Two filmmakers have been on-Island for about three weeks following around sword maker Michael Craughwell for a show which will air on the Discovery Channel. A resident of West Tisbury with his wife and two children, Mr. Craughwell does not make just any old swords. His swords are huge, some reaching eight feet in length, medieval, and often used as artistic renderings for fantasy video games.

Mr. Craughwell’s “Buster” sword, six feet long with a single edge approximately one foot wide, first appeared in the video game Final Fantasy 7, as Cloud Strife’s trademark weapon.

While on the Island, Raymond Martinez and Aaron McKenna have filmed Mr. Craughwell and his swords at the Charter School, Island Alpaca, Dumptique and the Bandstand in Oak Bluffs, to name a few sites. But when they approached the town of Chilmark to stage a controlled explosion at 182 South Road, it was rejected by the selectmen. They said it would not be in the town’s best interest.

The stunt would have involved building a fake bomb, along with a small shed, and having a licensed pyrotechnician blow up the shed for the camera. It also would have involved a medieval-style catapult (trebuchet) that is owned by Morning Glory Farm and used mainly for hurling pumpkins. And, of course, some really big swords.

Fire chief David Norton had helped find the location, and the filmmakers said the property owner had welcomed the endeavor. Police Chief Brian Cioffi had also been informed of the proposal.

Despite the team’s track record working with Oak Bluffs fire chief John Rose on another project, and its assurances that safety would be maintained, the selectmen were wary of how the stunt would be received by the town.

“We’ve already done enough stuff for the world to look at without doing a movie on bombs and swords and whatever else,” said selectman Jonathan Mayhew, noting President Obama’s annual summer visits. “It would be one thing if you were doing swords and you were looking at swordfish, but swords and bombs? To me that has nothing to do with the town of Chilmark.”

Selectman Warren Doty agreed. “I know you guys love these kind of crap films, but we’re just not into it,” he said. The former president of the Martha’s Vineyard Fishermen’s Association said he had “lost all respect” for the Discovery Channel in light of programming that he said endorses the killing of sharks.

“We have given out more permits lately than we would normally do,” he added. “Almost every time, there’s more vehicles than they say there is going to be, there is more disruption, they ask the public to move away.” He noted that Chilmark rejected a request in the 1990s related to the filming of Message in a Bottle. “Maybe we’ll just become known as the town that says no to movies,” Mr. Doty said. He and Mr. Mayhew voted against the request, while selectman Bill Rossi abstained.