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Transcript: Surface Blaster
Trading Skills: Surface Blaster
Descriptive Transcript
[Bright music plays]
A child says, WHEE!
[Logo] “t.v.o kids original.” The animated multicoloured logo bounces onto a white background. The word "kids" has an eye in the orange letter "d" and a smile in the lime green letter "s".
[Child giggling]
[Upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Gears turn on a blueprint.
[Opening credits] T.V.O. kids presents.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah, a girl with long black hair in tight braids, is wearing a pink plaid button-down shirt. Akeylah stands beside Brody, a boy with short, curly brown hair wearing a brown long-sleeved shirt.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: Welcome to Trading Skills!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody cross their arms and stand back to back.
AKEYLAH: The show where we take turns…
BRODY: …trying a skilled trade.
AKEYLAH: I'm Akeylah.
BRODY: I’m Brody.
AKEYLAH: A skilled trade is a job that requires a special skill.
DESCRIPTION: Videos show Akeylah and Brody trying different skilled trades. Brody examines a dog and controls an underwater remotely operated vehicle. Akeylah works in a recording studio and a salon and examines a car engine.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: There are lots of skill trades.
BRODY: And you might find the perfect trade for you!
AKEYLAH: Maybe there's a trade that could change your life.
BRODY: So come with us into the trades.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: On Trading Skills!
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody walk into the Skills Space from under the loft. Various tools hang on the back wall around an L.E.D. sign featuring a screwdriver and a wrench. Hard hats hang above. Akeylah wears a blue and white plaid button-down shirt, and Brody wears a maroon long-sleeved shirt.
AKEYLAH: Well, looks like we can't drill down.
BRODY: And we can't pick the lock.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody stand behind the worktable.
AKEYLAH: We've lost access to the skills vault buried out back. Where we keep the most top-secret trade stuff.
BRODY: All because someone lost the key.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah looks at Brody.
BRODY: It was me.
AKEYLAH: We've called in some trades friends, but nothing's getting through.
BRODY: It's a lost cause.
AKEYLAH: Unless we...
BRODY: You don't mean...
AKEYLAH: I do.
[Dramatic music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody look back at a safe on the workbench.
AKEYLAH: Initiate blaster protocol!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah enters a code into the safe and opens the door.
[Safe beeping]
[Dramatic music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah takes a top-secret envelope from the safe and reads a piece of paper with burnt edges.
AKEYLAH: It says here there's a skilled trade called a surface blaster. They use different types of explosives to break rock that's too hard to move.
BRODY: There's a tradesperson codenamed Bill waiting for us.
DESCRIPTION: Surface Blaster Bill Smith has short white hair and glasses and wears a high-visibility jacket.
BRODY: I'm on it.
DESCRIPTION: Brody leaves. Akeylah sets down the top-secret envelope and looks inside the safe.
AKEYLAH: What else is in here? Oh, an orange.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah takes an orange out of the safe.
[Upbeat music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle music plays]
DESCRIPTION: On a college campus, Brody wears a blue pullover hooded sweater. Inside, Brody walks down a hallway with his fingers in his ears and looks around at photos on the walls of graduated classes throughout the years.
BRODY NARRATING: I made my way to Fleming College to learn about rock blasting from Bill Smith. A veteran blaster who now teaches the trade to a new generation of budding blasters.
DESCRIPTION: Bill spots Brody and smiles.
BILL: Hey, Brody.
BRODY: Are the explosives rigged?
BILL: Not yet.
BRODY: Phew!
DESCRIPTION: Brody takes his fingers out of his ears.
BRODY: So, what is blasting, and why do you do it?
BILL: Well, for example, when we have large rocks, we have to make them smaller, right? So we can move them. We might be building a road, for example. We have to make a flat spot to build the road.
DESCRIPTION: An explosion between a road and a field blows dust into the air
[Repetitive explosions booming]
BILL: We might even use aggregate from the same blast to actually build the road itself. We could also be blasting in a mine to get specific minerals, such as limestone, for example, in order to produce cement. We can also blast limestone to get aggregate to build our roads on. If we can't grow it, we're actually going to take it out of the ground. And if it's too big and heavy, then we have to blast it.
DESCRIPTION: An aerial view shows an explosion.
[Repetitive explosions booming]
BRODY: So, what are we gonna blow up first?
BILL: Well, safety first. Follow me.
BRODY: Let's go!
