Hi guys,

Well, it seems we had some good weather for the French display tonight, although lightning could be seen towards the East from a rapidly developing thunderstorm for about 40 minutes. Luckily it wasn't overhead.

In any case, the display was alright for the most part, but overall I felt it was average. Their firing, to me at least, appeared to be very general, and the music choice was very similar in pace and feeling. Also, it was at times hard to make a good connection with the theme, although some of the segments really brought out the real galactic point of view, particularly the piece with the girandolas and the crackling pistils. The bright white and red star scattered shots were also pretty nice, though blinding! The colors themselves were not in a huge mixture, and the white particularly was used more often than anything else.

The display had some fairly exciting parts interspersed with some neat low level effects, namely those bright candles and silver fountains. I thought synchronization was nicely done, though there were a couple of points where the fireworks kept on going for a few seconds longer after the music had stopped entirely. The rapid firing of those bursts of red and white stars towards the mid layers throughout the show were also very appealing, though at times a little too repetitive. There were some interesting shots at sequencing from time to time with the candles toward midway of the display, however.

The finale was way too short and lacked vibrancy. In fact, I think that one of the beginning segments was a little more intense than the finale itself! What's happening with finales nowadays?

Overall, though, a good effort from the French team, but I thought it could have been a whole lot better under many circumstances, especially in variation of pace, color and effects.

I'll have more details tomorrow. Hope you guys had a great night!

Trav.

Hello all,

It seems to me that I am always in agreement with Smoke. It must be something in West Island drinking water.

To me, what was most lacking in France's display was any semblance of storytelling through use of fireworks. I felt that there was too much reliance on music to evoke emotion and any feelings that the music served to conjure was implied ONLY by the context in which we are used to hearing it as opposed to something unique to the pyromusical display. If that is too 'wordy' for you - and it might even be for me - I can picture the designers of the display getting together, deciding on a theme, and then brainstorming ideas for music they should use, "Star Wars"... "E.T."..."uhmmm... oh! Star Trek... yeah that'd fit" The pitfall of such an approach can be that you use the implied connotations of the music and not try to create anything through your display.

In all, I really don't think Prestatech Artifices accomplished much tonight.

As for the finale, it enticed me after what I found to be an "average" display. However, the letdown in realizing that "oh... that was it..." instantaneously killed the feeling.

You will get at least one or two impressive finales this year Smoke... pateince

Smoke, did you spot the lightning in the distance to the east?

I may very well have more to say on the display later in the week but I had to make this review short; I'm off to Dallas tomorrow morning!

Hope everyone is as excited as me for next Saturday! Have a great night all.

Tyler

Hey Trav & Members. I have the video (not all but some nice clips about 40 seconds long) and also the finale.

i didn't enjoy the finale at all, the opening was cool with the flashing strobes that increased speed. Stargate is what my brother watches, so I thought of him. The finale wasn't powerful. At somepoint of the display the sky was covered for about 3 seconds of salutes. That could've been better than just 10 titanium salutes I enjoyed some parts but still I can't say it's the worst cause the debut just started.

Btw, I'm looking forward to Italy, Portugal and La Ronde. Cause it says on a panflet, they will give it their all.

I dunno, we'll have to see what happens.
Pat

Hey All,

Like usual, I agree with Trav and all of you guys. The display was very average with ok synchronization and limited color usage (mostly white and primary colors (red, green, blue)). The quality of the pieces was also just ok. The large caliber shells were ok (though much repeated) but the candles often fired out of synch.

As a final note, it seemed that the display lasted less than 30 minutes. The finale finished at around 10:29.30 and the last 30 seconds only had sound. Unless ground effects were used, the France team could lose points for "cheating". Just my personal opinion though.

Dan

France's show was between OK and good, but not one of the best. I watched it from the spot between La Crèmerie and the Arcades. I was closer to the Arcade, but because of all the noise, I then decided to go straight in front of the Bistro SAQ, which offered a great view. They should close the Arcade on fireworks nights or lower the volume of the games lol.

It was great to hear Michael LaCroix's voice and his classic "Que tombe la nuit et que la fête commence" phrase and the countdown lol. I got the impression that maybe the ceremony has been shortened due to the new changes, although I'm not sure.

