Hi everyone,

I've got good news for you : there will be 5 displays for the 2010 edition of Fire on Ice on the Quays of the Old Port, plus the traditional New Year's Eve show :

- Dec. 4th at 8PM
- Dec. 11th at 8PM
- Dec. 18th at 8PM
- Dec. 25th at 8PM
- Dec. 31th at midnight
- Jan. 8th at 8PM

Unfortunately, the display companies are not known at this point, but Fiatlux/Ampleman, Royal, BEM and FAE should be there as usual. One can only speculate as to who will be the 5th company to join this fine event.

I'll provide detailed coverage on my website, unlike last year where I missed FAE's display because of freezing rain.

This should help our fireworks addiction under control until the summer !

More info :

Feux sur Glace
Fire on Ice

STL

Thank you for posting this information, STL.

I find it interesting to see a list consisting of as much as six displays in the event this year, including one appropriately falling on New Year's Eve. It is surprising, though, to see the displays spanning into the beginning of January. Perhaps the event became so popular over the years that the organizers decided to increase the total number of displays?

As far as attendance is concerned, I may make the effort to view at least one of the performances this year, but only providing that the weather cooperates in terms of temperature - I have a very low tolerance level for the cold conditions, unfortunately, but I am hopeful to have temperatures that are at least close to freezing during the evening hours (preferably on the plus side).

I'll provide detailed coverage on my website, unlike last year where I missed FAE's display because of freezing rain.

I remember covering that weather system on Christmas Day last year, but let's hope that we avoid such treacherous conditions this time around. Freezing rain is a very dangerous form of precipitation even when present in trace amounts. I'm looking forward to your coverage!

Other than that, it is nice to see that some "spark" still shines brightly in the forum to keep the spirit alive at the onset of the darker days starting to settle in (darker when we put the clocks back one hour next Sunday, November 7th).

Trav.

I find it interesting to see a list consisting of as much as six displays in the event this year, including one appropriately falling on New Year's Eve. It is surprising, though, to see the displays spanning into the beginning of January. Perhaps the event became so popular over the years that the organizers decided to increase the total number of displays?


That's what I heard from a fellow pyro last summer, but the way I then understood it, there was to be 6 "regular" displays, and not 5 and a special one for New Year's Eve (as this show is normally not part of "Fire on Ice". ).

We must remember that Royal indeed put up the New Year's Eve show on the Jacques-Cartier quay last year too, and it wasn't billed as being a "Fire on Ice". Only four shows were advertised.

Well, at least we're looking forwards to about an hour and a half of fireworks starting in a month or so !

I hope that the list of companies will be out soon, so I could call Royal and (finally) do my third apprentice show and get my licence !




As far as attendance is concerned, I may make the effort to view at least one of the performances this year, but only providing that the weather cooperates in terms of temperature - I have a very low tolerance level for the cold conditions, unfortunately, but I am hopeful to have temperatures that are at least close to freezing during the evening hours (preferably on the plus side).


I may provide Hi-Def videos of the displays, that is *if* I get the money in time to buy a new SLR (with video mode). The only thing bothering me is that the file size is limited to 4 GB per file (12 minutes at 1080p) and the camera doesn't start a new file automatically. So, 720p and some pictures if I'm lucky, or just pictures if I'm not !

I, too, anxiously await the representative firms to be released. I'm fairly certain that the usual four will be present, but the other two remain more of a mystery. It is curious as to whether one of the common firms will do a second display for New Year's Eve.

Speaking of Winter, we may get our first glimpse of either a rain-wet snow mix or measurable wet snow falling tomorrow evening-overnight (October 30th). A weak disturbance is moving into Southern Quebec from the SW, providing us with firstly rain in the afternoon before a possible transition near and following dusk. Some isolated flurries were observed during the overnight period of October 21st, but nothing that could accumulate. Brief periods of wet snow are also possible for Halloween.

Bundle up if you're heading out for Halloween as temperatures are likely at or slightly below the freezing mark during the evening - frost is also a possibility for early Monday and Tuesday morning. November is off to a cold, but dry, start.

Trav.

You'll find the pyro companies producing the Feux sur Glace on my blog.

Right here

Enjoy those nights !!!
Mylene

Ah-ah ! Mylène was quicker than me on this one, as I was asking this very morning the media personnel to release the list of companies.

Well, at least we do know now !

Two days to go.

And it appears that I won't be working with Royal this year. /me looking for other companies now, any advice ?

Tonight's show is "Storm" ( "Tempête" ) , and it will last 19 minutes.

Patrick Chandonnet, the designer of Orion Feu d'artifice, learned in November that he'd participate to the Fire on Ice event; therefore he only had 4 weeks to prepare his soundtrack and his script.

