Well, post your reviews here, as usual! Sorry about the late start on posting this.

Anyways, just got back from what I call an excellent display! There was so much action and man, was it quite loud at times, especially with those cracklers! There so many wide range effects, as well. The ending, however, was too short. Excellent build up, but still lacking in length. Despite that, this show REALLY put a good impression as a first-timer in Montreal.

I could see the wide range of products used and I could identify a lot of Italian and Spanish products.

Finally, the weather did cooperate, once again. A completely wrong forecast, which gave way to one of the hottest nights I can remember. One of the biggest crowds ever, too!

I'm not sure, though, but I think synchronization was slack in some places, I think. I sometimes saw fireworks stopping but music kep going. But in other areas, it was really tight.

Anyways, I'll have a full review tomorrow. In the meantime, post your comments, well, whenever you can!

Good night!

Regards,

Trav.

Last night, Flash Barrandov SFX presented an interesting display for their first participation to the Montreal International Fireworks Contest. Despite a very hot and humid weather, we were fortunate enough to have wind to clean the sky from all the smoke and, for once, the audience was not covered of powder and fragments!

I believe that my favorite segment was the second part, with a music from Cirque du Soleil. It started with red nautical strobes, turning to white, and other white strobes on ramp 2. Then, a hemispheric setup piece installed on ramp 4 produced crackling gerbs for a long time. Many fans of comets and mines were created from the fourth ramp, too.

In opposition, the most disappointing part of the show was the anticipated 1-minute rainbow. The press release and Michel Lacroix's speech prevented us about this special effect. In fact, it was exactly the same pattern than Parente's rainbow seen in 2003 (part 8).

http://www.montreal-fireworks.com/cgi-bin/rep.cgi?head2003,italy03,tai l2003

However, in Parente's show, this effect matched with an entire musical segment, that is, a part of Adiemus. In Flash Barrandov's display, the Vanessa Mae's music started with some pyrotechnic pieces, then we see the rainbow, and the same music continued with other pyrotechnic effects.

This strange design is related to a more serious problem with this display. It was not always clear how the fireworks were related to the music. Many times, the synchronization was not obvious. Was it really a pyromusical show, or just fireworks with music? What do you think about that?

A strongest point is that the show was an exhibit of a very wide range of pieces. We saw different kinds of girandolas: some with one, some with two ascensions; some without any additionnal effect, some which bursted in stars. I believe that some girandolas produced a sequential multi-break effect: after their ascensions, they bursted in stars a first time, then a second time higher, then a third time at their highest point. Pistils, Niagara falls, kamuros, shells of spirals, weeping-willow shells, farfalle and double farfalles shells, fireflies, mines, nautical shells, and more were launched from four firing ramps. Richness of colours was very good, with a large range of colours, many multicolour pieces and some changing colours effects. Moreover, choice of music was original.

Unfortunately for the team of Flash Barrandov SFX, I do not think that they will reach the podium. I believe that the merge between music and fireworks need to be improved, the synchronization must be more obvious and the overall design should be more creative.

Fred

Hey Fred,

I knew it! I thought that the music was off in places! Anyways, more details on this.

My review is in progress.

Regards,

Trav.

Salut

Beacoup de monde sur le pont pour la présentation du feu Tchèque.
Je suis tout a fait d'accord avec tes commentaires Fred et ta conclusion.
Quelques bons passages tant au niveau du choix des pièces , de la richesses des couleurs lors du déploiement , une syncronisation moyenne et variable comme tout le reste , une mise en scène en dent de scie
Pour ma part je n'ai guère aimé le choix musical.
Cà manquait de variété et de dynamisme.Il faut savoir bien gérer l'intensité dans chacun des segments , susciter et soutenir l'intérêt des spectateurs , les surprendre et les émouvoir.Le spectacle manquait visiblement de rytme.
Il y a eu certes de bons passages mais pas de quoi pour écrire à sa mère.Il en est de même au niveau de la créativité .
Bref un spectacle sobre, un bel effort des artificiers Tchèque mais trop peu pour une compétition de cette envergure. Ils auront l'occasion de se reprendre un de ces jours et cette expérience leur servira.
Donc un break pour le jury. Maintenant place aux Portugais de Luso qui nous ont laissé sur un très beau souvenir lors de leur passage à Montréal en 2002.

