Rock Stars (documentary series)

Rock Stars
Created by Justin Ward
Narrated by Pat Duke
Opening theme "Point Blank" by John Pratt
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 10 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time 40–45 minutes
Production company(s) Echo Entertainment
Distributor National Geographic
Release
Original network National Geographic Channel
Original release November 22, 2011 (2011-11-22) – present
Website

Rock Stars is a documentary/reality television series that follows a team of rock scalers from a slope stabilization/rock remediation company. The series is produced by Echo Entertainment for the National Geographic Channel. Ten episodes have been created so far, the first airing on November 22, 2011.

Plot

The series portrays a group of rock remediation technicians whose primary objective is to protect the public and their communities from rockslides. As trained professionals, these men suspend on the sides of cliffs that are anywhere from 25 to 200-feet high and remove any unstable rocks or boulders that could pose a potential threat to unsuspecting drivers and hikers below.[1] The crew use scale bars, a crow-bar type of tool with an angled tip, to bring down most of the rock. Often they also utilize rubber airbags inflated by an air compressor to bring down the larger masses of rock. The company also specializes in rock bolting, wire mesh installation, rock net installation, shotcrete, slope monitoring and slope blasting. The company has been around since 1968 and has long been a leader in the rock remediation world.[2]

Location

The first season takes place in two locations, White Pass (Washington) along U.S. Route 12 and Niagara Falls.

Production

The documentary was filmed and produced by Echo Entertainment, a production company out of Studio City, California. Each member of the production crew was required to attend a week-long training course to obtain a certification in ropes access.[3] Cameramen shooting on Sony EX-1s and Sony XDCam-800s were often suspended over the sides of the cliffs while shooting the scalers on the mountain. GoPro helmet cameras were also mounted on the helmets of each rock scaler to capture POV of the scalers on the hill.

Episodes

References

  1. WSDOT, Take the scenic route to avoid delays on US-12 this summer http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/News/2011/07/Take_scenic_route_avoid_delays_on_US12.htm
  2. The International Resource Journal. Janod Contractors, a business built on solid ground http://www.janod.biz/uploads/cbj_jan_2010_janod.pdf
  3. Baade, Brian. Training for the Shoot. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/rock-stars/training-for-the-shoot/
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 3/14/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.