▁techniques ▁she ▁had ▁learned ▁at ▁the ▁P ig ▁Iron ▁Theatre ▁Company ▁in ▁Philadelphia ▁and ▁the ▁The ▁School ▁of ▁M aking ▁Th inking . ▁De cker , ▁Howard , ▁and ▁eleven ▁other ▁actors ▁met ▁about ▁nine ▁different ▁times ▁over ▁the ▁course ▁of ▁seven ▁months . ▁They ▁used ▁impro vis ation ▁to ▁create ▁a ▁variety ▁of ▁different ▁scenes , ▁many ▁of ▁which ▁never ▁ended ▁up ▁in ▁the ▁final ▁film , ▁and ▁expl ored ▁each ▁perform er ' s ▁personal ▁experiences , ▁such ▁as ▁with ▁mental ▁ill ness . ▁Cin emat ograph er ▁Ash ley ▁Con nor ▁also ▁participated ▁in ▁some ▁of ▁the ▁work sh ops ▁because ▁De cker ▁wanted ▁the ▁camera ▁to ▁also ▁be ▁treated ▁as ▁a ▁character . ▁After ▁all ▁the ▁work sh ops , ▁De cker ▁sat ▁down ▁and ▁wrote ▁a ▁script ▁that ▁incorpor ated ▁the ▁best ▁scenes ▁they ▁had ▁created . ▁In ▁one ▁draft ▁of ▁the ▁script , ▁she ▁included ▁a ▁real - life ▁event ▁that ▁had ▁happened ▁between ▁her ▁and ▁Howard , ▁and ▁when ▁she ▁realized ▁that ▁it ▁had ▁crossed ▁a ▁line ▁between ▁the ▁character ▁Mad eline ▁and ▁the ▁actual ▁Hel ena ▁Howard , ▁she ▁decided ▁to ▁take ▁the ▁script ▁in ▁a ▁more ▁fict ional ▁direction . ▁De cker ▁realized ▁from ▁that ▁experience ▁that ▁the ▁character ▁Ev ang eline ▁would ▁have ▁enjoyed ▁crossing ▁boundaries ▁like ▁that , ▁so ▁she ▁started ▁incorpor ating ▁that ▁desire ▁into ▁her ▁character . ▁ ▁De cker ▁continued ▁this ▁collabor ative ▁style ▁during ▁production . ▁At ▁the ▁beginning ▁of ▁each ▁day ▁of ▁shooting , ▁the ▁cast ▁and