Vive la Différence
Designed by Andy Wiggins, FireOne firing with 175 firing modules and ~5000 cues.
Debutante Jubilee Fireworks were graced with perfect weather for both their setup and opening display in the first competing entry in the 31st Edition of the Montreal International Fireworks Competition. Opening the competition is a daunting task for any team and competing for the first time makes it even more of a challenge.
Designer Andy Wiggins had been in Montreal previously, and I’m sure this helped him understand how to use the site. After only a couple of minutes, it was obvious we were witnessing a display that is worthy of a place on the podium. This feeling is rare when it happens, but I’m confident that it’s correct.
All aspects of the site were well used, except for nautical effects, but, for once, they weren’t really missed in this very artistic and creative display. The quality of the materials used was very high, with excellent colours and effects. The Hamex manufactured Vaccalluzzo shells were very good indeed.
I enjoyed the contrasts between tableux that featured a lot of one-shots and those that didn’t. Sometimes, too many one-shots can become mechanical and repetitive, but this was not the case in the Jubilee display. Memorable, of course, was the Uptown Funk segment where 1500 cues were used. Synchronization was just flawless and the choice of effects used, from flash, starmine comets, microstar coloured gerbs in red and blue etc. was just amazing. The ground salutes on ramp five shocked everyone and caused a big WOW from me!
I was impressed by the clever scripting of one-shots in the “Love Me Like You Do” segment, where red stars were fired left and right across ramp three such that a large rising heart shape was formed! Above this, pattern shells of red hearts turning to crackle were the perfect compliment! This was all the more impressive given that Andy told me during the interview no visualization software was used!
The audience were enthusiastic throughout the display and definitely enjoyed the soundtrack, as did I. There some very interesting fast effects used in the “Holding On”, segment, perfectly complimenting the manic-ness of the music.
I had been skeptical about the choice of finale music, Earth Song by Michael Jackson, but I thought it was really well done. Starting out with gold and charcoal effects, it built until each half of the display area was its own colour and then sequencing into a broad rainbow of colours, very appropriate for the times.
There were a few small negative aspects to the display. It was clear there were a couple of modules not working on ramp 3, though these didn’t really have much impact. A few flame effects on ramp 5 appeared to fire at the wrong time – maybe because of ignition by sparks? There were also a couple of spots where the wrong effects were in place or a position seemed to be wired backwards. These were all very minor, though, and the overall feeling of the display was excellent.
The soundtrack, with the theme of complements throughout, was particularly enjoyable and l thought the choice of effects used worked very well without any feeling of repetitiousness. Andy told me he intended to use all of the display area and this was most definitely achieved.
The Jubilee team received a well deserved standing ovation from the capacity audience as well as a very warm reception in the Salon des Artificiers after the display. As I’m apt to say, this is the one to beat this year and, at the moment, must be a strong contender for a podium position.