DESCRIPTION: Brody follows Bill back down the hallway.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In a classroom, Brody sits on a desk holding a hard hat and safety headphones. Bill stands before Brody in a high-visibility jumpsuit. The chalkboard reads,
“Safety Meeting: 1. Tasks, 2. Hazards, 3. How to prevent hazards.”
BRODY NARRATING: Bill explained that the first step before a blast is a safety meeting to get everyone on the same page.
BILL: First, we're gonna drill a hole. For drilling, right, we have to be super careful. We need to make sure that we've got a good hold on the drill and a good stance. We wanna have a good grip on our drill, make sure that our footing is good. Then we're going to load an explosive in a hole. When we're loading the explosive we need to be careful that we don't cause anything to detonate while we're loading the explosive. And then we're going to detonate a hole.
DESCRIPTION: Brody nods.
BILL: The biggest thing we have to worry about on our campus is all the other students walking around. So, we're gonna get some student volunteers to help us guard.
BRODY: Alright, so what protective equipment are we wearing?
BILL: First of all, we need a hard hat.
DESCRIPTION: Brody holds up his hard hat and headphones.
BILL: We're gonna wear safety glasses to protect our eyes because we could have some rock chips.
DESCRIPTION: Brody grabs a pair of safety glasses.
BILL: And our work boots are super important.
DESCRIPTION: Brody raises his feet, revealing his work boots.
BILL: Slips, trips and falls is a huge problem in our industry. We've gotta make sure you've got good traction, and your boots are tied up nice and safe.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In an outdoor classroom, Brody and Bill walk over to the covered entrance of a large green building.
BRODY NARRATING: I was ready to be blown away when Bill showed me the type of firepower we were going to use.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill wear their hard hats and safety glasses.
BILL: So, these are the explosives we're gonna use today.
DESCRIPTION: Small cylindrical explosives lie on a stand.
BILL: These are, in fact, a propellant explosive. They fire at slower than the speed of sound.
BRODY: So, does propellant mean it propels?
DESCRIPTION: Brody moves one of the propellant explosives through the air.
BILL: In some cases, that's what the product was made to do. It's propellant can be like in a gun, for example, or a cannon where it shoots the cannonball and propels the cannonball. We're gonna use it to actually push rock, right? We're gonna put the charge in a chunk of rock, and then we're gonna plug the hole above the charge, and we're gonna try to make the charge expand sideways rather than propel up the hole.
[Upbeat music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill stand in a grassy field away from the green building.
BRODY NARRATING: We moved on to the blast site, a safe distance from the main campus.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill walk over to a row of large concrete blocks. Brody wears a high-visibility vest.
BILL: Here we are. This is what we're gonna blow up today.
BRODY: Yes! What's the first step?
BILL: First step is to find the right spot to put the right amount of energy for the charge that we're gonna use in the particular piece of rock that we're gonna blow up. In this case, it's concrete. We need to measure out 11 inches from the edge from both sides, and we're gonna put a little dot there.
DESCRIPTION: Brody measures distances on the concrete block with a tape measure.
BILL: Okay, so then measure the other way across this front.
DESCRIPTION: Brody moves the measuring tape.
BILL: All right.
DESCRIPTION: Bill marks the concrete with orange spray paint.
BILL: Perfect. Next step, drill the hole.
DESCRIPTION: Brody’s jaw drops open as Bill places a large drill on the concrete block.
BRODY: Whoa.
BILL: Gloves.
DESCRIPTION: Bill hands Brody a pair of thick work gloves. Brody puts them on.
BILL: Now, I'll hold the drill. We'll get you to step up on top.
DESCRIPTION: Brody climbs on top of the concrete block.
BILL: Right there. There you go. You're gonna pull the trigger.
DESCRIPTION: Brody holds the drill from above. Bill holds the drill steady from below, and they drill into the concrete.
[Drill whirring]
DESCRIPTION: Brody grins and gives a thumbs-up.
BILL: We're gonna come up a little bit, back down.
DESCRIPTION: Bill and Brody pull the drill partway out of the concrete, then push it back in.
BILL: Pull it up.
DESCRIPTION: Brody pulls the drill out of the concrete.
[Drill whirring]
DESCRIPTION: Later, Bill holds one of the propellant explosives.
BILL: There's the charge that we looked at before. Remember that guy?
BRODY: Yep. I'm gonna give this to you. We need to unravel that wire, and we're gonna check it with the galvanometer just to verify that that charge is live before we put it in the hole.
DESCRIPTION: Brody unravels intertwined green and white wires on the explosive.
BILL: Stretch it out. Perfect.
