Can you tell our readers your name and what your job is?
My name is Lori Wyant and I'm a script supervisor for Dune. I do continuity, which is sort of like being an editor on set. I work with the camera crew and the director to make sure things flow and I also keep track of what we've shot, what we still need to shoot, and I turn in notes to the editors so they have an idea of what happened on set and what the director's preferences are for different cuts and different takes.

What other recent films have you worked on?
I've worked on a film called Plunkett & Macleane with Liv Tyler that was shot here a couple of years ago, and one this summer called Lover's Prayer [a.k.a. All Forgotten] with Kirsten Dunst and Joan of Ark, with Luc Besson.

How does Frank Herbert's Dune differ from those pictures?
Well, it's huge in its scale and in its scope and its vision. It's the biggest project I've ever worked on. Just in terms of the script alone, it's like working on three scripts at once, with frequent shooting back and forth from part one to part three to part two, and obviously the character Paul Atreides goes through all different sorts of things from scene one to scene 333, and keeping track of all that has been a big challenge. But it's been fun.

How do you like the movie itself?
I'm blown away by what [cinematographer] Vittorio Storaro is coming up with in terms of lighting and camera angles, and what [writer/director] John [Harrison] is doing with the actors--getting the performance--and what the actors are coming out with as well. It's really great, and I think it's going to look beautiful and come across as true to the book as John can make it. He really wants to keep it sincere. And I think it will be.

Can you describe some of the sets for us?
We started off in the desert and had two or three different desert background plates that we used and some interiors, sort of desert-y things called sietches, which are sort of rock formations in the desert, and we were there for a long time. We were getting a little tired of it because we were always covered in dust and we had the whole studio full of sand. That went on for weeks and weeks, and then we went into the imperial palace, which is incredible: very ornate gold and marble. It's just gorgeous. Absolutely beautiful. And then we went to the Harkonnen palace, which was like an S&M nightclub in New York or something. It was just insane. Very industrial. And John wanted it to look sort of like it was almost in a cellar, you know, that feeling that the walls are dripping and oozing. The production designer is like a magician. He's doing such great things.

How true to the book do you think the film is?
We had different versions of the script that tried to include more of the book, because there are all sorts of little beats in the book that you'd love to be able to include. The stuff that John has actually included in the screenplay, it's all pretty true to the book. I saw the David Lynch movie [of Dune] and it did a lot of things that were a little odd. But John's tried to keep it really true to what happened in the Frank Herbert book.

What would you say to someone who is a big fan of the book and who is getting ready to watch the miniseries?
Actually a friend of mine is a big fan of the book and I've been e-mailing him and telling him about it. I just think it's really exciting. In terms of what has been done in the past--not to knock the David Lynch movie, because it was interesting in its own right--but this is just so much more rich and the characters are so much more well developed and the locations, the sets, are incredible. And I think it's going to bring a lot of what people have imagined to life.

What's the most fun part of your job?
I'm very happy working with John Harrison and Vittorio Storaro because I've never worked with such talented people in my life and to be privileged enough to be next to them while they're discussing the shots and keeping true to the visio--I don't know if you know this or not but Vittorio Storaro developed with John an entire philosophical concept behind the lighting that has to do with religion and philosophy and art, and just listening the shots with all of this in mind, the integrity behind this project comes out, and it's very exciting to work with people who really care about the project, not just some big-budget Hollywood thing.

Is there anything else that you'd like to add?
We are all really excited about it. As a crew we've all worked really well together and it's been a fulfilling experience for all of us because I think that the intentions are very pure and there's a lot of integrity. I just hope that people enjoy it as much as we've enjoyed working on it. I know that sounds hokey, but it's true.