 While filming, Blitz sometimes used hand gestures from the director's chair instead of yelling "cut" because of his stutter.Jeffrey Blitz wanted the film's music to be "sweet and a touch melancholy and just a step out of rhythm", demonstrating Hal's sense of himself in the world, and to express his teenage angst while "maintain[ing] an underlying sweetness".While writing the "Rocket Science" script, Blitz had been listening to indie rock band Clem Snide's music and suggested the use of their music on the soundtrack to the HBO executive producers.