DESCRIPTION: Brody stretches the wire.
BILL: We can just set the charge on the block and just take those two wires and touch them on our galvanometer. One on one post, one on the other. Yep.
DESCRIPTION: Brody touches the green and white wires to Bill’s handheld device, a galvanometer.
BILL: You can see the lights. Yep. Perfect. We're live.
BRODY: We're live. Charge goes in the hole, wire's facing up. That's correct.
DESCRIPTION: Brody puts the propellant explosive in the drilled hole.
BILL: Now, take the stick, push on the top, and we've got to make sure it goes all the way to the bottom.
DESCRIPTION: Brody pushes a wooden rod into the hole
BILL: Yep. Feel solid? Next step, we have to plug the hole. If we detonate that charge right now, the energy is just gonna come right up the hole. We need this energy to go sideways and break the block. I'm gonna put a little bit of stemming in, and you're gonna pack it.
BRODY: What's stemming?
BILL: Stemming are these tiny crushed aggregate stones that we're gonna put in to plug the hole.
DESCRIPTION: Bill drops a handful of stemming in the hole on top of the explosive.
BILL: Pack, please.
DESCRIPTION: Brody packs the stemming into the hole with the rod.
BILL: Good.
DESCRIPTION: Bill pours in more stemming.
BILL: Little more.
DESCRIPTION: Brody packs the stemming with the rod.
BILL: This is probably the most important step.
DESCRIPTION: Brody pulls out the rod, and Bill adds more stemming.
BILL: Excellent. And that's it. We're ready to go.
BRODY: All right, let's blow it up!
BILL: Right on. But first, we've got to get some guards. We've got to be safe, right?
DESCRIPTION: Brody nods.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill sit on buckets next to the green building.
BRODY NARRATING: While we waited for the guards to arrive, I mined under the surface for Bill's journey.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill sit with their hard hats in their laps.
BRODY: So, Bill, how'd you get into surface blasting?
BILL: I was a high school student. I was trying to scrounge up some money for college. I got a summer job working for a blasting company. I had no idea what I was getting into. It was hard work, I was outside. I loved it. But, man, when I seen that first blast go off, boom! And the stuff come out and like, what? Like, you're just literally, "Wow, I can't believe that just happened." I've got to find out more about this. This was pretty cool.
BRODY: What do you like about blasting?
BILL: I like the fact that you get to work with so much power and energy, and you can manipulate it and make it do some really cool, useful work.
BRODY: Well, what advice would you give to someone like me who wants to get into blasting?
BILL: Do your research first and foremost. Check the job out to make sure that that's something you might be interested in, because we work outside every single day. So, you have to be that person who loves the outdoors, for example. All kinds of blasts are online. You can see even people loading blast holes online. If that's something that excites you, come to the college here at Fleming. We have the only program in Canada. We have a two-semester blasting techniques program. We get student visitors all the time. I tell people, "Come and take us for a test drive. Come and be a student for a day. Come down to Open House and see if this is something that might be a good fit for you."
DESCRIPTION: Brody nods. He starts to stand.
BRODY: Should we go check if the guards are here?
BILL: You bet. Let's go round them up.
DESCRIPTION: Brody puts on his hard hat and walks away with Bill.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the grassy field, Brody moves a cable reel.
BRODY: All right, Bill. And ready to go.
BILL: First, we're going to check the guards. Then we're going to sound the siren, right? To make sure everybody's ready.
DESCRIPTION: Brody picks up a megaphone. In the distance, a guard wearing a hard hat and a high-visibility jumpsuit waves their arm.
BRODY THROUGH THE MEGAPHONE: Is everybody ready for the explosion?
[Megaphone siren blaring]
DESCRIPTION: Another guard in a hard hat and a high-visibility jumpsuit waves, then a third guard waves in another part of the field. Brody looks around the field and spots a fourth guard waving.
BRODY: All right, Bill. Everyone's ready. What do we do?
BILL: First, hook up the wires.
DESCRIPTION: Bill connects a wire to a small device.
BRODY NARRATING: This detonator is not like the plunger you see in cartoons.
BILL: Take that one.
DESCRIPTION: Bill hands Brody a wire.
BRODY: Mm-hmm.
BRODY NARRATING: With this, the press of a button will detonate the explosive.
BILL: Perfect. Is it light on there?
BRODY: Yep.
BILL: We are ready.
DESCRIPTION: Brody holds the detonator. He presses the “hold to charge” button.
BILL: Time for the countdown.
BRODY: Five, four, three, two, one.