J'attends aussi le feu de BEM et j'ai hâte de voir le contenu de leur concept "Au pied du courant". Je n'ai pas d,attentes particulières
mais qui en avait pour Royal Pyrotechnie lors de leur participation à la compétition en 2003 avec le résultat qu'on connait??

Rozzis pourrait aussi causer des surprises. Les firmes américaines en géréral ne lésinent pas sur les moyens à prendre pour gagner.

Bon je vous laisse et je retrourne en vacance.

Roger le vacancier.

Greetings, enthusiasts!

Well, it appears that we were treated with a great and most impressive effort from this newcomer, Czech Republic. There was a wide range of effects that it was hard to keep up with what happened and what didn't. There were also many nice colors used throughout the show, as well. I was also very happy to see that unique rainbow effect! It was also nicely integrated with the gold and peach color candles. However, this may not be so original, because according to Fred, this effect has been seen before by Italy in 2003, but then again, it could have been represented in another perspective and thus making it original in some circumstances.

I must comment on the weather. A completely wrong forecast that predicted possible threats of rain and isolated storms gave way to hot and humid conditions followed by partly cloudy skies. They were actually right the first time. Despite the threats, for the first time, I did not see potential developments while weather watching. Thankfully enough, we also had the right wind velocities, which blew away the excessive smoke accumulations to the Northwest. This was also probably one of the best and hottest nights in terms of temperatures. It was similar conditions, like France, but just a tad warmer where it hovered at about 29-30 Celsius all the way till 10:00 P.M and continued overnight. This was also one of the bigest crowds, as well! It must've been the presence or perception of hot weather and the new country combination. There must have been almost 400,000 people there last night.

This display was different compared to others, though similar in some cases compared to what we've seen. Like Spain, this was also quite traditional, though not as original. The colors made the display massive and there were so many wide ranged effects that I couldn't keep up with everything that was used, as I said before. The use of many products were apparent throughout the show. I noticed where lots of Spanish and Italian products showed up, too. And it was also apparent with the wide range of effects used. This gave an indication that this team had lots of manufacturers, which was about 12. This was clearly shown several times and sort of administered some conceptual art in the show.

This display probably started with the biggest bang this year with some candles and a few mines along with many large shells of sparkles to latter colorful shells from mid levels to upper levels. This was the case in many segments, but done in many varieties. Once again, this always feels good to the audience, especially me.

Most of this display was done in variations, so it kept things balanced in many parts of the sky. For example, there was a segment where there were many massive kamuros with lower blue stars, as well as 3 repetitive candle sequences in the middle and left and right directions. This really filled the sky, particularly in which it portrayed at a different angle in the sense of how it spreaded in each direction. This always puts a dramatic impression on the audience, especially when we consider the rapid pace at the end of this segment. Another example was the segment with a lot of build up with the glitter cracklers and gold brocades. The sky felt really magical in this segments, as well as some others with a variation of different colored sparkles i.e. red/green mixtures. This, indeed, put on a magical feeling of emotion, as well as inspiration which was partially linked to the main theme. Also, I could tell where the "dream" attempts were, particularly with the weeping willows all around the sky.

There were a lot of effects used, so bare with me if I missed any. I did notice tons of them, which have been seen several times in the competition already, but used differently. I enjoyed the go-getters in the middle part of the display. We did see some more in other segments. There were quite a bit of serpents throughout, as well. There was also a time where there were screaming serpents that sound like a missile/eagle. The use of kamuros and weeping willows made it apparent to the satisfaction of some of their theme, particularly when it came to dreaming, inspiration and emotion, and especially emotions. The go-getters and serpents made this ideal in some ways, in my opinion. I was delighted to see massive shells of swirls, some of which crackled upon spinning. Actually, there were shells that consisted of double ring swirls.

Some other effects made it it exciting, which was, indeed, part of the concept of the show, according to some information. They kept their part of the bargain with, no doubt, massive, exciting and brilliant segments which have been proven to excite the audience on several occasions. This demonstration was shown with lots of shell of shells and lots of multi-breakers that constantly burst into red and blue stars. Another piece that I want to point out was the use of those scatter shots and shells bursting into several red green and white shells. This was most "dreaming" and emotionally seen, especially taking into consideration that it was really high into the sky and then burst into colorful stars before the audience. It was also excellent where there were lower shots, as well. The scatter shot shells were very nice and are always pleasant to watch. Some of them started with a red and green color and then splitted in each direction with many other colors. This sort of gave me that feeling of "inspiration."

