QUEST on KQED Public Media.
Quest's Ice Age Bay Area examines the inhabitants of the Pleistocene era in our backyard. Before the ice caps melted the coastline of Northern California was extended by 12 miles of verdant grassland populated by camels, gazelle and other herd animals that were stalked by saber-toothed tigers and giant short-faced bears. Giant and short? Imagine if you crossed a cheetah with a bear. Its giant, standing twelve feet tall and it has the short snout of a cheetah, the better to swallow huge gulps of air to power its massive turbo charged lungs! They could reach speeds of more than 40 mph!
To recreate this pre-historic time, producer Chris Bauer tracked down two of the best storytellers I have ever had the pleasure to work with. Listening to brilliant people is one of the perks of working on a show like Quest. KQED's science and environment show is one of my favorites to watch and work on. We get to travel all over the Bay Area and film at scores of beautiful locations; parks, museums, aquariums - then track wild animals, peer through super-telescopes and interview some of the brightest people on earth. E. Breck Parkman is the Senior Archeologist for California State Parks and Dr. Douglas Long is the curator of the Oakland Museum. Parkman has a slow delivery like a wise elder. He is well versed in many of California's native cultures and when he tells a tale you crane your head closer to catch every detail. HIs theory on the polished stone at Goat Rock is fascinating. Dr. Long mixes Ace Ventura Pet Detective - Jim Carey's zaney knowledge of animals with Pee Wee Herman's childish charm and energy, minus the silly voice, of course. He can barely contain himself when discussing the animals of the Pleistocene, which are also simply some of the coolest critters to ever walk the earth. Saber tooth tigers, c'mon man!
The locations in this piece are also special. Goat Rock at Sonoma County State Beach is just south of Jenner, at the mouth of the Russian River. Not only is it home to the Sunset Rocks featured in the story but the two beaches a little further down the road are a couple of my favorites. They are separated by one of the most scenic parking lots in the world. If you head south out of the parking lot you hit a carpet of tiny multi-colored stones that have been crushed and polished into an assortment of green, red, orange, black, and crystalline pieces that are scattered for miles. My daughter and her friends spend hours hunting the pebbles, to them they are like precious jewels.To the north are the sand dunes and spit that partially cover the mouth of the Russian River. Here there's not a stone in sight, simply sand and driftwood. The two beaches are a perfect contrast of Northern California's rugged ocean-front parks.
We shot a master of the coastline so that we could super-impose a CG shot of the grasslands stretching out to the horizon. See if you can spot it!
Smart people + Stunning Scenery = Great TV. Can it be that it was all so simple....
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