BILL: Fire!
DESCRIPTION: Brody presses the “press to detonate” button on the detonator, and the explosive inside the concrete block detonates. Pieces of concrete blast off the block.
[Explosion booming]
[Concrete cracking]
BRODY: Whoa!
BILL: Oh, nice!
BRODY: You were right, Bill. It is amazing!
BILL: Nice. Nice work.
DESCRIPTION: Brody grins, then turns away.
BRODY: Brain exploded. While we plot our next move, why don't you check out the history of surface blasting?
DESCRIPTION: Brody turns back to the blast site. In black and white, Akeylah swings a small hammer.
BRODY NARRATING: The use of explosives in mining goes back to the year 1627, when gunpowder was first used in place of mechanical tools that couldn't break the rock.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah looks at her hammer. She shakes her head and tosses the hammer aside.
[Hammer clanking]
BRODY NARRATING: A long line of gunpowder was the wick, giving the lighter enough time to run to safety. But since gunpowder was unpredictable, this method of blasting was often unsafe.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah sets an explosive and quickly runs away. She frowns and returns, then a blast knocks her back.
[Explosion booming]
BRODY NARRATING: Blasting really hit its stride in 1866, when Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel invented dynamite, a more powerful and safer explosive.
DESCRIPTION: As Alfred Nobel, Akeylah wears a wig, glasses, a lab coat, and a bow tie, and holds up a stick of dynamite.
BRODY NARRATING: Blasting became popular in Canada when it was used in railway construction. Blasters would blast through the Canadian shield to expose minerals and create pathways for the rails.
DESCRIPTION: Explosions send debris soaring through the air. Akeylah counts down with three fingers. She steps aside, and a train rolls down a track. Akeylah takes a bow.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the grassy field, Brody looks at the fallen concrete from afar.
BRODY: All right, so if that was one charge...
DESCRIPTION: In a flashback, the explosive in the concrete block sends pieces of concrete flying off.
[Explosion booming]
BRODY: What happens if we did… three?
DESCRIPTION: Bill glances between Brody and the concrete block.
BILL: Three charges? You want to find out?
BRODY: Yeah.
BILL: Let's go.
BRODY: All right!
[Cheerful music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Bill stands on the concrete block and drills three new holes.
[Drill whirring]
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill put propellant explosives into each of the holes. They check the wires of each explosive with the galvanometer and pack the holes with stemming. Bill connects the wires.
BRODY NARRATING: The last step was to wire the charges together.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill back away from the concrete block. Brody holds the detonator.
BILL: Three charges are rigged up. Looks like we're good to go.
BRODY: Let's do the countdown.
BILL AND BRODY: Five, four, three, two, one.
BILL: Fire!
DESCRIPTION: The explosives detonate, and the concrete block explodes. Clouds of dust burst out, and pieces of concrete scatter across the grass.
[Explosion booming]
BILL: There we go!
BRODY: Oh, yeah! Let's go!
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill high-five.
BILL: Nice.
[Upbear music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle music plays]
DESCRIPTION: At the Skills Space, Akeylah and Brody walk out from under the loft, wearing hard hats, carrying a wire.
AKEYLAH: Thanks to Brody's Day Surface Blasting with Bill, we're ready to initiate the final step of Blasting Protocol.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody stand behind the work table. Akeylah holds a detonator.
BRODY: We've rigged the charges, cleared the zone, and Bill is out there guarding. We'll have access to this vault in no time.
AKEYLAH AND BRODY: Three, two, one!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah holds up the detonator, and Brody flips the switch.
[Explosion booming]
DESCRIPTION: Dust wafts out from below the loft, and the room shakes.
AKEYLAH: Maybe your career possibilities will explode thanks to Surface Blasting.
BRODY: If not, there's still plenty of skilled trades to get charged up about.
AKEYLAH: Maybe there's one that could take you to the top.
AKEYLAH AND BRODY: Goodbye!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody wave.
[Cheerful music plays]
[End credits] Hosts: Brody Agmon, Akeylah James. Tradesperson: Bill Smith. Written and directed by Johnny Mitchell. Produced by Francis Mitchell, Johnny Mitchell, David Mitchell. Executive Producer Thomas Kritsch. Casting director Carly Granovsky. Education consultant Sara Fewson. Produced in association with t.v.o. kids. Logo: Riverbank Pictures. Copyright 2026 Riverbank Pictures.
Descriptive Transcript
[Bright music plays]
A child says, WHEE!
