Hallmark Christmas movies are a staple of the season, and they usually appear to be set in a picturesque snow-covered small town somewhere. However, did you know all of the unusual ways that Hallmark makes snow? Some of them might surprise you, including the soapy bubbles and “fish ice.”
Why would Hallmark movies need to make snow at all, though? Believe it or not, but a lot of Christmas movies are filmed in the summer. Andrew Gernhard, producer of Hallmark Christmas films, told the Weather Channel: “We have to make Christmas movies year-round. It could be in the middle of summer, and we’ve shot during heat waves in Connecticut.”
However, Hallmark attempts to film as many movies as possible when it’s actually winter.
Gernhard told USA Today: “We try and get as many movies done between November and March, when it’s really winter. But of course, they do anywhere from 25 to 40 movies a year, and a lot of them are done during the summer.”
From White Cotton to CGI, the Way Hallmark Makes Snow Can Vary
Gernhard shared some of the channel’s past secrets.
“We did the full snow blankets and flocking,” Gernhard told the Weather Channel of how Hallmark made snow in the past. “Crews would roll out thin white cotton across lawns and gardens, then spray ‘flocking’ (a biodegradable white paper product) along sidewalks, roofs, awnings and window ledges to mimic piled or shoveled snow.”
Today, some of the snow is made with computers. “Leaves are digitally turned white, trees are stripped bare and rooftops are dusted with CGI snow,” according to the Weather Channel.
For some productions, real snow is brought in. “Three Wiser Men brought in the real thing,” US Magazine reported, revealing that “the crew hosed down the cement outside the entrance to the school so it wouldn’t look so dry. They then shoveled snow into barrels and sprinkled it on the ground to depict a ‘just snowed.'” The snow, which was actually fish ice, was hauled onto the set in wheelbarrows, the magazine reported.
What is fish ice? According to Cinemablend, it’s “a type of ice that sticks around longer before melting.” In the past, movies used a “soft focus lens” to “make blankets thrown about in the background look like snow,” that site noted.
Barbara Niven recently shared a video of the real snow on the set of “Tis the Season for Setups.”
Soapy Bubbles Are Used for Closeups
Snow falling on an actor’s or actress’s face? It might actually be soapy bubbles. According to The List, citing Business Insider, Hallmark movies create the illusion of snow with:
- Snow blankets, “which look like car-seat cushions.”
- Fire-retardant foam.
- Crushed limestone.
- “Ice shavings from ice blocks.”
- Snow “made with machines like those that ski slopes use.”
- “For closeups, there are soapy bubbles.”
According to USA Today, Hallmark created snow “woven from fibers made from shredded plastic” for the movie, “Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story.”
“You can adjust the edges, and it turns into lumpy, realistic looking snow,” says Margaret Goddard, special effects coordinator, to USA Today. “We take that and we kind of pull it apart, arrange it, then wet it and come back around and burn it with a torch so that the edges curl up.” Afterwards, CGI adds additional effects.
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How Hallmark Makes Snow for Christmas Movies Might Surprise You