All the 2010 displays must have a maritime theme, but the documents sent to Patrick only specified that the display should be about winter. Fortunately, when he learnt the "real" theme, the soundtrack he edited was fine according to the organizers; as the conception steps takes around 80 hours, this was therefore very good news, as it would have been rather time consuming to prepare a new script and soundtrack at this point.

Patrick's finale will be of the golden variety, with some 150 kamuro effects ranging from 3 to 6" being launched in the last 22 seconds, along with 3 cakes. He also has some salutes to pack a punch where required.

An interesting sequence will take place on a rather fast song from Ice Age, with note-synchronized mines (there are 6" mines somewhere in the show, but I don't remember if they are used in this particular sequence).

The firing system is FireOne, and Patrick uses two cables to feed his firing modules, to allow at least half of them to fire the show should a cable be severed by debris.

There are 3 positions up front with fountains, 150 one-shots and some flares as well, 5 positions in the middle with candles, mines, one-shots and cakes, and finally 3 shell positions in the back, the middle one having 5 and 6" shells.

A lot of effects are sourced from Royal Pyrotechnie, so brands like Dancing, Zaragozana and Caballer are well represented.

For those who won't make it, I'll have a high definition video online by tomorrow. This is my first "manual mode" video shoot, so the exposure might not be right for this show. I'll of course improve my "recipe" as the Fire on Ice season progresses.

STL

STL, looking forward to seeing your videos of the shows this year as I don't think I'll get to see any of them Thanks also for the interesting information about Orion's show. Will you be doing similar previews for the other shows too?

Cheers,

Paul.

Will you be doing similar previews for the other shows too?

This depends on the firms' willingness to be interviewed. I hope to provide this kind of coverage for all the Fire on Ice displays, but it really depends on the participating companies.
I have to call each one of them to secure a visit on the firing ramps on the day of the display - the interviews will follow the format of the Grand Feu Bleu coverage, with lots of set-up pictures to boot.

Only time will tell...

Yesterday's show was quite good ! At first, I was worried that the amount of effects on the firing ramps would not be enough to have a good pace, but the designer nonetheless managed to get a pretty good rythm throughout his display.

Even though the first segment was rather anticlimactic, the pace picked up after that and the rest of the show was quite entertaining.

Patrick Chandonnet even finished the show with the same song that was used to conclude "Build a Dream", the show presented by Dominator at the PGI last August that contained my "Winter" segment.

I'll upload the video this afternoon to my YouTube channel : Pyro Montréal.

Meanwhile, you can consult my French complete report on this show, with the interview on the firing ramps, my review and some pictures :

4 décembre 2010 - Orion

Google Translate of the above



EDIT : I've been running in circles all day to find that the editing software I was planning to use on my 32-bit laptop only works on 64-bit computers... Bummer ! Therefore, I resorted to the old fashion technique, but the video will only be online tomorrow...

Both parts are now online :

First part
Second part

The wind was having fun with the monopod my video camera was installed on. I'll try to bring two tripods next week.

The chirping sounds heard regularly throughout the video comes from the camera I was using for taking still pictures. I'll try to put more distance between them next time, as this noise is rather distracting.

I'll also try to bring a better lens along, as this was the kit lens and, put frankly, its optical quality is not good wide open.

As the encoding software was not able to cut the first 30 seconds without messing up with the audio, you can hear me discussing the antics of synchronizing the firing console with the CD with a bystander, as he was joking that Orion would lose points because their show did not start right after the presentation by the PA announcer. I was telling him that it was normal, even in La Ronde, to have a 60 seconds delay between the time the CD is started and when the show actually starts. At La Ronde, this part is included in the ceremony, with Michel Lacroix (or his substitute) making his final announcement.

Thank you very much, STL, for providing your footage as well as a corresponding report of the first Fire on Ice display!

Another weather system, an Alberta Clipper, is developing out West and is quickly heading East, which could deliver some additional snows and breezy conditions in time for this weekend - this could play some role for the next display. More details later on in the week.

At last measurement check, 25 cm of snow had accumulated on the ground, but I suspect close to 30 cm (one foot) by the end of tonight (Tuesday). This turned out to be our first snowstorm of the year. Following this system (Nor'easter) is a large area of high pressure, which, as mentioned previously in the weather thread, will briefly be bringing some cold Arctic air later tomorrow through to Friday - Thursday overnight to early Friday morning could be as cold as -16 C, with a windchill close to -22 C.

Trav.

Tonight's show is Polar Light (Lumière polaire).