[Logo] “t.v.o kids original.” The animated multicoloured logo bounces onto a white background. The word "kids" has an eye in the orange letter "d" and a smile in the lime green letter "s".
[Child giggling]
[Upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Gears turn on a blueprint.
[Opening credits] T.V.O. kids presents.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah, a girl with long black hair in tight braids, is wearing a pink plaid button-down shirt. Akeylah stands beside Brody, a boy with short, curly brown hair wearing a brown long-sleeved shirt.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: Welcome to Trading Skills!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody cross their arms and stand back to back.
AKEYLAH: The show where we take turns…
BRODY: …trying a skilled trade.
AKEYLAH: I'm Akeylah.
BRODY: I’m Brody.
AKEYLAH: A skilled trade is a job that requires a special skill.
DESCRIPTION: Videos show Akeylah and Brody trying different skilled trades. Brody examines a dog and controls an underwater remotely operated vehicle. Akeylah works in a recording studio and a salon and examines a car engine.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: There are lots of skill trades.
BRODY: And you might find the perfect trade for you!
AKEYLAH: Maybe there's a trade that could change your life.
BRODY: So come with us into the trades.
BRODY AND AKEYLAH: On Trading Skills!
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody walk into the Skills Space from under the loft. Various tools hang on the back wall around an L.E.D. sign featuring a screwdriver and a wrench. Hard hats hang above. Akeylah wears a blue and white plaid button-down shirt, and Brody wears a maroon long-sleeved shirt.
AKEYLAH: Well, looks like we can't drill down.
BRODY: And we can't pick the lock.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody stand behind the worktable.
AKEYLAH: We've lost access to the skills vault buried out back. Where we keep the most top-secret trade stuff.
BRODY: All because someone lost the key.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah looks at Brody.
BRODY: It was me.
AKEYLAH: We've called in some trades friends, but nothing's getting through.
BRODY: It's a lost cause.
AKEYLAH: Unless we...
BRODY: You don't mean...
AKEYLAH: I do.
[Dramatic music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody look back at a safe on the workbench.
AKEYLAH: Initiate blaster protocol!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah enters a code into the safe and opens the door.
[Safe beeping]
[Dramatic music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah takes a top-secret envelope from the safe and reads a piece of paper with burnt edges.
AKEYLAH: It says here there's a skilled trade called a surface blaster. They use different types of explosives to break rock that's too hard to move.
BRODY: There's a tradesperson codenamed Bill waiting for us.
DESCRIPTION: Surface Blaster Bill Smith has short white hair and glasses and wears a high-visibility jacket.
BRODY: I'm on it.
DESCRIPTION: Brody leaves. Akeylah sets down the top-secret envelope and looks inside the safe.
AKEYLAH: What else is in here? Oh, an orange.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah takes an orange out of the safe.
[Upbeat music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle music plays]
DESCRIPTION: On a college campus, Brody wears a blue pullover hooded sweater. Inside, Brody walks down a hallway with his fingers in his ears and looks around at photos on the walls of graduated classes throughout the years.
BRODY NARRATING: I made my way to Fleming College to learn about rock blasting from Bill Smith. A veteran blaster who now teaches the trade to a new generation of budding blasters.
DESCRIPTION: Bill spots Brody and smiles.
BILL: Hey, Brody.
BRODY: Are the explosives rigged?
BILL: Not yet.
BRODY: Phew!
DESCRIPTION: Brody takes his fingers out of his ears.
BRODY: So, what is blasting, and why do you do it?
BILL: Well, for example, when we have large rocks, we have to make them smaller, right? So we can move them. We might be building a road, for example. We have to make a flat spot to build the road.
DESCRIPTION: An explosion between a road and a field blows dust into the air
[Repetitive explosions booming]
BILL: We might even use aggregate from the same blast to actually build the road itself. We could also be blasting in a mine to get specific minerals, such as limestone, for example, in order to produce cement. We can also blast limestone to get aggregate to build our roads on. If we can't grow it, we're actually going to take it out of the ground. And if it's too big and heavy, then we have to blast it.
DESCRIPTION: An aerial view shows an explosion.
[Repetitive explosions booming]
BRODY: So, what are we gonna blow up first?
BILL: Well, safety first. Follow me.
BRODY: Let's go!
DESCRIPTION: Brody follows Bill back down the hallway.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In a classroom, Brody sits on a desk holding a hard hat and safety headphones. Bill stands before Brody in a high-visibility jumpsuit. The chalkboard reads,
“Safety Meeting: 1. Tasks, 2. Hazards, 3. How to prevent hazards.”
