# Who is responsible for the Lizard-On-A-Rock shot required in all desert scenes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2016, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101 "2016-03-06T07:11:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/1 "2016-03-06T07:11:26Z")
It is so ubiquitous, so inescapable… when did this start? Does anyone know? Does it go back to the earliest days of film, was there a silent movie Lizard-On-A-Rock that started it all, or is it a more recent phenomenon? And are there lizard wranglers who have trained rock-scrambling lizards ready to go any time there’s a dry and dusty scene to be shot? And are there really THAT many lizards in the desert? I’ve never been a fan, but I have spent a little time in a desert or two, and I don’t’ recall seeing any lizards at all, much less lizards on every rock in sight. At least Mad Max ATE the damn lizard… ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/2 "2016-03-06T08:47:18Z")
I don’t know about the movie meme but I see numerous lizards on rocks every time I hike. It’s a pretty ubiquitous sight in Cali. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/3 "2016-03-06T08:55:19Z")
Establishing shots and filler scenes are generally the work of the second unit director. The yummy lizard scene from MM:FR was CGI, I think. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/4 "2016-03-06T08:59:45Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > I don’t know about the movie meme but I see numerous lizards on rocks every time I hike. It’s a pretty ubiquitous sight in Cali. I live in Tucson and see lizards pretty much every time I look outside. Last summer I saw a gecko on the outside of the glass sliding door almost every night just waiting for a bug to get close enough for him to pounce on. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/5 "2016-03-06T09:23:56Z")
its certainly true in Australia. Go to any arid area and you’ll see numerous lizards, big and small and certainly some of them will be sunbathing on rocks. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/6 "2016-03-06T15:25:32Z")
Lizards-“R”-Us. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/7 "2016-03-06T15:58:44Z")
The lizard SAG. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/8 "2016-03-06T16:06:48Z")
Also, why did that insurance company hire a British gecko as its mascot when there are plenty of American geckos hungry for work? Murica first! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/9 "2016-03-06T16:27:22Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > I don’t know about the movie meme but I see numerous lizards on rocks every time I hike. It’s a pretty ubiquitous sight in Cali. In San Jose on a warm day I’ll see 3 or 4 kinds of lizards on the trail. There used to be a good population of western fence and alligator lizards at my apartment complex…until people with cats moved in. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/10 "2016-03-06T16:27:57Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > Cali. It burns! It burns! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/11 "2016-03-06T16:51:33Z")
lol Leone? In “Desert Spirits” (greater than anything Ford, Lean, Roeg, or Antonioni has ever done) the STAR of the film is the amazing lizard NORRRRREEEEEEEE. good peyote fun. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/12 "2016-03-06T20:18:31Z")
My wife has “lizard-on-a-fencepost” photo on her website. We got lots of lizzies. I like them. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/13 "2016-03-06T20:38:12Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > There used to be a good population of western fence and alligator lizards at my apartment complex…until people with cats moved in. ☹ Mammal beats reptile. It is the way of things. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/14 "2016-03-06T20:46:26Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Also, why did that insurance company hire a British gecko as its mascot when there are plenty of American geckos hungry for work? Murica first! I thought the gecko was Australian. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/15 "2016-03-06T20:48:16Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I thought the gecko was Australian. Actually, the gecko was [Kelsey Grammer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qc1H2SMK1s) first. Then it was Australian. Then it became an Englishman. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2016, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-responsible-for-the-lizard-on-a-rock-shot-required-in-all-desert-scenes/748101/16 "2016-03-06T20:49:28Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Actually, the gecko was Kelsey Grammer first. Then it was Australian. Then it became an Englishman. Don’t remember the first, but thank you for verifying I’m not crazy re: the Australian accent.