Yanick Roy worked again with Serge Péloquin for the soundtrack part, which took about 6 hours to put together.

The theme relates to an imaginary boat trip to the Arctic (as the main theme of the displays must be about the sea). The first 12 minutes consist of soundtrack Yanick never used in one of his previous displays; these segments are also original work that may be reused in the future, depending on the public's reaction.

Highlights from the firing ramps include a boat-shaped set piece (no, not as big as the Titanic from the Tribute to Céline Dion !) with a Niagara Falls underneath, some wheels, and the usual cakes, comets, mines and aerial effects.

To account for potential bad weather, the mortar racks were set-up yesterday, and the effects were installed today, starting at 9:30 AM. Due to the rather good weather we're now experiencing (one would say "the calm before the storm" ), the set-up was slated to be done by 5 PM, so Royal's team must now be taking it easy in the heated trailer.

The show length is around 18 minutes. The scripting part took around 10 hours, with three days of preliminary work in Royal's workshop this week, one day spent installing the racks and one day installing the product. Firing is of course Pyrodigital.

Due to the rather good weather we're now experiencing (one would say "the calm before the storm" ), the set-up was slated to be done by 5 PM, so Royal's team must now be taking it easy in the heated trailer.

Indeed, the current weather conditions are the calm before the storm. Had the display been scheduled for tomorrow evening, I don't think things would have worked out, especially with the wintery mix (freezing rain included) and generally gusty conditions.

I look forward to your review, STL. Enjoy the display!

Trav.

As a foreword to my review, let's just say I'm not used to this kind of performance by Royal Pyrotechnie. During the interview, Yanick told me he would try brand new sequences on soundtracks he never used before. I therefore had high expectations, as Yanick is perfectly able to go "beyond the limits". Yet, I found that Polar Light was not your typical Royal Pyrotechnie display.

As a matter of fact, I've noticed that the same effects (yellow crossettes, for instance, and some others as well) were sometimes repeated throughout the show, a type of design that is practically unheard of in a Royal Pyrotechnie display.

Also, the display's pace was a tad too slow for my liking. Again, Royal Pyrotechnie displays almost always have a good rhythm for the entire duration, while in this case some sequences would have benefited from having some aerial shells being launched. For example, Yanick had installed a boat-shaped set piece above a Niagara Falls, which produced a stunning effect, but this particular sequence lasted a good 45 seconds, while no other effect whatsoever was being launched. A set piece, while expensive, is impressive, but hoping to keep the public's attention during 45 seconds with it alone is wishful thinking in my opinion. In this case, shooting a few horsetail shells or kamuros above would have boosted the public's interest considerably while not distracting from the set piece like a barrage of noisy or bright effects would do.

With a complex theme such as Polar Light, a narration would have helped setting up the mood, but the Fire on Ice rules forbid using a narrative segment. This is an example where the event rules effectively prohibit the designer from completely fulfilling his artistic vision. Yanick's divisions between sequences were quite clear on paper, but the once-again exceptional soundtrack edited with Serge Péloquin gave the display a "too-continuous" feeling that prevented the public from understanding the purpose of the changes in pace.

For me, Polar Light was not a bad display, but represented a a radical departure from the usual type of displays that are the staple of Royal Pyrotechnie. For instance, I think it missed the "magic sparkle" that puts together a good theme, a good soundtrack and a good selection of products to create a truly exceptional display. Well, I guess that Royal's shows can't always be at the same excellence level...

My complete coverage (in French)
Google-translate of the above

Look out on my YouTube channel; the video should be online tonight.

EDIT : First part now online; note how stable the camera is now that it's installed on a second tripod and how the picture quality increased since last time, as a friend of mine lended me his professional-grade wide-angle lens

EDIT 2 : Second part is now online as well. I'd like to get your opinion on te display, just to make sure I didn't miss something. I kinda feel bad to write a negative review on a Yanick Roy display (never thought that it would be possible, to be honest).

STL

A cakes show : I think that this summarizes pretty well the kind of display we were treated with yesterday by B.E.M.

Magical Voyage (Voyage féérique) was based on a classical music soundtrack, and was therefore a nice departure from the excerpts from movie soundtracks Orion and Royal used in the past weeks. Yet, I feel that classical music doesn't carry emotion as well, so I found the display to be rather monotonous in nature because of that.

The effects were in the "average to good" range, because while some aerial shells were quite nice (such as double-ring farfalles and big caliber white bees shells), the majority were of the peony or chrysanthemum varieties. Also, using cakes and candles a lot at the bottom level doesn't help with regards to the diversity.

I also noticed that during some candle sequences, small calibers shells were launched and exploded in the middle of the sky, mixing with the comets from the candles. It might have been slightly better to use bigger shells in these sequences, in order to have them explode over the comets than at the same level.