There were also so many other effects that were enjoyable, such as the red flares, or fireflies, that really crackled loudly after they flashed. It also made it VERY bright and exciting. Those swirls that crackled also made it exciting. Both of these effects have always been one of my favorites since I've been attending the competition. There were also some volleys of salutes that scattered from one flash in the top in a couple of segments. This is always traditional and exciting when it comes to "excitement." This was also a personal favorite. Finally, there were many mines that burst into loud cracklers below several times during the display, which is also one of my favorites. This was followed by cracklers from the swirl shells above. There were also long lasting yellow and white sparkles that exploded high up in the air.

There were also a decent amount of special effects, like those red spiral shells at the top that looked like this-"@". It was great to see those again. There were also green ring shells and many massive blue and green star shells at the top that looked like a giant star with gold glitters in between. There was also this very dazzling effect with the swirls that made that incredible heavy rain sound.

There were also many girandolas, ONCE AGAIN! Except, some were sort of different. The first sets that were fired were tilted at a certain angle. They were gold glittering ones. Then some more of the same came, except these burst into blue and whittish stars. Then we had double ascension girandolas of gold glitters and silver brocades that also rose and fell. Truly incredible. As always, it's amazing how the audience was dazzled by this, especially since there was a lot of variations with them. This also put a major influence on many of their theme components.

I'm more than certain that excellent use was made of the lake, and I'm fairly certain that nautical effects were present. I did, in fact see some nautical mines in a light blue color, which was similar to Canada in 2003, though not as long. I also did notice some lightning flashes in the bottom, probably coming from ramp 3. This was like Spain, but not as defined. I can't confirm if those were also nautical effects, though. Also, the use of weeping willows and some kamuros must have given a defined look to the lake as they trailed down, particularly the gold sparkles.

Finally, the rainbow effect. This was incredible and one of the most beautiful effects I've seen. The audience was so taken up by it! I, myself, had a nice time seeing which colors would be used. It was mostly sparkling with many glitters. Although, I was hoping for it to be more with the colors from a typical rainbow spectrum, but it still was dazzling. However, I'm not exactly sure if this was an original attempt, as this has been done before in 2003 by Italy, according to Frederick. Although, I can see it as being original in one context. The way it was portrayed was different to that of Italy that year, but it still gave that overall impression. The conclusion of this effect was followed by candles and glittering mines, with some bombettes later on, if that's what they're called.

I can conclude that this show had many weeping willows, swirls and kamuros, as well as many loud and bright cracklers.

The colors in this show were apparent and, once again, this show, like most of the other shows so far, was one of the most colorful, especially since there was a lot of variations of effects. This did, indeed, reduce redundancy. There was so much action that this show did not feel repetitive at all. There were many nice colors like the authentic color of orange and blue shells below. The multi-colors, like what Spain used in the ending, were also there on several occasions. The candles at the bottom also gave you that impression. I want to comment on one color that I enjoyed in particular. This was that rare light violet color. I loved the way it was used when it was mixed in with the yellow shells. This was emotional, I think. The colors were really nicely integrated to the display, and it really connected to this type of theme.

Synchronization was a problem in this display, unfortunately, well, in my opinion. There were times where I felt that the music was going on but there were no fireworks exploding, not even in the bottom sections. This was a problem. As I said, there were times, however, where the music was quite tight, particularly with those candles at the bottom and then rising with stars at mid levels, but otherwise, compared to the other displays, this one was slack.

The choice of music was interesting but personally, it did not really connect with the fireworks at all times. I think the problem was the variation of speeds according to music. This may very well be because of synchronization. Also, I felt that some of the selected music did not have a direct thematic interconnectiveness, but the effects sure did, as I commented above!

The concept of the show was excellent, especially with the variety of wide ranged effects and colors used, particularly the lower effects and the rainbow.

