Please post your reviews of the Swiss display here.

A few small isolated convective showers have developed over parts of S. Quebec (mostly East of Montreal) this afternoon ahead of the secondary cold front that I mentioned previously. Again, instability should subside altogether by the early evening, leaving a few scattered clouds across the region.

Enjoy the display this evening by team Switzerland!

Trav.

Absolutely fantastic debut display by Sugyp for team Switzerland! Really, there was often so much activity that the crowd (myself included) was full of cheer and delight at numerous points.

I appreciated many aspects of this display, mostly with respect to the extremely vivid and rich color choices (notably those large central mines of intense orange), the transitions in pace, great choreogaphy, and, of course, the originality and creativity that had been demonstrated. The display frequently expelled great symmetry from left to right and top to bottom, and there were many points where the left-right extent of the show became quite wide, perhaps augmented by the occasional breezy NW winds present.

I must say that we were all mostly taken away by that airplane effect around mid-way into the show. Many spectators were in awe when it first made an appearance, and more gasps of excitement and intrigue erupted when the effect began to take on more elaborate and graceful motions, much like the stunts that you would commonly see at an air show! Other effects that were tremendously appreciated were the rapidly ascending girandolas, the shell of shells, and many of the low level effects (especially the mines and comets). Of course, the conclusion was excellent, and, truly, many segments of the display had exhibited finale-like tendencies!

The only criticisms that I have are that there was a little repetition in the firing pattern with respect to the shells at mid to high levels (making some segments appear somewhat similar), although I personally loved the energetic nature in which these shells had been fired! Also, the thematic representation was apparent, but I wasn't too certain when the "past" had transitioned to the "present" of aviation (it was a little clearer for the future). Finally, although the color selection was undoubtedly diverse, it became a little less so near the end of the display. On a personal note, the musical selections were certainly appropriate, but I wasn't quite as drawn to them as compared to Japan's choices, although I felt that Switzerland had more distinct musical representation.

All in all, let me say that I am very pleased with Sugyp's display, particularly for their first appearance in Montreal. The crowd's frequent roars of approval surely indicates that this display was thoroughly enjoyed.

It's also great to see that the weather worked out accordingly for the Swiss team, although the temperature in the metropolitan area was a touch warmer at 26 C during show time.

I'll have more details later on!

Trav.

I really enjoyed this creative, surprising and very entertaining show from Sugyp, likely a serious contender for a Jupiter prize. For sure, this is a show people are going to talk about for years to come. For this aerospace-theme show, the usual setup was augmented with two special devices. The first was obvious to all those who had taken a look to the lake before the display: an airplane-shape structure mainly made of lances, installed on a floating platform. The second one, hereafter the "pyroplane", was physically hidden into a large, black box made of plywood, located on the right side of the front Silver section (close to a set of speakers), but it was also kept secret, this effect being known from some insiders and well-informed people around, but not announced in press release and pre-show ceremony.

The opening of the display was a spectacular departure from the slow beginning experienced the previous week. Very soon, the airplane-shape structure came into life, moving slowly from the left side to the centre of the lake, with the sound of an old plane trying to fly, also making a lot of black smoke behind (with cooperative wind direction!). Later, we saw a spectacular launch of rocket, as the countdown was pronounced with huge and VERY bright orange mines, evoking the typical wall of flames from these powerful machines.

The pyroplane flew around the mid-point of the show. This remote-controlled device quickly moved in the sky, above the lake but seemingly close to the audience, between both extremities of the firing area, with occasional vertical maneuvers. Soon enough, a small gerb, becoming larger and later leaving some blue stars in the trail, appeared from the pyroplane tail. Lights in the centre of this pyroplane did various shapes: from smiley faces to heart (unfortunately not added with similar-shape shells above), with the Canadian, Quebec and Montreal city flags and logo, etc. Later, several comets were shotted from the pyroplane, as well as one shot of two mines on both sides of it. The whole duration was 3 minutes long, without pyrotechnic effects from the ground, and it came to a close as the pyroplane gently flew back to its departure box. The huge and vocal audience clearly showed its appreciation.

Rotating fountains on third ramp and the lake, flying saucers, serpents and farfalles also represented the aerospace theme, which was the obvious glue of the soundtrack. Several long-duration cakes were fantastic. We also experienced some massive segments, including for the penultimate and finale parts of the show. I found some sequences of the display close to the stereotype of the American displays: repetitive patterns of large, and numerous, aerial shells without any sort of refinement. Speaking of that, the pyrotechnic products were good, but far from the outstanding arsenal brought by Aoki. That may be the weakest part of the show. Moreover, the overall pyromusical design of the show was a bit standard and conservative.