One good sequence was based on a barrage of white bees which looked much like a snowstorm. As B.E.M. declined to do an interview on the firing ramps, I don't know how the designer intended to follow his theme, so this particular sequence might just have been about something else for all I know !

In conclusion, this was not a bad show, but so far I liked Orion and Royal's displays better. B.E.M.'s style seems sober in comparison, and people around me liked this show very much. Therefore, in the end, it all comes down to one's personal preferences; some may just like a cakes-based show such as this one !

My report

Due to one last exam tomorrow morning, I'll publish the video tomorrow night.

The videos for B.E.M. display are now online :

First part
Second part

Enjoy !

STL

Hi STL,

I just watched your nice videos and I have to say that the display seemed pretty neat, although, to me, the last minute or so of the first part somehow lacked vitality.

I personally like the use of cakes, though only if they are supported at mid to high level with large caliber shells. I am also dazzled by enduring cakes of salutes when present during either the penultimate piece of a display for setting up a faux finale or for the actual conclusion itself (much like Canada 2010).

In your commentary above, you mentioned "chrysanthemum" effects? What exactly are these, and what sort of appearance do they take on?

Thanks for sharing your footage, STL.

Trav.

A chrysanthemum is like a peony that leaves a trail in the sky, as far as I know. Look at these simulations to see the difference :
Peony
Chrysanthemum

Glad you liked it ! Now, let's see what Apogée will do on Christmas Eve !

Ah, I had no idea that those (common) shells were referred to by that term, but I now see why they are named after the flower:

http://www.flowersgallery.net/gallery/chrysanthemum/chrysanthemum-1.jp g

Thank you for providing the description as well as the corresponding photo/demonstration found on your site.

Trav.

Trav: I've had a glossary on this site for a few years now: http://montreal-fireworks.com/pyro_glossary.html

Paul.

Thank you for that link, Paul - the definition provided there further helped to clarify things.

Now, let's see what Apogée will do on Christmas Eve !

Isn't the next display taking place on Christmas day, or had it been recently re-scheduled for Christmas Eve?

Well, it's officially Winter (the season arrived just over an hour ago). Luckily, however, that Nor'easter is maintaining itself slightly farther East, so snowfall totals are more likely at a maximum of 7 cm by Thursday morning here in Montreal. The system's movement has also slowed over the last 24 hours, so instability is persisting until early Thursday instead of Wednesday. Christmas 2010 is expected to be dry, but chilly.

Trav.

Isn't the next display taking place on Christmas day, or had it been recently re-scheduled for Christmas Eve?

No, my bad. December 25th, so Christmas day indeed !

I had some exclusive info about the show from Alain Carbonneau, Apogée's designer. It will feature music from Titanic, Pirates of the Carribbean and of course Christmas-themed songs, as Apogée's display must be about winter, Christmas and have a maritime feel (my take on these requirements : can you say "we [the Old Port Society] are almost designing the show for the designer" at this point ?!) The final edit of the soundtrack runs for 19 minutes and 10 seconds, which is a good departure from B.E.M.'s display, which was hugging close to the 15 minutes minimum.

The show will feature 30 or so cakes, some candles and a lot of shells, plus a Niagara Falls, fountains and a hundred one-shot effects synchronized with the music. Alain Carbonneau intends to start his display in a more energic fashion than both Orion and Royal did, as both started their displays with a slow first sequence.

The finale will be kamuro-based, and the final barrage will last 20 seconds. It seems that this is an Apogée "signature", but I have to admit that I'm not familiar with this company's work at all. As they do the St-Jean display in Dorval, maybe is Travis more experienced with their work (as Dorval is close to West Island - wait, Dorval *is* in West Island !).

I'll have more details on Saturday, but this looks like a very good way to celebrate Christmas in an "explosive" fashion, at least for those that do not have a party that night.

In all cases, my video will be online shortly after the show, as usual.

STL

The finale will be kamuro-based, and the final barrage will last 20 seconds

I was more anticipating a finale rich with color, especially considering that the display is held on Christmas day. Ah well, I guess it's still something to look forward to, right?

As they do the St-Jean display in Dorval, maybe is Travis more experienced with their work (as Dorval is close to West Island - wait, Dorval *is* in West Island !).

Unfortunately, I've never actually attended the St-Jean Baptiste displays that commonly take place in Dorval, so I cannot say what team Apogee is typically famed for in these performances. The shows that I do attend, or view, are those on L'ile-Bizard and at Pierrefonds Comprehensive.

And yes, Dorval is considered a part of the West Island.

