On their first day of filming, James Franco and Nicole Kidman climbed a tower, where a vulture sat. Prior to filming the scene, Werner Herzog had found the vulture by coincidence, with its owner, by the side of the road and decided to put it into the film. The vulture was not trained for such screen roles, and tried to peck Kidman, but luckily it was on a leash. This scene is one of Kidman's favorite in the film.
Werner Herzog decided to film during a real sandstorm, which is usually avoided and therefore rarely seen in feature films because of the technical problems for the cameras resulting from the sand. Another unique opportunity arose, when the very rare phenomenon of snow in the desert occurred. Both natural phenomena can be seen in the final film.
Real lion cubs were used on set.
Nicole Kidman said she "begged" director Werner Herzog to include a scene of her character bathing in the desert, which he happily obliged to. The scene was written on set and finally made it into the film.
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