-the perfect location for the opening Vietnam sequences and introduction to cigar smoking Lt. Dan. Twenty minutes later, when nearby Lucy Creek was chosen to the site of Bubba's Louisiana bayou home and runaway shrimp boat, optimism crashed our small party of eight. EXULTATION AT THE DESTINATION. At palm, fern, and lagoon-covered Fripp and Hunting Islands, dropping jaws and deep sighs preceded an almost deferential silence, much like the split second quietness of thousands just before the deafening roar of a crowd witnessing a Ruthian home run! And so it was that all of FORREST GUMP's exterior Vietnam scenes were filmed on South Carolina's barrier islands and rice plantations. ASTONISHINGLY, what had been planned as a half day perfunctory trip to a three county area of South Carolina coast had become almost an entire world where Forrest Gump's amazing globe-trotting life story could be told. And so it was that the Lowcountry became the operations center of the entire FORREST GUMP project. Arthur Howe - LOCATION CAROLINA