BRODY NARRATING: Bill explained that the first step before a blast is a safety meeting to get everyone on the same page.
BILL: First, we're gonna drill a hole. For drilling, right, we have to be super careful. We need to make sure that we've got a good hold on the drill and a good stance. We wanna have a good grip on our drill, make sure that our footing is good. Then we're going to load an explosive in a hole. When we're loading the explosive we need to be careful that we don't cause anything to detonate while we're loading the explosive. And then we're going to detonate a hole.
DESCRIPTION: Brody nods.
BILL: The biggest thing we have to worry about on our campus is all the other students walking around. So, we're gonna get some student volunteers to help us guard.
BRODY: Alright, so what protective equipment are we wearing?
BILL: First of all, we need a hard hat.
DESCRIPTION: Brody holds up his hard hat and headphones.
BILL: We're gonna wear safety glasses to protect our eyes because we could have some rock chips.
DESCRIPTION: Brody grabs a pair of safety glasses.
BILL: And our work boots are super important.
DESCRIPTION: Brody raises his feet, revealing his work boots.
BILL: Slips, trips and falls is a huge problem in our industry. We've gotta make sure you've got good traction, and your boots are tied up nice and safe.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In an outdoor classroom, Brody and Bill walk over to the covered entrance of a large green building.
BRODY NARRATING: I was ready to be blown away when Bill showed me the type of firepower we were going to use.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill wear their hard hats and safety glasses.
BILL: So, these are the explosives we're gonna use today.
DESCRIPTION: Small cylindrical explosives lie on a stand.
BILL: These are, in fact, a propellant explosive. They fire at slower than the speed of sound.
BRODY: So, does propellant mean it propels?
DESCRIPTION: Brody moves one of the propellant explosives through the air.
BILL: In some cases, that's what the product was made to do. It's propellant can be like in a gun, for example, or a cannon where it shoots the cannonball and propels the cannonball. We're gonna use it to actually push rock, right? We're gonna put the charge in a chunk of rock, and then we're gonna plug the hole above the charge, and we're gonna try to make the charge expand sideways rather than propel up the hole.
[Upbeat music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill stand in a grassy field away from the green building.
BRODY NARRATING: We moved on to the blast site, a safe distance from the main campus.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill walk over to a row of large concrete blocks. Brody wears a high-visibility vest.
BILL: Here we are. This is what we're gonna blow up today.
BRODY: Yes! What's the first step?
BILL: First step is to find the right spot to put the right amount of energy for the charge that we're gonna use in the particular piece of rock that we're gonna blow up. In this case, it's concrete. We need to measure out 11 inches from the edge from both sides, and we're gonna put a little dot there.
DESCRIPTION: Brody measures distances on the concrete block with a tape measure.
BILL: Okay, so then measure the other way across this front.
DESCRIPTION: Brody moves the measuring tape.
BILL: All right.
DESCRIPTION: Bill marks the concrete with orange spray paint.
BILL: Perfect. Next step, drill the hole.
DESCRIPTION: Brody’s jaw drops open as Bill places a large drill on the concrete block.
BRODY: Whoa.
BILL: Gloves.
DESCRIPTION: Bill hands Brody a pair of thick work gloves. Brody puts them on.
BILL: Now, I'll hold the drill. We'll get you to step up on top.
DESCRIPTION: Brody climbs on top of the concrete block.
BILL: Right there. There you go. You're gonna pull the trigger.
DESCRIPTION: Brody holds the drill from above. Bill holds the drill steady from below, and they drill into the concrete.
[Drill whirring]
DESCRIPTION: Brody grins and gives a thumbs-up.
BILL: We're gonna come up a little bit, back down.
DESCRIPTION: Bill and Brody pull the drill partway out of the concrete, then push it back in.
BILL: Pull it up.
DESCRIPTION: Brody pulls the drill out of the concrete.
[Drill whirring]
DESCRIPTION: Later, Bill holds one of the propellant explosives.
BILL: There's the charge that we looked at before. Remember that guy?
BRODY: Yep. I'm gonna give this to you. We need to unravel that wire, and we're gonna check it with the galvanometer just to verify that that charge is live before we put it in the hole.
DESCRIPTION: Brody unravels intertwined green and white wires on the explosive.
BILL: Stretch it out. Perfect.
DESCRIPTION: Brody stretches the wire.
BILL: We can just set the charge on the block and just take those two wires and touch them on our galvanometer. One on one post, one on the other. Yep.
