Montréal International Fireworks Competition Reports

I met with Stephen Pelkey and Matt Shea, joint designers of Atlas Pyrovisions Productions, and representing the United States for the third time, their previous displays being in 1995 and 2003. The company was established in 1979 with Stephen taking over in 1986 after returning from miltary service. At the time, the company was putting on around 80 diplays per year; now they are the largest display operator in New England, headquartered in Jaffrey, NH, and now putting on over 800 displays per year. Stephen noted that his daughters now work for the company.

Close Proximity effects installed on a ramp 5 platform

This display is the most complex Atlas have ever designed and will hold the record for the largest number of cues ever fired in Montreal. Initially they had scripted it at 8000, but with careful editing thanks to the use of VisualShowDirector, the final cue count is 7396. It is being fired with 430 FM16 16-cue firing modules as well as twenty nine 45-cue modules in the PyroMate NightHawk line. The PyroDigital setup will be using Patrice Guy’s wireless interface, intelligent splitter and IsoBoost system as well as five field controllers (with 2 extras as backup).

In terms of pyrotechnic material, manufacturers of shells include Vincente Caballer of Spain, Vulcan, Sunny and Ang Ping of China as well as an American manufacturer, Grand Fireworks of New York, who produced special crossettes and salutes laced with a special type of titanium. Low level effects are from Vincente Caballer and Vulcan for outdoor material and a lot of indoor specialFX from Western Enterprises, NextFX and Vulcan – most of which will be used on ramp 5. Ramp 4 will include a special “pyro arch” that features 15 firing positions and almost 800 cues! I noticed some large mines on ramp 2 and Stephen told me these are 6″ studata mines! Stephen said he’s not a big fan of nautical effects – and ramp 5 often precludes large calibre devices – but he said he had decided to bombard the lake once ramp 5 was no longer needed. For aficionados of large shells, there will be seven 12″, around thirty 10″ and seventy eight 8″.

One half of ramp 3

For the design of the show, Stephen and Matt both worked on the music selection as well as the scripting, spending a total of nine months. They entered the script and then used VisualShowDirector to refine it – Matt flying to Seattle to spend time with Infinity Visions head honcho, Alberto Navarro (whose company produce VSD). Matt noted that the used of VSD allowed them to refine the show and perfect the angles and effects they wanted to achive. He also noted that, with 21 positons on ramp 3, they were planning to do some interesting effects where the ramp is subdivided into 3 sub-sections that can play with each other.

The music is based on the Disney Classic, be re-worked with a modern twist. Both designers noted that it’s important to achieve a WOW factor and that the Montreal audience, having witnessed so many displays, makes this hard to achieve, but they would try their best. The theme of the display is that of a pyrotechnic apprentice putting on their first display in Montreal, giving a pyrotechnic twist to the classic Disney tale. Stephen noted in a press handout that:

The design we are seeking is to parallel the story of Fantasia, capturing the similarities of a young pyrotechnic choreographer whose dream is to achieve the ultimate prize of mastering his skills of music, design and pyro-orchestration…the ultimate achievement is what we thought to be as “Thunderstruck” which of course is a play on words with our intro for the Grand Finale.

Stephen said he’d been disappointed not to win a prize in 2003, but enjoyed the challenge of competing in Montreal and so had decided he wanted to return. He also noted that all the competitors put their hearts into their displays and that the local crew are wonderful to work with.

Stephen Pelkey (L) and Matt Shea (R)

There are a couple of surprises up their sleeves and both designers hoped the weather would be fair, especially with some many indoor pyro effects in their arsenal. As much as competing in Montreal is very hard work, they both noted that they were enjoying the experience.

I met with the Vaccalluzzo family of pyrotechnicians, representing Italy for the first time in Montreal with a much anticipated participation – this after much noticed display at the 9th International Symposium on Firworks, held in Berlin in 2006. Brothers Salvatore and  Marco worked on the design, with  the former being the chief designer and father, Antonio, is in charge of production as Vaccalluzzo are in their 4th generation as manufacturers of pyrotechnic products. The company also produces around 500 shows a year, from small community displays up to international competitions, where they have won first prize at events in Spain, France and Italy over the past few years.

