Film Info46 minutes
Grizzly Creek Films, History Available for Free AND Ticketed events Synopsis: Craig Beals – Montana’s 2015 Teacher of the Year – is on a lifelong mission to explore and reveal the planet’s most surprising secrets with real world expeditions and innovative experiments. In “Secret Earth: Yellowstone Supervolcano”, he digs into the brand new science beneath Yellowstone National Park. Craig’s quest to understand the hidden potential of the huge magma chambers fueling Yellowstone takes audiences up in the air, underwater, and into billowing clouds of ash. |
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Filmmaker Q & A
1. What inspired this story?
Craig Beals loves explosions. To keep his students’ attention, the Montana Teacher of the Year blows things up. But his passion for science extends beyond the classroom to a world where theory can be experienced. So when researchers discovered a second massive molten chamber deep below Yellowstone National Park, Craig Beals knew he had to investigate the explosive potential of the world’s largest supervolcano.
2. Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film?
Think loud, dangerous and fantastic. From firing a gun in a giant makeshift swimming pool, to blowing up a massive model of Yellowstone National Park, making Secret Earth required assembling an unusual team of experts. Volcanologists, pyrotechnicians, thermal camera specialists, and a fleet of volunteer fire-firefighters made challenging shoots possible – and incredibly fun.
3. How do you approach science storytelling?
To understand the scale of a supervolcano, see it from the sky. To visualize the aftermath of Yellowstone exploding, dig a hole, make a magma chamber, and blow it up. Craig Beals believes that a complete sensory experience not only conveys hard scientific facts, but also plants the seed of lifelong curiosity.
4. Were there any surprising or meaningful moments/experiences you want to share?
Did you know that in order to stand still enough to fire a revolver in a pool you need to have 20-pound dumbbells anchoring your feet? Or that bracing a shotgun against your hip underwater could mean hobbling away black and blue? Neither did we. But now we do.
5. Why did you pick Craig Beals to be the on camera host telling this story?
Craig Beals will do anything in the name of science. He lives it. Breathes it. Sleeps it. It’s taken him to the summit of Greenland’s ice sheet, across the arid steppes of Mongolia, and deep into the jungles of Borneo. He’s spent countless hours – in the cold, wet, and unfamiliar – collecting the raw experiences that enable him to communicate his love for discovery.
Craig Beals loves explosions. To keep his students’ attention, the Montana Teacher of the Year blows things up. But his passion for science extends beyond the classroom to a world where theory can be experienced. So when researchers discovered a second massive molten chamber deep below Yellowstone National Park, Craig Beals knew he had to investigate the explosive potential of the world’s largest supervolcano.
2. Describe some of the challenges faced while making this film?
Think loud, dangerous and fantastic. From firing a gun in a giant makeshift swimming pool, to blowing up a massive model of Yellowstone National Park, making Secret Earth required assembling an unusual team of experts. Volcanologists, pyrotechnicians, thermal camera specialists, and a fleet of volunteer fire-firefighters made challenging shoots possible – and incredibly fun.
3. How do you approach science storytelling?
To understand the scale of a supervolcano, see it from the sky. To visualize the aftermath of Yellowstone exploding, dig a hole, make a magma chamber, and blow it up. Craig Beals believes that a complete sensory experience not only conveys hard scientific facts, but also plants the seed of lifelong curiosity.
4. Were there any surprising or meaningful moments/experiences you want to share?
Did you know that in order to stand still enough to fire a revolver in a pool you need to have 20-pound dumbbells anchoring your feet? Or that bracing a shotgun against your hip underwater could mean hobbling away black and blue? Neither did we. But now we do.
5. Why did you pick Craig Beals to be the on camera host telling this story?
Craig Beals will do anything in the name of science. He lives it. Breathes it. Sleeps it. It’s taken him to the summit of Greenland’s ice sheet, across the arid steppes of Mongolia, and deep into the jungles of Borneo. He’s spent countless hours – in the cold, wet, and unfamiliar – collecting the raw experiences that enable him to communicate his love for discovery.
