Oklahoma Rocks! Online

 All four parts of the Teacher's Edition of our documentary "Oklahoma Rocks!" are now on YouTube and you can stream them for free!  Here's all four in a YouTube Playlist:

Latest Shoot: Checking Out Some Rocks at the Library

It takes a lot of footage to make a project like EveryDay Earth.  Like all our projects, the kind of shots we typically need are of rocks.  We get plenty of footage in the field but since there's no such things as "too many rocks," we're always trying to get more.

Luckily our friends at the Oklahoma Mineral and Gem Society were kind enough to loan us some of their best specimens to shoot.  A few days before they had just taken down a display at the Metropolitan Library in downtown Oklahoma City so the timing was prefect.

We needed a space to set up and our friends at another library, the Piedmont Library, let us use some of their space (and show off some rocks).  Here's what the setup looks like...

...to get a shot of native sulfur that looks like this:

We spent several hours shooting and had access to some great specimens.  There were even several that were so big we couldn't fit them in the light box.  That didn't stop us from getting footage of them though. 

All in all, it was a very productive day and we'd like to thank everyone who helped out.  Be on the lookout for the great shots we got in EveryDay Earth!

Latest Shoot: Oklahoma Aquarium

Production on the first adventure of EveryDay Earth has pretty much finished up but we're already working on the second!  Since the curriculum is Oklahoma based we wanted to involve as many educational Oklahoma attractions as possible.

It's also not just Oklahoma rocks and landforms we want to include, we also want to incorporate Oklahoma wildlife to show to show how so many natural systems are connected.   Thankfully the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks was happy to let us stop by and get some footage.

The main focus of the shoot was the "Aquatic Oklahoma" exhibit which features all kinds of local critters that swim, slither, skitter and float around the lakes and rivers of Oklahoma.  It was a great opportunity to get the kind of close up shots of animals that we would never be able to get in the wild.

While out and about, we couldn't help but get some shots at Eufaula Lake.  Water is the main concept covered in the first Module of Everyday Earth so we've shot quite a few of the lakes, rivers, springs, ponds and waterfalls in the state but it never hurts to have more footage.  Plus water is such a crucial part of natural science, geography and culture that there's always a need for extra footage.

And just like that we got some more wildlife shots.  I'm honestly not sure what kind of birds these are so we'll have to check in with our biologist and ornithologist friends to see if they can weigh in.  It was windy and really cold this weekend so outdoor shooting was kept to a minimum but there was one other shot we needed to get:

Coal Miners Memorial Plaza in MacAlester, OK is dedicated to those that lost their lives in the dangerous job of coal mining.  It's also a great visual reminder of the influence of coal in the area.  It has had a large economic impact in the region as well as a cultural one.

We shot footage of this monument years ago for our documentary "Oklahoma Rocks" but that was back in the Standard Definition days.  Since these days we're working in HD 4K video, the older footage would not work in a current project.  But luckily stuff like this is in the neighborhood and it always helps to check back in on an area to make sure our footage is up to date.

EveryDay Earth Trailer

Here's the trailer for our new project "EveryDay Earth!"  It's an interactive video curriculum supplement that lets students go on adventures, make choices and gather data as they learn about earth science and STEM concepts.  We'll be rolling it out to Oklahoma public schools this year!

Marking Time #32 - Fort Worth Stock Exchange

Fort Worth is "Cowtown" and the best place to take in a wagon load of cowboy culture is the Fort Worth Stockyards.  The area is rich with history and today's marker belong's to the Fort Worth Stock Exchange:

The marker reads:

     Headquarters, one of greatest cattle markets in the world.  In late 1860s Fort Worth was stop on cattle trails. Market for West Texas organized 1870s. First trader, T. B. Saunders, Sr., soon was joined by others. 
     First small packing houses were followed (early 1900s) by multi-million dollar plants. By 1910 trading almost doubled. 
     This structure was erected in 1902-03 to house the Stockyards Company, Livestock Commission, and buyers officers, surrounded by lawns (now parking lots). In 1944, was purchased by United Stockyards Corporation. 

The building is still used to this today.  Additionally, inside is the Stockyards Museum which houses a variety of historic artifacts:

One of the more interesting and unusual pieces in the museum is easy to miss if you're not looking for it.  The Palace Light Bulb is a world record holder as the Second Longest Burning Light Bulb in the world:

This beauty has been burning for 105 years straight.  More Stock Exchange info is packed into this video we shot a few years ago: