If you’ve ever seen a film use noticeably fake snow, that’s probably because shooting in the actual stuff can lead to problems. During a 2015 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Quentin Tarantino talked about how he had to prepare himself for complications regarding the film equipment. “I just had to assume that there would be times that the lenses would freeze, or that the big camera would freeze,” said Tarantino.
When it came to Django’s quick draw sequence, however, the frigid temperature was so chilly that it not only led to a strain on the filming equipment but the prop weapons as well:
“Even the guns didn’t work. And that happened to be the day we were doing Django’s fast draw. So literally in between takes, you got a hair dryer on the lenses and a hair dryer on the guns to make sure that they were warm enough.”
You always hope that the elements will work in your favor, but sometimes it just has to make things harder, especially with your cast and crew trying to keep the operation running in an unpredictable environment. Regardless, Tarantino was able to get what he needed, and Jamie Foxx came out on the other side looking like one of the smoothest gunslingers in the West.
“Django Unchained” is currently streaming on Paramount+.