Salvatore noted that the company’s production is environmentally friendly as they don’t use any plastic in any of their fireworks, but use traditional materials such as paper, card and cotton string. I asked what percentage of their products would be used in their show and was told, in no uncertain terms, that it would be 100%! Salvatore said he and his brother had been talking about how they would like to do a display around Khalil Gibran’s book, The Prophet when the invitation to compete in Montreal arrived. The conception of the display took about fifteen days with a further four months required to specially fabricate all the pyrotechnics required. Antonio noted that he had to test lots of formulae to get the effects the brothers wanted with just the right shades of colours. They also noted that there wouldn’t be any repetition of effects throughout the display. The ten segments of the display are designed to reflect the chapters of the book and its portrayal of different aspects of humanity.

Salvatore, Antonio and Marco Vaccalluzzo

Since the theme is tied to the book, they wanted something special for every segment and told me, when asked which part they were looking forward to seeing most, that they were anxious to see all of it! They had used ShowSim to help visualize the show as they designed it, but noted that they just found it faster to write the script in that software so they weren’t so focussed on the 3-D capabilities, though said it was very useful to check angles and sequences for comets etc.

On the technical side, they are using thirty two 100-cue Galaxis firing modules (assisted by Renzo Cargnelutti) with  around 3000 cues. There will be nautical effects and they will not be using the floating platforms that form ramp 5. I didn’t ask about the calibre of shells as it’s deceptive with traditional Italian cylinders – a 6″ shell may be four feet high and weigh two or three times as much as a 12″ spherical shell. Vacculluzzo are renowned for their products so I’m sure we will be in for a treat.

I met with Vitor Machado, competing under the Grupo Luso banner for the forth time in Montreal. Ten years after their stunning debut display, which garnered a Silver Jupiter (though many people thought it deserved the Gold), Luso are competing here once again, despite Vitor’s exclamation, after their display in 2008 was not rewarded with a prize, that they would not be back.

Vitor Machado

So the first question was, naturally, what had changed his mind about returning to Montreal? Vitor noted that they were disappointed with the display’s placement in 2008 but he found himself thinking about “what to do next time in Montreal”. Aha! So they did want to come back. “Of course!”. We then had a discussion about how Montreal is such a special place given that the audience’s whole reason for being there is to see the fireworks, that the fireworks are the central event of the evening. He also mentioned that the Montreal competition is one of the most stable in terms of format – this also being important as well as the fact that the Montreal site is especially designed for fireworks.

We then discussed what had changed since their debut in 2002 and one thing that immediately was mentioned was the fact that now, all displays are electronically fired whereas back in 2002 about one third of the shows were manually fired. This, Vitor noted, makes for a more level playing field and means that creativity and design become key, rather than technology.

In terms of the design process, Vitor said he’s thinking about it all the time and is already thinking about his next visit to Montreal and noted that the process is much longer than just a month or so. One other thing that has changed, for Grupo Luso, is that, since 2002, they have become much more of a pyrotechnic products manufacturer. Their display this year will feature 100% Luso material, with about 70-75% coming from Portugal and the rest from Luso’s production facilities in China. This change is important and Vitor said he also wanted his display to be a showcase for their products, but, of course, without it just appearing to be product demonstration. Several new products will be shown to the public for the first time in Montreal and he noted that the competition is a good place to try new things out. Sensitive to cost, Vitor said he’d rather spend the money on something disposable rather than on an expensive structure (such as the ring or dome used in 2002/2005.

Vitor was somewhat circumspect about the design of the show, wanting people to experience the special effects themselves but not so willing to talk about them, save for the live performances by violinist Eric Speed and fadista Yolanda Soares. He did say that he wants to create an emotional environment that involves the audience, especially including music that is so dear to the Portguese soul, Fado. At the end of the day, he said he wanted to represent his company’s culture and do the best display for them and the audience.

Technical aspects are that the display will be fired using FireOne and Galaxis (also used by Sugyp and Vaccalluzzo – sharing the system saved all  three companies some costs). There will be around 3000 cues. Vitor did all of the design but was assisted by Montreal native, Melanie Cagnon who now works for Luso and assisted with the choice of music.

Due to a work conflict, I was unable to perform the interview with David and Joël Hamon in person so am grateful to Mylène Salvas for posing my questions and providing me with a recording of her interview.

Since competing in Montreal for the first time in 2007, féérie have won prizes in several competitions: 1st prize in Blackpool, UK, in 2010 as well as first prize at a competition in Madeira, Portugal, just last year. For the 20th anniversary of the founding of their company, they are happy to compete in what they describe as the premier fireworks competition in the world, Montreal! It is always good to hear pyrotechnicians acknowledge this fact, especially given other competitions are starting to promote themselves as the “World Championship of Fireworks” or somesuch – the fact is that Montreal is still considered to be the premier competition amongst the pyrotechnic community.

