What did everyone think of Arc-en-Ciel's display on 21st June?

Paul.

OK, to stimulate discussion, here's what I wrote at the end of my official review:

This was an interesting display due to the very large number of candles used - more than one thousand in fact. The lines of candles, where normally there might be ten to fifteen in a line, had as many as thirty or more. I was told that there were 47 firing positions for candles along the front of the lake! Synchronization was pretty good considering it was a manually fired display, but there were a couple of times where the music had stopped but the fireworks continued. There were some dramatic moments in the display, particularly the segment with lots of crackling bombettes and candles, but, unfortunately, the finale was a bit short and there were very few large shells used in the display. It's a personal thing, but I always find narrated sections in displays tend to break the rhythm and end up distracting from the overal concept, unless done very carefully. There were just too many periods of darkness that lasted just that bit too long for my taste. However, there were some great colours used, particularly the vivid lemon-yellows and oranges. All in all, a very creditable debut display for the French team.

What do people feel about displays which include narration? Personally, I almost always find it distracting.

Paul.

I never did like naration. It is distracting, and just feels like it breaks the rythm. Evyerything just halts. However, if you look at Prokofiev's Peter & The Wolf, that's music that included narration and dis done quite well. I don't see why this sort of thing couldn't be done in a display.
I didnt find the syncronization particularly good, either. There were too many long pauses in both the music and the fireworks, but never at the same time. Explosions with no music, or music with no explosions.

I think this display ran nearly 40 minutes... I found this a bit too long, especially if you're standing. :)

I think narration can work if done correctly. In China's The Empire of Fire display in 1998, the narration was an integral part of the display and fireworks were firing at the same time. I think it fails when it is merely an explanation of what the display is about. If it has to be explained, then it probably isn't too clear in the first place!

Weco also successfully used some spoken parts in their Gold-Jupiter winning display in 2000 as, again, it was well integrated into the overall theme.

I find it particularly anti-climactic at the very beginning of a display. There's a certain anticipation after the countdown from 10 ... and when nothing happens at time zero, it always is something of a letdown.

Cheers,

Paul.

not too good

I personally thought that the show was one of the worst ever. It had no fluidity and the timing of the fireworks wasn't the best I have seen.

I would give it a 4 on 10

Cheers!

Creo ha sido un espectaculo, realmente malo, mi calificacion es de 10/100.....mmmm talvez un 15/100
Aunque los colores fueron buenos, el espectaculo....no estuvo a la altura del Mundial SAQ

Hello,
I would like to give you my opinion concerning the fren firework and the different contributions I've read here...
This year, I saw the first 3 shows and I am persuaded that your thoughts are totaly injustified.
First of all, I found the french firework very synchronized and very diversified. On the contrary, the chineese firework wasn't constructed and the italian one had been realised with very cheap goods (really disapointed !)
To my mind, it's very interesting to introduce a text on fireworks. Using this way of creation give rythm and separate perfectly every parts of the program.
So I think a 10/10 is a justified note !
This are the thought of a passionate that doesn't encourage just the "good-thoughts" of everyone but really talk about the art of making a show and simply talk about ART...

to meditate...

Reading the above response I feel we must have been at different shows altogether! A manually fired show with lots of candles will never be as well synchronized as a digitally fired show.
There were periods during the French show when the music had stopped and the fireworks continued; this was not the case in either of the displays from Hong Kong and Italy.

As for cheap material, cost and quality are not always related and a manufacturer will always have an advantage over a company which has to buy their pieces wholesale - both Hop Kee and Parente are manufacturers and so, in one sense, their material will be cheap because it is at-cost. But I disagree that the quality was low. Speaking to professional pyrotechnicians with years of experience, they have all commented about the quality of the Hop Kee product (I didn't speak to anyone about
the Parente material yet).

As for using narration in a show, my personal preference is against this since I find it interrupts the rhythm and flow -- but this is just my own opinion and I'm sure, as above, other's disagree with it. As with any art form, there will always be discussion and agreement about what makes a good show so I'm happy that people are writing their opinions here.

Paul.

les texte sont adorer des francais n oublions pas qu il represente leur pays et que le concours et international normalement du moins c est ce qu on dit

A fireworks pyromusical is a fireworks accompanied by music or the effects are in punctuation with this music. A fireworks pyromelodic is the true spectacle or the definite text the sequence which will follow. It is necessary to like. In France the large spectacle european one lasted of 1 a.m. is in Annecy.