DESCRIPTION: Brody touches the green and white wires to Bill’s handheld device, a galvanometer.
BILL: You can see the lights. Yep. Perfect. We're live.
BRODY: We're live. Charge goes in the hole, wire's facing up. That's correct.
DESCRIPTION: Brody puts the propellant explosive in the drilled hole.
BILL: Now, take the stick, push on the top, and we've got to make sure it goes all the way to the bottom.
DESCRIPTION: Brody pushes a wooden rod into the hole
BILL: Yep. Feel solid? Next step, we have to plug the hole. If we detonate that charge right now, the energy is just gonna come right up the hole. We need this energy to go sideways and break the block. I'm gonna put a little bit of stemming in, and you're gonna pack it.
BRODY: What's stemming?
BILL: Stemming are these tiny crushed aggregate stones that we're gonna put in to plug the hole.
DESCRIPTION: Bill drops a handful of stemming in the hole on top of the explosive.
BILL: Pack, please.
DESCRIPTION: Brody packs the stemming into the hole with the rod.
BILL: Good.
DESCRIPTION: Bill pours in more stemming.
BILL: Little more.
DESCRIPTION: Brody packs the stemming with the rod.
BILL: This is probably the most important step.
DESCRIPTION: Brody pulls out the rod, and Bill adds more stemming.
BILL: Excellent. And that's it. We're ready to go.
BRODY: All right, let's blow it up!
BILL: Right on. But first, we've got to get some guards. We've got to be safe, right?
DESCRIPTION: Brody nods.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill sit on buckets next to the green building.
BRODY NARRATING: While we waited for the guards to arrive, I mined under the surface for Bill's journey.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill sit with their hard hats in their laps.
BRODY: So, Bill, how'd you get into surface blasting?
BILL: I was a high school student. I was trying to scrounge up some money for college. I got a summer job working for a blasting company. I had no idea what I was getting into. It was hard work, I was outside. I loved it. But, man, when I seen that first blast go off, boom! And the stuff come out and like, what? Like, you're just literally, "Wow, I can't believe that just happened." I've got to find out more about this. This was pretty cool.
BRODY: What do you like about blasting?
BILL: I like the fact that you get to work with so much power and energy, and you can manipulate it and make it do some really cool, useful work.
BRODY: Well, what advice would you give to someone like me who wants to get into blasting?
BILL: Do your research first and foremost. Check the job out to make sure that that's something you might be interested in, because we work outside every single day. So, you have to be that person who loves the outdoors, for example. All kinds of blasts are online. You can see even people loading blast holes online. If that's something that excites you, come to the college here at Fleming. We have the only program in Canada. We have a two-semester blasting techniques program. We get student visitors all the time. I tell people, "Come and take us for a test drive. Come and be a student for a day. Come down to Open House and see if this is something that might be a good fit for you."
DESCRIPTION: Brody nods. He starts to stand.
BRODY: Should we go check if the guards are here?
BILL: You bet. Let's go round them up.
DESCRIPTION: Brody puts on his hard hat and walks away with Bill.
[Upbeat music]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the grassy field, Brody moves a cable reel.
BRODY: All right, Bill. And ready to go.
BILL: First, we're going to check the guards. Then we're going to sound the siren, right? To make sure everybody's ready.
DESCRIPTION: Brody picks up a megaphone. In the distance, a guard wearing a hard hat and a high-visibility jumpsuit waves their arm.
BRODY THROUGH THE MEGAPHONE: Is everybody ready for the explosion?
[Megaphone siren blaring]
DESCRIPTION: Another guard in a hard hat and a high-visibility jumpsuit waves, then a third guard waves in another part of the field. Brody looks around the field and spots a fourth guard waving.
BRODY: All right, Bill. Everyone's ready. What do we do?
BILL: First, hook up the wires.
DESCRIPTION: Bill connects a wire to a small device.
BRODY NARRATING: This detonator is not like the plunger you see in cartoons.
BILL: Take that one.
DESCRIPTION: Bill hands Brody a wire.
BRODY: Mm-hmm.
BRODY NARRATING: With this, the press of a button will detonate the explosive.
BILL: Perfect. Is it light on there?
BRODY: Yep.
BILL: We are ready.
DESCRIPTION: Brody holds the detonator. He presses the “hold to charge” button.
BILL: Time for the countdown.
BRODY: Five, four, three, two, one.
BILL: Fire!
DESCRIPTION: Brody presses the “press to detonate” button on the detonator, and the explosive inside the concrete block detonates. Pieces of concrete blast off the block.