David Hamon

The company’s patriarch, Joël Hamon was responsible for the thematic design of the show, including the music selection and son David was responsible for the technical design. The theme is based on the writings of the renowned French author, Jules Verne, and Joël’s son, Leo (aged only 7), takes part in the narrative by asking his “uncle Jules” about his writings and voyages. Thus, with “Around the world in 80 days” as well as “Journey to the Center of the Earth” or “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”, the music will form the backdrop to a pyrotechnic voyage. Joël noted, that with a population as diverse as Montreal’s, they wanted to avoid something mono-thematic and use a diverse range of music that would be recognizable but eclectic at the same time.

The diverse range of music didn’t present as much as a challenge as the 30 minute duration to David who noted that, though he doesn’t like to repeat the same effects, sometimes it is necessary in order to correctly highlight certain parts with the right effect, despite there being a vast range of products available.

On the technical side lots of specially made Spanish products will be used, particularly colour changing palms and strobes. The manufacturers used include Zaragozana and Igual from Spain as well as Vulcan and Lidu from China some Italian products from Martarello. The show will be fired using 99 32-cue FireOne modules.

Pavlos Nanos

I met with Pavlos Nanos, the forth generation of the family working for Greece’s longest established fireworks company. The family patriarch brought Italian-style fireworks to the family’s home island of Spetses and established the company in 1920. Now headquartered in Athens, they are the most renowned company in Greece, putting on over 300 displays a year and recent winners of competitions in Germany and China. Nanos’s participation is the first time a Greek company has competed in Montreal.

Pavlos told me the display, which was over two months in design and conception, would be in two parts. Inspired by the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012, as well as the ongoing economic crisis in Greece and Europe, the first half of the display is to represent the end of the world. Dramatic explosions will light the lake on fire and then Greek National Team swimmer, Katerina Tapeinou, will arise from the devastation on the lake to represent the rebirth of civilization. A circular structure will be present on the surface of the lake to help implement this effect, as well as other special effects towards the end of the display, whilst Katerina will continue to strokes to the theme. The voice from the artificial intelligence, HAL, portrayed in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, will be used in the display and Pavlos noted that he wanted the audience to understand that humanity triumphs in the end, as the meaning of existence is nothing without emotions and feelings.

For the musical aspects of the display, Pavlos wanted to use contemporary music that wasn’t necessarily too well known, to avoid using pieces that might be clichéd in a pyromusical context. He used VisualShowDirector to help with the 3-D visualization of certain complex aspects of the display, particularly as Nanos are using many interesting angles for their effects. Pavlos said he is interested in seeing how is internal visualizations will play out in reality!

The technical aspects of the display are that 95% of the material used in the display is of Spanish and Italian origin, with Ricasa producing some shells to Nanos’s specifications for this display. Other special products are very large 6″ mines which will be fired from ramp 2. I also noticed that there are a lot of mines and candles on ramp 3, as well as nautical shells. Fans of large calibre shells shouldn’t be too disappointed as there will be fifteen shells in the 10″ and 12″ category, as called for by the design.The other 5% of the material is Chinese and is used in cakes etc. The script uses around 3000 cues and will be fired using Pyrodigital.

It should certainly be an interesting display as no-one has ever combined pyrotechnics with a live swimmer! Katerina was to be doing her final rehearsals this evening, and special care was taken to ensure her safety with all the special effects used in the lake.

I met with Patrick Brault, representing Canada with his company Sirius^® Pyrotechnics. No stranger to La Ronde, Patrick was part of the original crew during the first season of the competition, held in 1985. His baptism into the world of fireworks propelled him to Europe, where he spent time with a French company (Éphémère who won the Pyromusical SIlver Jupiter in 1986 and eventually became Groupe F) and also working in the Spanish factory of Antonio Caballer with the now sadly deceased Miguel Caballer. Following Miguel’s death, the factory is now closed and Patrick told me that he shed a tear or two as he loaded some of the final shells from the Antonio Caballer stock into his show.

Patrick Brault

Patrick went on to be a founder of Concept Fiatlux, with other members of that original 1985 La Ronde crew. He finally left them in 2002 and went in his own direction, taking a break from fireworks, though was the designer of their 1997 show at La Ronde which won the Jupiter prize for the use of the multimedia facilities that were present then. In 2005 his old friend Miguel Caballer contacted him and persuaded him to be the Canadian distributor of their products, thus leading to the birth of Sirius^® Pyrotechnics. In 2009, Sirius were selected to present the opening and closing shows at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Sirius now produce Calgary’s Globalfest as well as the revamped Honda Festival of Light in Vancouver.