I am already sure that some pyrotechnic purists will criticize the long duration of the pyroplane device, which featured minimal pyrotechnic effects. While I understand a such point of view, I personally found it innovative and entertaining, and very appropriate given the theme of the display, and it had enough pyro for me. I feel that such purist opinion is not shared by the largest part of the audience and, likely, the jury. From previous experiences, I suspect that contestants must be creative enough to be remembered and to win the competition (especially those scheduled early in the calendar), but also have to stay within a traditional, conservative standard to meet expectations of people who attend the display and do not have a long record of attendance. I noted the audience gave a warm and vocal standing ovation to the Swiss team. The enthusiastic feeling I had with the pyroplane, which appeared in the Montreal competition for the very first time tonight, reminded me the feeling I had experienced with the introduction of the Grupo Luso Pirotécnia giant ring in 2002. These moments of fascination are rare.

Given the originality of several effects through the show, thematic consistency, and also the balance between creativity and traditional design, I think Sugyp will be a serious contender for a Jupiter. Aoki and Sugyp definitely offered a great start for the 2012 season.

Fred

Some video footage (finale included) I took of the Swiss display from Notre-Dame/de Lorimier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rhwdTkPM5E

Trav.

well I guess i am not as enthused as all of you. They probably got the best out of the people attending the show at La Ronde - but if you were not at La Ronde, it was a really not a spectacular show - using mostly shells - have barely seen any candles or
any different shapes forming in the sky - It was an OK show but for those of us of who did not get to appreciate the beautiful show on the ground, it was nothing spectacular - I merely have to commend the use of different colours however

Very good show. The little airplane flying around was amazing and very well done, A+. I also like how they synchronized it with the music. The fireworks effects coming out of it was surprising and a bit worrisome at times, especially since they were so close to the audience!
I did not like the soundtrack so much, but overall the show was pretty good. Very beautiful and vivid shells. The downside is that the design should've been a bit more complex. The finale was decent, but should've lasted longer.

My rankings so far:

1. Switzerland
2. Japan

On PyroQuébec, Simon has an awesome pic of the pyroplane shooting mines:

http://www.pyroquebec.ca/7-juillet-2012-suisse/reportage/

It would be great to have a picture of the plane itself, taken before or after the display, to get a better idea of the device. Anyone has such picture?

Fred

That was a good show by Sugyp. The theme was really obvious during the time where the special devices/set pieces were used. Synchronization could have been improved a lot more, sometimes the shells would just keep firing without any real connection with the music. I saw atleast 2 instances where there were mistakes in the script. The comets would fire before the intended time and therefore ruining the synchronization and the effect they wanted to achieve. The angles were just a bit too basic. The products used where pretty good specially the vaccalluzzo shells. They should have used some nautical effects, a show near water is never complete without nautical shells nowadays I have a feeling that a few pieces from the remote control plane did not fire since levels was playing while the plane was just flying without any pyrotechnic products. This is too bad since levels could have made for a strongly synchronized segment! The effect the plane made with the gerbs attached to it was definitely a crowd pleaser though. Judging from the video. The overall design of the show was just too simple, another disappointing show for me I was expecting a good balance of ground and aerial fireworks from Sugyp! More synchronized one shot devices and roman candles would have made this show from a good show to an excellent show! They definitely got the shells part right, just need to work on the ground fireworks. The finale was pretty good and i loved the music they used for it. It gave a good feeling of anticipation.

As I have said, I was expecting a lot more from Sugyp! I hope the next shows won't disappoint!

Vander

Bonjour à tous ! De retour parmi vous cette année encore.

Quoi dire à part bravo ! Enfin de l'innovant, une pyrotechnie comme on en rêve. un juste équilibre avec le traditionnel. La Suisse a fait preuve d'une créativité incroyable tout en conservant les valeurs de base.
Certains pourront effectivement dire que ce genre de prestation permet de gagner un temps précieux à moindre coût...

J'espère simplement que le jury ne sera pas trop "conservateur" et permettra à la Suisse de repartir avec un Jupiter.

Quel début de Mondial !

Brigitte

I put my French review online yesterday, but didn't have the time to actually summarize it here.

First of all, Vander and rachelita's criticism hold true, as the show was mostly based on shells, with not enough support with ground effects at times. Yet, even though the shells weren't as good as Aoki last week, I found them to be adequate enough.

Golden effects (or effects with golden transitions) may have been present a little too much for my tastes.

There were also a few miswired effects here and there, such as crossettes on one side while the sky is filled with another type of shell.

Though, in spite of these negative aspects, I found the swiss team to have brought a great amount of creativity, with regards to the biplane set piece that was moving across the lake and rotating to face the audience later on, the rocket take-off with bright orange mines to simulate the fire, and the first helicopter sequence with parasol wheels and double-ascension girandolas.

Yet, the most beautiful segment of the show was the sequence with the RC helicopter. The part where fountains lit up on both sides with the pilot doing acrobatic stunts on the music of the Cirque du Soleil was particularly moving.

This segment may have been slightly too long though. When talking with Fred later, I jokingly compared its use to the presence of a Michael Jackson look-alike in the 2009 closing display, as I felt this device may have been used longer than necessary to make time. I think two minutes instead of three would have been enough.

Yet, it had good effects attached to it, but it's unfortunate that weight constraints got in the way, as I would have welcomed a few more one-shots that would have exceeded the 700 grams of material this helicopter allows.