Travis' personal rankings and display criteria rankings:

-Synchronization: 6.5/10-Mainly because there were a few slack areas between fireworks and music. However, there were many tight moments, but not good enough, overall. Plus, some variation with the music were not connected, in my humble opinion.
-Color: 9.6/10-This was apparent all the way through and I personally loved some of the selected color, especially that light violet color.
-Creativity/Originality and Concept: 8.3/10-I'm going to give it a decent score since there were some creativity with colors. The rainbow effect may not be original, but I felt it was original since I believe that it was different it the way it was used. I also think that it's size was different. The concept of this display was excellent since there was no or barely any redundancy. A wide range of effects.
-Choice of music: 6.8/10-Well, to me, it didn't really fit in to the main theme. Some selected were great, but others just didn't feel right. As stated above, the speeds with the music were great, but there many times where I felt that it was not really "dancing" with the music like in other displays.
-Finale/Overall appreciation: 8.4/10-There was decent build up, but not enough excitement. I actually thought that the ending was the faux finale, but then the ferris wheel came on. But the overall apprciation was decent and the entire display prior to the finale was to my taste. Pierre, I'm hoping you still got it, though!
-Overall: 7.7/10

My personal choices for the winners:

1-Sweden
2-France
3-Argentina
4-Spain
5-Czech Republic
6-Australia

My jury predictions:

1-Sweden/Argentina
2-either of the above
3-France or even Spain

My personal choice in terms of overall excitment excluding finales:

1-France
2-Sweden
3-Czech Republic
4-Argentina
5-Spain
6-Australia

My personal choice for finales so far:

1-France
2-Sweden
3-Spain
4-Cezch Republic
5-Argentina
6-Australia

In conclusion, this was an excellent display, especially for their first time here. They really put a positive impression on the audience, too. The variations of color and effects were incredible, though a sort of short finale. It was starting off really nice with those loud cracklers, for which I was happy to see was in use for the end. But, there wasn't enough longevity. Despite the finale, this is one of the most exciting shows I've seen so far. It's a shame that synchronization didn't work out the best, but this was pretty good considering it was a manually fired show. The choice of music also wasn't the greatest selection to fit in with the theme, well, not all of them, at least. Another criticism would be the use of the rainbow effect. I would have prefered another segment that was dedicated to its use. Also, it wasn't as big as I had hoped, but it was still most enjoyable, as Enkil said. There were also little variations between speeds in music and fireworks during some segments. Don't get me wrong, I personally enjoyed the music, but it didn't seem right for this type of approach. Sorry to say, judging from the level of the intensity of the competition this year, I'm going to have to agree with Fred and say that it probably won't make it on the podium. I still suspect that the jury is still leaning towards Sweden and Argentina. If the music/choice of music and synchro. had gone off better in this display, then this definitely would have had a serious chance to be a contender. No joke.

Anyways, I look foward to the rest of your comments!

Regards,

Trav.

I might be disagreeing with some of you, but here's my point of view.

It was suppose to rain (40%) on this very humid night, but once again we got spared. A lot of people were present. In fact, I arrived there at 8:30 and I just couldn't find a place near the gate like last time. But as always, I end up watching from a great view.

For this review, I'm going to start off by mentioning the positive aspects. We need to understand that this was a new firm and a new country. And I'm not surprise by what I saw last night. Clearly, buying pieces from different firms was an advantage for them. There were so many interesting effects, especially the huge shells which I enjoyed a lot. There were also those famous and stunning girandolas (Spanish ones?) and plenty of them!

But unfortunaltely, those special pieces were just not enough to satisfy me.

Perhaps, the saddest and disapointing part of the show was the synchronization, as you all said. I haven't seen in a long time a display so badly synchronized. I admit some parts, especially at the lower level, were good, but just not enough. I was also sorely disappointed by the choice of music. It was way too repetitive! I who thought that they did a good song selection!

With that being said, I believe that without the music, I would have probably enjoyed more the display.

I also have to mention the rainbow. This was suppose to be a "surprise". It was even mentioned in the press release. I most certainly do not consider it as a "surprise", much less worth being mentioned! I thought it was going to be fired from a huge structure (ex Weco's Niagara Falls). Though, it was enjoyable!

As for the finale, it was even more disapointing. In my opinion, it was the worst finale this year. Way too short. I have expressed my hatred to kamuros, but this colorful finale wasn't better. Well, that's how I felt.

There's a lesson to be learned here and that is never use manuel firing. We're in 2005 and technology has been modernized. I hope never to see that in the future. But I truly hope that Flash Barrandov SFX will learn a lot more from their visit to the capital of fireworks.

My ratings so far... (It was tough for me to decide if Australia's display was better, but I tried to think hard and made a decision .