Anyway, I arrived there at 8pm, and was surprised to see how much space there was at La Ronde. Back in the late 90s and early 2000, at 8-9pm, I remember the whole place was packed in front of the lake. I used to have trouble walking around. First, I thought La Ronde had reached its maximum capacity of visitors, but when the show was over, again, I realized how fast I was able to get out of the park, compared to old times. Surprisingly, La Ronde had extended the time, and it was written in front of the entrance that the rides would close at 12pm! But when I went to meet a group of friends outside the park after the show, they didn't let us back in!

I think the prices and the rain threat may have discouraged people from going to La Ronde, even on fireworks days. After all, they almost doubled the price of tickets. I'll keep a close eye on the attendance. Anyway, next time, I'll try to find a better spot.

It's hard for me to start rating the first show from La Ronde, since I haven't watched the shows from there for a long time, but overall, I thought it was a more and less enjoyable display. There were a few boring moments, maybe moreso because of the type of songs they selected. I mean some of the songs were really boring, but they had very good ones at the beginning of the show and at the end.

Synchronization was pretty good in general, but it could've been a bit better if they had designed a more complex display, because I think for this level of competition, the design was a bit simple. Also, I noticed that they didn't use many different effects, such as shells of shells, etc. There were no special features to perhaps better relate the show to the theme. The quality of the pieces were OK. All in all, I just think this new firm needs a bit more pratice, but they're on the right track.

Of course, the finale was very disappointing. Every year, the finales are getting worse, compared to the 90s. I know a lot people wanted more as some of them were still cheering after the finale had ended. It was too obvious! However, I got to admit that the show had many small finales, or feux finales, but cheaper versions. Still, I was very disappointment, and the finale left a bad impression to an overall OK show.

My review is up and, as I write this, a full video of last night's display (for members only) is being uploaded. It should complete uploading around 2pm EDT.

As for the length of the display, it was about 30minutes 15 seconds so no worries about them being penalized for a short display.

As always, it's great to read people's comments - it seems there is a fair consensus on this display. You guys are real experts!

Paul.

Country participant: France
Company: Prestatech Artifices
Date of presentation: June 21st, 2008

Following a week of relatively unstable and unseasonably cool weather, ideal conditions took their place for the opening 2008 display and throughout the entire day. Forecasts predicted scattered showers and storms on this first day of Summer, but luckily these were mainly forming well around the island. However, a thunderstorm was near the area in development for a couple hours and later started producing lightning in the early evening towards the commencing of the display that could be seen looking East. Fortunately, the light thunderstorm stayed well to the North and East and left us with nothing but a few cloudy periods and light to even moderate South-Southwesterly winds. The highly anticipated display presented by France was expected to captivate the audience by integrating their performance using a variety of aspects revolving around space. Being coincidental with recent space news, such as with the Phoenix Mars Lander or the massive supernova that took place just over a week ago, this approach was rather appropriate to start off the competition, in addition to greeting the first full day of Summer.

The show started off slow after the first impeccable countdown with some low level effects (I think some fountains along with some lightning-like flashes) during about the first 30 seconds. The team had a fair amount of upper and low level effects at their disposal. These included large mid-level shells of blue, yellow, green and red stars, shells of single red rings, low level crackling pistils, silver and gold double ascension girandolas, wide mines of often white and red stars, bright high level red and white scattered shots, go-getters, frequent sightings of rapid shots of bursting stars and a multitude of cracklers, which were sometimes in an intricate mix with salutes. Also, there was an interesting wide rainbow construction made from left to right with the use of kamuros at one point.

Synchronization was really nicely done, as I mentioned before, but at the same time it was a very general attempt without much effort at trying a more creative approach with the music - this was probably more of a joint effort between fireworks and music moreso than being cohesive with the theme. For the most part, however, the music and fireworks were in harmony, as were the low level effects corresponding to what was being done at the predominantly mid levels. The choice of music was actually interesting in its entirety along with some personal favorites and some good tracks, but the feeling and pace among most of them were quite similar. I believe one of the soundtrack used near the beginning of the show was also utilized during Spain’s (Caballer) display in 2004.

The colors seen during the show were equally interesting. I personally loved the purple stars off the tip of the curved candles at times, and the low level red stars were elegant in nature. The overall design of the show was actually fairly ok and nicely balanced from bottom to top and left to right, safe for a time where a shell burst too far to the right (my right). There were also some small sequencing attempts using candles and small mines, which I thought were subtle, towards the middle of the display. Surprisingly, though, there was nothing too much going on at extreme high level directly overhead.