[Explosion booming]
[Concrete cracking]
BRODY: Whoa!
BILL: Oh, nice!
BRODY: You were right, Bill. It is amazing!
BILL: Nice. Nice work.
DESCRIPTION: Brody grins, then turns away.
BRODY: Brain exploded. While we plot our next move, why don't you check out the history of surface blasting?
DESCRIPTION: Brody turns back to the blast site. In black and white, Akeylah swings a small hammer.
BRODY NARRATING: The use of explosives in mining goes back to the year 1627, when gunpowder was first used in place of mechanical tools that couldn't break the rock.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah looks at her hammer. She shakes her head and tosses the hammer aside.
[Hammer clanking]
BRODY NARRATING: A long line of gunpowder was the wick, giving the lighter enough time to run to safety. But since gunpowder was unpredictable, this method of blasting was often unsafe.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah sets an explosive and quickly runs away. She frowns and returns, then a blast knocks her back.
[Explosion booming]
BRODY NARRATING: Blasting really hit its stride in 1866, when Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel invented dynamite, a more powerful and safer explosive.
DESCRIPTION: As Alfred Nobel, Akeylah wears a wig, glasses, a lab coat, and a bow tie, and holds up a stick of dynamite.
BRODY NARRATING: Blasting became popular in Canada when it was used in railway construction. Blasters would blast through the Canadian shield to expose minerals and create pathways for the rails.
DESCRIPTION: Explosions send debris soaring through the air. Akeylah counts down with three fingers. She steps aside, and a train rolls down a track. Akeylah takes a bow.
[Gentle upbeat music plays]
DESCRIPTION: In the grassy field, Brody looks at the fallen concrete from afar.
BRODY: All right, so if that was one charge...
DESCRIPTION: In a flashback, the explosive in the concrete block sends pieces of concrete flying off.
[Explosion booming]
BRODY: What happens if we did… three?
DESCRIPTION: Bill glances between Brody and the concrete block.
BILL: Three charges? You want to find out?
BRODY: Yeah.
BILL: Let's go.
BRODY: All right!
[Cheerful music plays]
DESCRIPTION: Bill stands on the concrete block and drills three new holes.
[Drill whirring]
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill put propellant explosives into each of the holes. They check the wires of each explosive with the galvanometer and pack the holes with stemming. Bill connects the wires.
BRODY NARRATING: The last step was to wire the charges together.
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill back away from the concrete block. Brody holds the detonator.
BILL: Three charges are rigged up. Looks like we're good to go.
BRODY: Let's do the countdown.
BILL AND BRODY: Five, four, three, two, one.
BILL: Fire!
DESCRIPTION: The explosives detonate, and the concrete block explodes. Clouds of dust burst out, and pieces of concrete scatter across the grass.
[Explosion booming]
BILL: There we go!
BRODY: Oh, yeah! Let's go!
DESCRIPTION: Brody and Bill high-five.
BILL: Nice.
[Upbear music plays]
[Title] Trading Skills.
[Gentle music plays]
DESCRIPTION: At the Skills Space, Akeylah and Brody walk out from under the loft, wearing hard hats, carrying a wire.
AKEYLAH: Thanks to Brody's Day Surface Blasting with Bill, we're ready to initiate the final step of Blasting Protocol.
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody stand behind the work table. Akeylah holds a detonator.
BRODY: We've rigged the charges, cleared the zone, and Bill is out there guarding. We'll have access to this vault in no time.
AKEYLAH AND BRODY: Three, two, one!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah holds up the detonator, and Brody flips the switch.
[Explosion booming]
DESCRIPTION: Dust wafts out from below the loft, and the room shakes.
AKEYLAH: Maybe your career possibilities will explode thanks to Surface Blasting.
BRODY: If not, there's still plenty of skilled trades to get charged up about.
AKEYLAH: Maybe there's one that could take you to the top.
AKEYLAH AND BRODY: Goodbye!
DESCRIPTION: Akeylah and Brody wave.
[Cheerful music plays]
[End credits] Hosts: Brody Agmon, Akeylah James. Tradesperson: Bill Smith. Written and directed by Johnny Mitchell. Produced by Francis Mitchell, Johnny Mitchell, David Mitchell. Executive Producer Thomas Kritsch. Casting director Carly Granovsky. Education consultant Sara Fewson. Produced in association with t.v.o. kids. Logo: Riverbank Pictures. Copyright 2026 Riverbank Pictures.
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