SAHARA production notes FINAL

and frightening sight. You only get 30 seconds’ warning before you have to find cover. It
can ruin an entire day’s shoot.”
The filmmakers were prepared for such challenges, but the Sahara often finds ways
to offer unexpected difficulties. “Everyone always says, ‘It never rains in the desert,’”
says producer Howard Baldwin. “‘You’ll never see rain. We haven’t had rain for 40
years.’ Cut to a vicious rainstorm.”
And if it wasn’t the sandstorms, and it wasn’t the rain… it was the locusts. “We
ran into the middle of a bona fide plague,” Eisner says. “It’s difficult to get them out of
the shot when they’re flying everywhere.”
And then, there were the winds. “The wind just whips up and blows all the sand
around – it’s so fine, like talcum powder,” notes producer Mace Neufeld. “One day, it’ll
be beautiful, and the next day, sand blowing everywhere. The shots wouldn’t match and
we couldn’t keep the sand out of the camera gate.”
But despite the interruptions, Eisner was able to keep the mood on set calm and
light. At one point, the director kept score, announcing, “It’s Day 37, and it’s ‘Sahara,’ the
movie, 30; Sahara, the desert, 7.”
The actors kept things easygoing as well. For one sequence in the desert, a lack of
amenities (including hotels) required the actors to camp in tents. “Everyone loved it,
especially Matthew,” says Eisner. “We had campfires every night.”
In keeping with this low-key, low-ego atmosphere, the actors felt it was important,
whenever they could, to perform their own stunts. “I think audiences are smart enough
that if they see something happen on a wide shot, they think, ‘Oh, that’s not really him,’”
says McConaughey. “We tried to film it in a way that we kept Dirk in the frame a little
longer so it’s more believable that it’s really me doing that. This was, by far, the most
physical role I’ve had.”
“I think Matthew would have done every stunt in the movie if the insurance
company had let him,” laughs Eisner. “As a director, that’s the best possible situation;
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