In conclusion, I thought that this was a fairly well done display, but again as we all mentioned, it had a very “general” concoction to it. I felt that the main problem was merely a lack of representation. The theme, being as complex as it was, was not adequately supported by the overall design of the display – there wasn’t much of a feeling or appeal that did it justice in bringing out the various aspects of space, such as the explosive power of a supernova, asteroid or meteor impacts, representation of solar, planetary, or any celestial body, etc., as what was initially expected. At the same time, from segment to segment, I noticed that they were not really flowing directly into one another in perfect rhythm after leaving and taking over from an initial piece, mainly because many segments appeared to be identical. The speed of the display had some alright variation in between segments, but not quite the provoking emotional transitions I was looking for, especially when we’re dealing with a theme such as this. The colors were interesting in that they had some good mixtures, particularly the mid level shells of blue and yellow, but for most of the time colors tended to be confined to either red or white (mostly white).

To my surprise, there wasn’t much attempt at creativity, nor was there a wide variety of effects to contribute – I was actually expecting some of those Saturn shells or double to triple ring shells, or even the “@” (spiral shells) to depict the cluster of solar systems that typically form galaxies. However, I think what was one of the most striking features were those really bright go-getters of red and white flaring brightly before they scattered. Also, the piece where a multitude of screaming serpents (I think that’s what they’re called) flew their way to high levels of the sky in all directions was astonishing. Synchronization was probably the strongest point of the display and I thought it was pretty well done, though again there were one or two points where I noticed the bursts of white and purple stars into cracklers via high level kept going for at least four seconds when the music had concluded. Choice of music again was overall good, but didn’t seem to permit much for diversity since many of them had a similar tempo and feeling. The concept and design of the show were missing a lot of components to them, but there were a lot of hyped pieces that made the audience excited, where rapid firings of shells at top level followed by cracklers and salutes at low to mid level were often seen. This would then be accompanied by a fast sequence of centered fan stars of red, white or green making their way to high level to conclude the segment – this pattern was seen for at most four times. The finale, though, lacked longevity and strictly was composed of one color towards the climax, making it rather disappointing, especially seeing that most people were sticking around for something more to happen afterwards. In any case, despite all this said, along with the rather slow beginning, I thought it was still a good effort from the French team and to start off the competition.

Trav’s personal scorings (for fun):

-Pyrotechnic components: 6.5/10
-Synchronization: 8/10
-Soundtrack: 7/10
-Technical design: 7/10
-Pyromusical concept: 7/10

-Overall: 7.1/10

(Scores will be adjusted before the closing ceremony).

Trav.

P.S. Yes, Tyler, I saw lightning distinctively to the North and East after the storm developed fully passed 9:00 p.m. The cloud mass appeared to be stationary since about 8:00 p.m. It appears that Paul saw the flashes as well. Hope you have a good trip to Dallas.

J'ajoute ma voix au consensus qui se dégage des opinions émises jusqu'à présent, bien que je sois un peu récalcitrant à juger sévèrement ce premier spectacle. Les mois d'abstinence qui le précède alimentent-ils des attentes trop élevées et nous rendent-ils plus sévères que pour les autres feux? Il me semble que nos commentaires sont souvent assez durs à l'égard des participants qui ont la tâche (ingrate) d'ouvrir la compétition, non?

Le spectacle de Prestatech était, d'une certaine façon, immaculé, très "clean cut": la synchronisation était excellente, aucun problème technique n'est survenu, l'espace mis à la disposition de l'équipe était bien utilisé, nous alternions entre les segments très dynamiques et ceux plus paisibles, le mixage des pièces sonores était parfaitement réalisé, pas de narration inutile...

Peut-être un peu trop immaculé, justement, au point d'être aseptisé: manque d'odeur, de saveur, d'émotion particulière. Mis à part quelques pièces particulièrement lumineuses (au point où j'ai porté ma main devant mes yeux) et le tir en basse altitude de gerbes d'étoiles qui virevoltaient près du lac, il me semble que l'originalité et l'audace n'étaient pas au rendez-vous. Le thème de l'espace et la musique de films, déjà des classiques un peu éculés dans l'histoire récente de la compétition, n'ont pas donné lieu à une mise en scène particulière, ni à des effets singuliers qui auraient permis au public (et au jury) de se souvenir de ce feu dans quelques semaines.

