Season by landscape
| Landscape | Locations | Months |
|---|---|---|
| Mountains, green | Shymbulak, Big Almaty Lake, Turgen, Kolsai, Assy | June–September |
| Mountains, snow | the same | November–April |
| Canyons and desert | Charyn, Singing Dune, Aktau Mountains, Mangystau | April–June, September–October |
| Steppe | near Konaev | green May–June, golden August–September |
| Lakes and sea | Alakol, Balkhash, Caspian coast | June–September |
| Silk Road | Turkestan | March–May, September–October |
| Ship graveyard | Aral Sea | May–June, August–September |
| Cities | Almaty; Astana | all year; May–September (Astana drops to −30 °C in winter) |
| Airfields | Boralday, Taldykorgan | all year round |
The sweet spots: June and September
In these two months green mountains and canyons work at the same time, so one trip gives you the most looks. In June: Shymbulak, Charyn and the Singing Dune. In September: golden steppe, Nomad City and the canyons, with the mountains still green.
Avoid the desert in high summer: summers are hot in the canyons and in Altyn-Emel, so July and August there are hard on crew and gear.
Winter is not a dead season
- From November to April the mountains are under snow. Shymbulak is a working ski resort, and its cable car lifts the crew above 3000 m to the glaciers.
- Almaty works all year round.
- For interiors, green screen, day-for-night or a bad-weather plan B, there is a 727 m² sound stage with a 12 m ceiling in Almaty.
- Plan for short days: daylight in Almaty is about 9 h at the end of December, against about 15 h 20 min at the end of June.
Count back from your first shooting day
| Task | Allow |
|---|---|
| C3 work visas for cast and crew | 8–12 weeks |
| Military sites, aircraft, border zones | 15–30 days |
| Scouting and standard permits | 2–4 weeks |
| Street closures | 15 days |
| Drone registration | up to 10 working days |
Visas set the pace. For a shoot in mid-September, start the visa paperwork in June. The director and producer can come to scout earlier without a visa: up to 14 days per visit for Indian citizens and up to 30 days for Chinese and Korean citizens.