Legends of Fire
Designed by Yanick Roy and Brad Dezotell, soundtrack production be Serge Péloquin; PyroDigital and FireOne Ultra firing with 5325 cues; ISOBoost signal conditioners and PyroStudios wireless firing; scripting by ShowDirector with some ShowSim visualization
Somewhat cool and windy conditions, with the wind coming largely towards the audience, was the backdrop for this highly anticipated collaboration between the only Canadian companies to win Gold Jupiters in Montreal. With a large and complex setup, including five arches forming n u n u n shapes across ramp 3 as well as towers on ramp 4, a large set piece and two cranes, this promised to be an action-packed display.
For the first time this year, the display started powerfully immediately after the countdown. Many times, these days, we have an anti-climatic start as flares and a narration seem to have become the preferred way to begin. Not so with Royal+FSC. Within less than a minute we already had the first 12″ shells fired. The audience appreciated this and the introductory narration did not begin until the end of this powerful segment and it was augmented by oneshots firing across ramp 3.
With a seamless soundtrack, the display was organized into four main sections, each representing a different fire legend. A beautifully detailed phoenix setpiece lit up during the Phoenix segment and was augmented by shots of falling leaves that formed a phoenix-like pattern in the sky.
The quality of the material used was very high with very little repetition of effects, though there were a couple of gold scenes that were somewhat similar, despite using different kinds of shells. Very high quality and powerful studatas were used to great effect and the low-level effects were superb. After more than 260 displays fired in the competition, every possible angle has been exploited at some point, but rarely in one display. Royal+FSC managed to use every possible angle, both for low-level effects and shells – the sky being filled horizontally and vertically throughout the display. The angles used included firing towards the audience, as well as bouncing meteor comets across the surface of the lake. From an audience perspective, it was a very three-dimensional display, enhanced by the wind coming towards the audience. At one point, nautical mines were shot which fired comets and stars out of the lake – these completely filled the space right up to the audience!
The five arches had firings on the outer surface of the “n” arches and the inner surface of the “u” arches. The outer-surface firing doesn’t really give much of a different pattern than a 13-angle fan that’s on the ground. The inner surface, though, does give an interesting crossing of the start of the comets – reminscent of the type of fan wafted on a hot day to provide some cooling. All arches had inner-surface firings of gerbs, though the effect was not as dramatic as I had hoped due to the size of the structures. One interesting revelation that occurred to me, though, is that an arc provides more area to mount one-shots on than the corresponding linear footprint along ramp3. A 5m diameter arch gives almost 8m – so about 55% more than just mounting on the ground. Plus the space under the arch can also be used. This is good as it gives a cleaner design as fewer positions on ramp 3 are needed – giving more interesting crossing effects than spreading out the firing positions into a wider area. The effects used on the arches were all of very high quality – with well-matched lengths of effect and, as to be expected with Royal+FSC, very precise angles. I would have liked to see more interplay between the arches as I felt that the fact they were arches was not always apparent. I enjoyed the structures on ramp 4 as they provided some very interesting pattens when used to fire cakes of bunches of strobes and falling leaves.
One particular effect took everyone by surprise and caused many in the audience to shout out their shock – this was the use of very brilliant comets that went from full brightness to completely “off” instantaneously. These were very tightly choreographed with the music and the effect was very dramatic. Apparently these are known as “laser comets” and are actually and indoor pyrotechnics effect – it was certainly very effective!
One very positive aspect of the display was the inability to distinguish just who had designed it – everything was very well integrated and gave a seamless flow from periods of great intensity to much more serene moments. The soundtrack was very well edited and the narrative sections did not interrupt the flow. The finale was very well done and I had a hunch it had been designed by Brad as it was similar in structure to his finale from his 2010 Gold Jupiter winning display. The final barrage of massive 6″ nautical shells, coupled with the crisp volleys of salutes just threw the audience over the edge. I actually got wet from all the water thrown into the air! As the display came to a close, the audience rose to their feet cheering, giving the team a well-deserved standing ovation!
This was certainly an excellent display from team Royal+FSC and must be a contender for a Jupiter. In a normal year, it would be a certainty for a Gold Jupiter – but this special year we still have three strong contenders remaining. Despite the large size and complexity of the display, at no point did it ever feel cold and robotic and always managed to maintain a more organic feel. The precision of the setup was also notable with only a couple of tiny mistakes that I spotted, the one-shots on ramps three, four and five being essentially perfect! A great credit to all the crew involved. What a competition we have this year!