While Spielberg directed "1941" (1979), Kasdan used his office to write "Raiders of the Lost Ark". He wrote Jones as an anti-hero, an archaeologist reduced to grave-robbing. He took inspiration from the early 20th-century serials, and adventure films like "Red River" (1948), "Seven Samurai" (1954), and "The Magnificent Seven" (1960). Kasdan wanted a supporting cast with their own unique characteristics and believed it was important these characters had a memorable impact. He described the hardest part of writing as explaining how Jones would fall into successive dangerous events and then survive, and how he traveled between locations. In August 1978, after approximately five months, Kasdan completed his first draft.