6 replies to this topic

[Karl Mitchell-Shead]

I like to see unique and nice shells in shows.


Lots to discuss here and not enough time before bed!



And as for 'is it possible to make a great display on a great budget' bit vague to answer really (dependant on duration, what can be fired, what IS a low budget etc?) but IMO if your creative enough and know how and what to use to its full potential then yes.

[Night Owl]

This in some companies eyes may be considered low budget but I'm sure they did the max that could be done with the pyro used, WATCH, I promise you will be hooked after 30 seconds.

[Mixologist]

This in some companies eyes may be considered low budget but I'm sure they did the max that could be done with the pyro used, WATCH, I promise you will be hooked after 30 seconds.

(From a show designers perspective who wishes he had that much hardware to play with)

Boom and that is how you do a pyromusical!

That is to be fair bu most accounts, a pretty large scale pyromusical though... They used A LOT of pyro. It was nearly 2000 individual cues! The Fire One system outweighs what most companies own! They had 3 brand new reels of wire being rolled out as far as i could see - thats a bit of the budget right there

However, it is a masterclass in single shot use. The variety and mix is stunning. Shorter ones mixed with long ones at the right cue point, colour matches, orientation, beautiful. The layering in this show is also amazing, the heights sometimes are almost drawn on top of each other. Shell configurations and sequences are breathtaking. The colour strobes (my favourite items of last years order) are perfection!

There is a crazy amount of variety in there. OK, jubilee mega fan slices slightly over used, but i didn't care because, when they were used, it worked, it worked excellently! I was trying to think of a few items i would use that they didn't - i came up with a few but that's just personal taste. (Sky Mines would have slotted in there nicely a few times) Last year pyrotex show - i wrote `i think they had shares in horsetails` but once again it didn't matter because when they used them - wow, it worked.

They also make great use of silence. Many companies fall into the trap of thinking something must be going all the time. Well i`m sorry you don't - however if its a crap show it helps cover up for some people. The water cakes and strobes were used to maximum effect, not just because they can there.

Unfortunately the video doesn't show that finale to max effect but the blue gold end sequence was a sight to behold, and the cheeky little `THE END` Lancework really topped it off for me!

This is to me what a pyromusical should be. It should have variety, speed, accuracy - but not too much of it, and most importantly some kind of connection and emotion attached to the music. Some companies can put on the most cue perfect show, but for me lacks a connection, emotion and variety (same sequence again and again, same colour shot rows etc) when they pair it with music. However take the music away and they are breathtaking rhythms of sound and collages of colour. Its all down to choice but....

Great show Pyrotex, deserved winners `sighs` once again!

[Night Owl]

Yes well deserved win if I ever saw one, they know how to use music and pyro

[pyrotrev]

Iv always been quite bored watching fireworks without music but seeing some of the displays at Plymouth 2011 really opened my eyes to how some displays showed me how much the designer had put a lot of thought into the design and painting a picture in the sky but also how some company's were more interested in putting as little as possible and making as much money as possible.

In competitions it's not always down to making as much money as possible, but to what you can afford to spend - though some will treat competitions as a regular show and mark up accordingly. Some companies will spend the entire competition fee on material (sometimes almost at import prices) whilst smaller outfits will likely at least have to cover transport, accomodation and labour costs from the competition fee. This makes it a not particularly even playing field as you can imagine, it would be interesting to have a competition where there were strict NEQ limits that corresponded to the fee on an open market basis.

is it possible to make a excellent firework display even on a low budget.

Yes it is - check out Spitfire and Allstar at early Southport competitions -, but obviously they won't be as impressive as an equally well designed display with a bigger budget

Edited by pyrotrev, 07 January 2012 - 01:34 PM.

[bloater]

It was clear in Plymouth this year (well last year now 2011) which teams spent there budget on pyro and which were there to make a nice profit, and this was reflected in the rankings in my view.
In various competitions over the last 12 months its been interesting to see the different approaches by teams competiting, some treat it as a paying gig and look to make x% profit, others spend the budget on pyro and get the crew to work for free and then theres the ones that fall in between the two.
Some teams have used up a small percentage of there neq limits in competitions others all of it and a bit more, some times declared some times not, but at the end of the day it's not how much you have but how it's used.

I have to agree that plain fireworks displays had lost the edge for myself recently but Plymouth rekindled the love. I really do like a well executed pyromusical and Mark and the guys from Pyrotex really did put on a great show at Southport.

A good show can be had on a small budget if the right products are used, and a bit of prior planning can make all the difference, even little things like getting timings right and co-ordinating colours can make a big difference, as can using products suited to the firing and viewing areas, I've seen a small budget display that looked great due to the placements of the products in the firing area on a regular site, but then I've also seen small and large budget shows that just looked plain aweful.