1. Sweden
2. France
3. Spain
4. Argentina
5. Australia
6. Czech Republic

Generally based on how I felt and what I liked best.

And for my finale ratings since everyone is posting theirs.

1. France
2. Sewden
3. Spain
4. Argentina
5. Australia
6. Czech Republic

Enkil,

I agree with most of your comments, but the major downfall that was with this show was the music in relation to the theme, in my opinion. As I said, there was a problem with synchronization in a few places, as all of us, so far, agree, which is too much, since the level of the competition thus far is rather high.

Anyways, I've edited all the errors in my review, including some readjustments to the ratings. It's a now more polished review.

Regards,

Trav.

For Smoke and everyone else.

Here's the video of the rainbow done by Italy in 2003
http://www.internationaldesfeuxloto-quebec.com/Gallerie/Video/2003/Ext raitItalie.mpg

Very very similar!!

My report is up. It was an enjoyable, though uncomfortably hot, evening and the debutant Czech team did a good job. However, as many have pointed out, it's very hard to do a true pyromusical using manual firing and the slack synchronization and the more atmospheric style soundtrack is not what people tend to expect these days. That said, there were good effects used (including nautical shells) and the colours were deep and vivid. Since the level of the competition is so high this year, there are already at least three entrants ahead of the Czech team so I'd be very surprised if we saw them on the podium this year.

Paul.

Due to the similarities between our opinions, I feel that we will not have a lot of debates this time!

As always, it was a pleasure to read Paul's report. About the sixth part, I want to add that the "mines of charcoal comets" discussed in the report were nautical mines. They looked like kamuros and I was pleased to see a lot of them across the lake!

On an anecdotal side, I believe that Michel Lacroix deserves again a special mention for his clear pronunciation of the 9 Czech pyrotechnicians' names. The national anthem was delivered by the Montreal Czech vice-consul herself... without music!

Fred

Hi Fred,

thanks for your note - now I can decifer the word I wrote in my notebook in the 6th segment that I had trouble with when I was writing the report!

You're also right about Michel Lacroix - he is truly the "voice of the fireworks".

Cheers,

Paul.

Hi guys!

What can I say about the Czech republic's performance of last Saturday? I thought it was quite good and they kept me interested the whole time, so I was really enjoying the display.....but never got very excited though! As Fred (and so many others) said, I agree that they will certainly not make it to the podium.....but I guess that with time and experience, they will become fierce competitors!

Trav,

I agree with you that it was the hottest night so far, but certainly not the best weatherwise......it was so humid and uncomfortable, that I felt my clothes sticking to my skin....I just hate that feeling! I just can't wait to have a regular day with just 26C and no humidity.....now, that's my kind of weather during Summer! As you said so well, the spiral shells were great! You couldn't have described them better, than by using this sign "@", my friend!
And yes Trav, I did catch the finale with my camera .....but you won't hear me scream at the end, because I thought it was way too short and lacked intensity. And Trav, you are truly becoming an expert at describing a firework display.....you have such a great memory, describing each segment in details!

Paul, thank you for your thorough reports, as they are greatly appreciated by all of us in here!

Enkil, thanks so much for the link about the rainbow by Italy in 2003.....I had to look at this segment several times, to satisfy my "hunger".....LOL

Oh, j'ai presqu'oublié.....Bonnes vacances à toi, Roger!

Now, here is where the Czech Rep. fits in my different rankings so far:

In order of their performance without the finale (first 28 minutes of the display):

1. Sweden
2. France
3. Spain
4. Czech Republic
5. Argentina
6. Australia

In order of their performance during the finale:

1. France
2. Sweden
3. Spain
4. Czech Republic
5. Argentina
6. Australia

In order of their overall performance (entire 30 minutes including finale):

1. Sweden
2. France
3. Spain
4.Czech Republic
5. Argentina
6. Australia


I'll be there tomorrow evening, to see what Portugal has in store for us.......I think we're going to get an eyeful!

Pierre

flash barrandov sfx show is very boring finale but less than australia


jérome

Pierre,

Thanks for your nice comments. I agree with what you said in most aspects.

Jerome,

I agree with your comments, as well. Though, the ending wasn't as pleasing, but still a wide variety of design in this show, especially for a first timer.

Trav.

If you want to review the display you can see the whole show at www.pyroplanet.com streamed to any media file you want.

PyroPlanet.com team