My Documentaries
Over the years I have produced a number of documentaries for the broadcasters like the Discovery Channel and VisionTV. Here is a partial list and short descriptions. I have posted clips in the “Sample Videos” part of this web site. If you like what you see you can also purchase the documentaries from this web site.
(Ancient Toys for Modern Boys)
I have just completed a three hour mini-series f
or Discovery HD about ancient weapons, called M5 - Weapons of War. The three hours are about the Damascus Sword, The Arquebus and the Mongolian Composite Bow. During each hour we will explore the history, the science and the technology behind each weapon and discover what made it stand out during its time. We will then, through a weapons master manufacture the weapon from the ancient materials and then test the weapon against modern and ancients weapons to see how it stacks up and see what is myth and what is fact. Helping me and the weapons master out will be engineering students from various Nova Scotia Universities.
Before the Industrial Revolution, changes and innovation in technology happened slowly, very slowly. Things that seem impossibly simple, almost trivial, enabled one culture to survive, even dominate other cultures, where another without that new twist, would fail, become irrelevant and die out. And yet it was these changes in technology that led to advances that brought our society to where it is today. It is not an overstatement to term these machines, as mighty, monster, mega, medieval, magnificent machines because of their pivotal influence and effects. The Arquebus, the Damascus Sword and the Composite Bow are just a small sampling of the greatest ancient advances in technology, machines and innovations that changed the world when they were introduced. They allowed one culture, once trivial and provincial, to transcend humble beginnings and become a world force, an empire.
Each episode will start with the individual M5 machine and present it in its historical setting, show how/why it was used and how it superseded the available technology of the time. The story will show the victories and the battles and the circumstances of the world at that time. Because so much of the past lies forgotten many of the M5 machines are no longer in existence, (and in some cases, only now are we able to duplicate them!) but for those that are still available we will travel to the location where they exist and recreate the scene of battle. But that is just the beginning, after the on-location shoots we will then construct the M5 machine
Other Documentaries
Finding Zarathustra: It Starts With Z - This is a two-hour documentary mini series about the almost four thousand-year-long journey of the Zoroastrian faith, from its birth to the present day. We begin in a tiny Zoroastrian community in Atlantic Canada, struggling to survive and maintain its identity and faith. From there, we travel into the distant past and across ancient lands and empires, to Great Britain, Iran and India. Once it was the faith of millions and empires, today practised by a few spread across the globe. We trace its beginnings from Zarathushtra’s enlightenment to its early ascension during the Persian Empire, through Cyrus and Darius, to the beginning of its decline after Alexander, Christ and Mohammed.
Using the small Zoroastrian community in Halifax as a springboard, we explore the history, modern dilemmas and problems of an ancient faith trying to remain relevant and vibrant. Richard completed his companion book called Zarathustra: It Starts With Z on PDF. Its a great yarn about the making of the Zarathushtra docs and his perspective of the wonderful travels to London, India and Iran. (Video Samples)
Mega Storms - Remember the the movie The Perfect Storm? The one-in-a-hundred-year north Atlantic storm? Now imagine six of them each year, each one a carbon copy of the storm on which the movie was based, striking the east coast with a fury usually reserved for Pacific typhoons. Serious? You bet! Their waves are 50% bigger than previously measured and incredibly destructive and dangerous. Their winds twice as strong. The hurricane season, which has traditionally been a tropical domain, is for the first time ever migrating, coming north, to the North Atlantic waters. The change is unprecedented and is potentially catastrophic. At the best of times the ocean coast is an unpredictable mix of wind and water, but now it threatens to become worse than ever before. In Mega Storms the viewer can see and feel first hand their spectacular fury and travel with the researchers who study them. (Video Samples)
Rail Against the Machine - is a four-part documentary mini-series for television about technology and how it affects our lives for better and worse, and in ways that we never intended. It is also about our inherent "Technophobia"; a fear of its double-edged nature (a tool can also be used as a weapon); the unease about letting loose technology we do not fully understand and having it get away on us; the nightmare about our machines eventually enslaving us, or worse, doing away with us altogether. (Video Samples)
Moving People - is a one hour pilot documentary about living with the high risk technology of moving people from one place to another with automobiles and airplanes. No matter how you cut it, travel today involves high technology and risk. Our technological systems are now almost as complex as living organisms, and sometimes what separates success from disaster is almost tissue thin luck and happenstance. In spite of the failsafe systems, triple back ups and redundancy circuits, disasters do happen. Everyone is affected by them. (Video Samples)
Chipheads - is a one hour, magazine format, television show highlighting computers and the people who use them. The purpose of the show is to present the world of computers and their surrounding technology in a comprehensive, entertaining format and at the same time, make this diverse, multi-faceted and sometimes confusing information barrage accessible to the average user. Recognizing the great spectrum and diversity in computer literacy, a fast flowing magazine format has been chosen that presents topics and information at various levels. (Video Samples)