Sirius Fireworks now has the talents of Kelly Guile, owner of Archangel Fireworks based in Winnipeg, as well as Luis Brunchù, co-designer of the show, working for them. Indeed, their crew come from across Canada with members from the Prairies as well as Ontario and Quebec. Patrick told me that both he and Luis spent over 100 hours each designing the show and, a first for a competitor this year, used the ShowSim software to design and visualize the entire display. Patrick laughed as he noted that he is probably responsible for more than half of the updates to that software this year as the complexities of his display made great demands on the program!

The theme title, Eclipse, was inspired  by the album by Linkin Park called A Thousand Suns, who’s music features in the display, the finale being set to “Waiting for the end”. Patrick had had an initial idea for the display but the theme finally came to fruition after the discover of his music muse in Linkin Park.

On the technical side, the products used come from Chinese manufacturers Red Eagle, Vulcan and Dancing Dragon; Spain is represented by Pirofantasia, Vincente Caballer and, as I mentioned, some final shells from Antonio Caballer; Italy features Panzera and some specially manufactured products by Soldi. Special effects come from the American companies of RES and NextFX. The display uses 2384 cues and will be fired wirelessly from ramps 1 and 2 with FireOne whereas ramps 3 amd 4 will be FireOne Ultra (where there will be over 1000 one-shots). Ramp 5 will be used for the first time this year and I was sworn to secrecy over some very interesting special effects that will be used. Fans of large shells should be happy as Sirius will be using two 12″ and forty 10″ in their arsenal.

I met with Nicolas Guinand, Sugyp’s designer, competing in Montreal for the first time. Indeed, Sugyp are new to the fireworks competition circuit, having decided as recently as two years ago that it would be good for them to advance the art. Their first competition was in St.-Brévin (held in Brittany) just last year. They currently put on around 250 displays per year, with their largest being for the Swiss National Day, fired on Lake Geneva, which is “just over the hill” from their home in Grandson, on the shores of Lac Neuchâtel. Nicolas said they realized that competitions are a good way to develop new artistic techniques as well as network with the best designers and companies in the business.

Sugyp was effectively founded in 1971, but Nicolas, together with his brother Jean-Pascal and their father, bought the company in 2007, after having becoming more interested in the emotional aspect of fireworks after having witnessed the competition in Chantilly in 2004. They founded Pyro Éphémère in 2006 and took over Sugyp the following year. Nicolas noted that he comes from a design background, not fireworks manufacturing, so became familiar with the products afterwards. Now he spends much of his time on the import side of Sugyp – quite a task as they have a catalog of over 1200 products!

For their Montreal display, more than 70% (and he used the “old” French term septante, rather than soixante dix!) of the products were specially manufactured to Sugyp’s specifications. They are using four Chinese manufacturers together with a plethora of top European companies such as Igual (Spain), Prevot (France), APTM (France), Panzera (Italy), Pirico/Parente (Italy) and fellow competitor this year, Vaccalluzzo (Italy). They are using the wireless Galaxsis firing system with 35 100-cue modules for a display of over 3000 cues. Nicolas noted that they are also using PyroClock pyrotechnic time delays, to give some “warmth” to the display as he prefers this to the rigidly cold precision of using purely electronic firing for everything. He said he’d spent over 100 hours in the pure design and conception of the show, before the realization and implementation with actual products – this aspect, together with the logistics, taking several months. He joked and said that it was more than a man-year’s worth of effort to put on this show, though as one man, he’d be unable to complete the task even if he started a year in advance!

The theme represents the past, present and future of aviation.

Nicolas Guinand with biplane

To highlight the theme, a wooden replica of a World War One biplane will “fly” across the lake with music representing the period. Then we move to the present, where some very exciting design elements will be used, together with contemporary music. These design elements are top secret for now, so as to not spoil the surprise. Let it be said that the best place to witness them is from the grandstands at La Ronde! For the future, “space” music will be used from films such as Star Trek, ET and The X Files. Nicolas noted that he is particularly looking forward to the Star Trek segment, as well as the finale. He also said to listen for a special effect that has the sound of a wolf howling!

It sounds like it will be a fascinating display and, judging by the setup on ramps 2 and 3, should be very visually wide, taking advantage of the full width and height of the display area.