Trav.

I was more anticipating a finale rich with color, especially considering that the display is held on Christmas day. Ah well, I guess it's still something to look forward to, right?

Well, Alain Carbonneau promised Christmas-themed colors throughout (well, except the kamuro finale), so I guess that yes, that's something to look forward to !

Well, Alain Carbonneau promised Christmas-themed colors throughout

I suppose that might partly explain employing a monochromatic approach for the conclusion.

Trav.

Apogée's show was very good, with lots of rare aerial shells like "delayed crossettes" (crossettes that only appear at the second explosion - could either be "dark-primed" stars or it could be a shell-of-shells) and multicolor short falling leaves, such as those seen at Taiwan's display last summer.

The Christmas colors were present, as promised. The kamuro-based finale was one of those that don't overwhelm you with golden effects during 5 minutes (like France 2010 for instance) : it was short, but very effective. Fortunately, Alain Carbonneau had selected kamuros with a rising tail, so it was quite a delight to see such a lot of shells ascend during the last seconds.

Some negatives include too-long chains of shells, which continued to fire from one segment's end to the start of the next, and the fact that the flares at the beginning were too low to be seen by the public (we did saw colored smoke from them, though). For the latter, though, Alain Carbonneau's unfamiliarness with the site may be the cause; to paraphrase Yanick Roy, this is the kind of mistake you do only once, as you learn the limitations and correct them at your next show (or in that case, your next Fire on Ice).

It was also slightly funny to see the (color-changing) Niagara Falls break in two just after it ended its combustion. Fortunately, the effect was over when it happened, as it's really bad to see such an expensive effect being spoiled by technical difficulties. Talk to the Junior Pyrotechnics Association from the PGI 2010 about that : their own Niagara Falls fell to the ground a few seconds after it was lit, so that's a few thousands down the drain... Fortunately, Apogée's display did not suffer such an extreme situation !

You can check my review and my interview with Alain Carbonneau

In French
In Google-Translated English

You may also check the video :

First part
Second part

Should the soundtrack be pulled by the [censored - replace with your insult of choice], er, recording companies, I'll upload the complete video (with the original soundtrack) directly to my website.

STL

with lots of rare aerial shells like "delayed crossettes" (crossettes that only appear at the second explosion - could either be "dark-primed" stars or it could be a shell-of-shells)

These are not so rare - we see them at the Montreal competition quite often. They're also not crossettes, but are referred to as "crossing stars" or "shuttle stars" - see http://www.saxtonsmith.co.uk/fw/glos2.htm#Crossing%20stars

Paul.

FAE's display was shot with wind conditions that reminded of the International's 2010 edition : weak and towards the spectators. Therefore, there was quite a lot of smoke accumulation which prevented people stationed in front of the Hangar 16 (and close to the skating rink) to see a lot of aerials. Mines and other one-shots were visible in the smoke at times.

[soapbox]
To add insult to the injury, some people were goofing around my cameras and bumped my tripods numerous times. I sternly told a woman to back off and she looked offensed. Hell, who arrived 30 minutes early to secure a good, unoccupied spot and spent 15 minutes to painfully level and set both cameras ?! Certainly not her, as she was bumping everyone to try to film the display with her crappy handheld without any respect to those who arrived early.
[/soapbox]

I'll refrain from writing a review this time, as I didn't see enough of the display to be able to formulate a decent opinion.

We finished setting up at 3:30 PM, so the wait was rather long. Yet, Jean-Pierre Gagné and the rest of the crew entertained me with their fireworks-related anecdotes for the 8 hours or so we spent waiting in the *electrically heated* shack for the New Year's countdown.

My interview and photos (French)
Google Translate of the above


You can check the video, but the view is obscured by smoke at numerous times :

First part
Second part

Check my YouTube channel in a few months for some random FAE display video, as I offered Jean-Sébastien Gagné to film another display to make-up for the fact that this one was spoiled by smoke accumulation.

Happy New Year to all !

STL

Hi STL,

I am sorry to hear that the display was marred by the vast smoke accumulations that were present. In addition to the winds being very light (roughly 4-5 km/h), the relative dampness of the air contributed to the rapid smoke build up. As expected, fog patches did develop, and this indicates that relative humidity levels at and near the surface were near 100% - the air was therefore saturated. The wind tendencies themselves were out from the SE to SSE for most of the day. Which direction do you commonly face when viewing the fireworks? From the videos, you seem to be looking from the North to North-northwest. In this case, though, it may not have mattered too much where you were positioned because of the overall weak wind speeds and the moist airmass.

Thank you very much for sharing the videos, and a happy new year to you, too!

Trav.