The pilot did show us how much he mastered this complex device, with loopings and almost vertical flying sequences.

This was a very good idea from the Swiss team, though. Like Fred said, people will talk about it for years to come.

In conclusion, I believe that the (minor) negative points I outlined above won't get in the way of a Jupiter for this team, as the strong public reaction to their very creative ideas will certainly help them getting a prize this year.

Don't miss the display pictures, video, post-display interview and French report on Pyro Québec !

STL

Finally, my report on the Sugyp display: http://montreal-fireworks.com/ReportBlog/?p=557

Some people thought that I may have disliked the helicopter scene because it wasn’t “pure pyro”, but this was not the case. I enjoyed it immensely and found it very entertaining. Of course, one could always with for brighter LEDs and more pyro on the helicopter, but it was definitely a unique effect that the audience loved and will remember for a long time.

Paul, I am very happy to read your review, especially this finale comment! We were very lucky to enjoy Sugyp display! Hopefully, there is more to come, as the pace of the competition increases to two (and even three) shows per week now.

Fred

Beautiful Summer weather continued to dwell over much of Eastern Canada, including here in Montreal, where maximum temperatures attained 30 C, along with late-evening values ranging between 23-25 C. Humidity levels remained borderline moderate-high through the evening, generating negligible humidex readings. Winds had also been coming out lightly from the NNW at 9 km/h, pushing the smoke gently to the left of the audience stationed at La Ronde (right for those on Notre-Dame).

The second debutante entrant (Sugyp of Switzerland) of the 2012 edition of the Montreal fireworks competition truly presented a fabulous and surprising display in its entirety, leaving many spectators of the rather large audience often excited by its common energetic nature, including a pleasing opening, and flamboyant low-level effects. I was frequently left astonished by the richness of color, particularly the bright mines (most notably the central series of yellow/orange mines at one point), accompanied by the large caliber shells occurring at mid to high-level. It was also very much a pleasure to see a good choice of effects used to represent different aspects of the employed soundtrack, such as the effective use of the rapidly rising girandolas, as well as the nautical shells. The musical selections themselves were mostly appropriate for the devised theme, and a selected few of the tracks were fairly enjoyable, especially in terms of how they had been synchronized with the fireworks at many points.

It is arguably true that many viewers were most captivated by the remote-controlled airplane (or pyroplane?) that made an appearance mid-way into the performance, where gasps of delight were a common occurrence when the pyroplane accomplished several flying feats that are most often seen during an air show! The plane also later released some pyrotechnics, leading to even more sounds of approval as the plane soon landed, bringing the segment to a very fulfilling close. Really, this was a great addition to this display (and the competition, as a whole) for representation (it also went well with the chosen soundtrack) and will, as stated by several members of this forum, be something unforgotten for the years to come. Luckily, though, the weather was cooperative for such an idea!

As expressed previously, my negatives for this display relate to redundancy. Most prominent was the repetitive firing scheme of shells at mid to high-level. As much as I, and much of the surrounding crowd, I’m sure, adore a display filled with frequent barrages of large caliber shells, this did take something away from the pyromusical design and creativity sectors, and perhaps the overall complexity of the show was subsequently reduced because of this. As a result, this appeared to have affected the interconnectedness of the music with the fireworks, as the subtle details of some of the soundtracks were not always accordingly emphasized.

In terms of the general design of the display, the theme was well portrayed through most of the musical selections. In addition, the dissection of the theme was useful for representing the intended chronology of aeronautics, helping to visualize the progress that has been made over the decades. As such, I thought that the thematic framework was well considered and structured in this regard. However, a more diversified selection of effects would have been appreciated to illustrate some of the key highlights that engendered several musical choices, though this was achieved to some extent, such as the girandolas representing a portion of the “Flight” soundtrack. Again, the frequent use of shells gave the impression that the show was sometimes a little on the simplistic side, as a fair number of segments appeared similarly represented. On a more minor note in relation to the theme, it was not clear to me when the display had segued from the “past” component to that of the “present” - this was more understood when the "present" gradually set the stage for the “future” sections of the display, although there were a couple of tracks where I did not fully comprehend the relevance to the” future” component of the theme. That said, I personally thought that the transitions in pace from one segment to the other (as well as during individual segments) were often elaborate, allowing the display to run fluidly. The music, again, was good, especially in relation to the theme, but it did not draw me into the display as much as, say, the Japanese show. Of course, the concluding piece was certainly powerful, along with great crescendo, but, as Enkil stated, it could have endured for a little longer!

Overall, this was certainly a fantastic, and, under several circumstances, a very memorable performance put on by Sugyp! Indeed, the team received many cheers of approval, mostly attributed to the many points of excitement, the pyroplane segment (which received strong, positive responses), and following the powerful finale. The show was also very original and offered some excellent innovative ideas in representing it. Certainly a contender for a Jupiter award this year, but, of course, it is still early in the competition.

Trav.