La thématique spatiale aurait probablement pu être exploitée de manière plus originale en intégrant des éléments musicaux et sonores plus diversifiés. Une plus grande variété d'effets pyrotechniques aurait également été bienvenue, particulièrement en haute altitude. Il est surprenant que les soucoupes n'aient pas été plus nombreuses, que les bombes évoquant Saturne ne soient pas apparues, etc. Enfin, l'infini de l'espace et la puissance associée à l'aventure spatiale auraient dû nous conduire vers un point culminant, une finale grandiose. Or, elle fut beaucoup trop timide et elle s'est terminée bizarrement, avec un ultime élément sonore sans effet pyrotechnique. Était-ce vraiment terminé? Eh oui...

Néanmoins, l'équipe française m'a fait vivre une très belle soirée en présentant un feu tout à fait respectacle eu égard au calibre de la compétition. En dépit des réserves évoquées ci-haut, il ne s'agissait pas d'un échec, loin de là, et il sera souhaitable de revoir Prestatech à Montréal dans quelques années... mais pas en ouverture du concours!

Fred

P.S.: Mon rapport est maintenant disponible sur PyroPlanet .

Salut les gars

Long time no see....Je suis de retour et toujours passionné par l'art pyrotechnique.
J'étais là hier juste au dessus du feu sur le pont. Cette nouvelle firme m'a fait passer une très bonne soirée. C'est vraiment un excellent coup de départ.Un échec?? Ben voyons donc....Mes opinions sur ce feu rejoignent celles de FRED que je salue amicalement . Vraiment pas facile de tirer les premiers dans une telle compétition.
Ce spectacle bien monté aurait du progressivement nous amener vers un bouquet finale grandiose mais ce ne fut pas le cas.
Je ne sais pas si je verrai tous les feux mais lorsque j'y assisterai je vais écrire sur ce forum.

Roger

hi!! I'm glad that there's already a full length video of this show already ahaha!! So let me put my comments here which is solely based on the video...

I thought that the display looked very much like a prestatech style show..
I haven't seen fountains used like how they used it in the beginning of the display hahaha! I agree that the strength of the display was on the synchronization.. They still achieved a display with perfect synchronization even though they relied a lot on cakes which is quite hard to do... I respect them for taking the challenge ahaha!! I also liked the steppers they had in the display.. One shot were not overused

I was quite dissappointed with their nautical device.. there was no "nautical shells" used, most of them were nautical cakes.. but what's interesting was the z patterned nautical cake.. that i havent seen before..

The theme was a bit apparent specially with the long burning stars they used.. and the many rockets that was used.. The products i think were typical prestatech.. less colors but more charcoals, gold, and silver.

I enjoyed the planet of the apes segment the most.. and the space was used very well.

I think that the finale was a bit short but maybe thats because salutes were used through out the display already hahahaa!!

I'd rate this show 8.75/10

I'm looking forward to the next participants specially portugal (I thought they already did their best in 2002 and 2005?? hahaha) .. looks like this year will be a great competition. The colors of the new video camera loooks great.. i'm not sure if its my comp but there were some choppy parts.. Thanks for the vid, paul

vander

First of all congratulations for this of the new season of fireworks in Montreal. Also say thank you to this web and its admins to share this great video with a very good sound and a great image quality. Thank you very much !

From my point of view the display was correct. I didn't like the openning very much, too soft, too slow. In general the first minutes were a bit bored.

Everything changes (from my point of view) at minute 12 with the E.T theme (I think). It's a great piece, with creativity, different effects and rithyms, the end of the song is soft but with feeling. Very nice.

The show is good, with some intense moments, however I think there's a lack of feeling on the fireworks (which is very important in Montreal ).



THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE INFO, THE PICTURES, THE REPORTS AND THE VIDEOS !!!!!!

See you on the next display!

Paul,

I did forget to comment on the video, but as others have said, it was some excellent footage. Also, having full displays on video at your disposal means that you can "fill in the blanks" in your reports just in case you happen to miss some detail(s) during any given display.

Trav.

Bonsoir à tous ou plutôt bonjour compte tenu du décalage horaire

Etant nouvellement inscrite sur ce forum, je vais donc faire une brève présentation, je ne sais pas si ici les règles sont les mêmes qu'en France en ce qui concerne les forums...

Je suis donc artificier qualifié "K4" ce qui correspond approximativement au dernier échelon de votre règlementation et je pratique depuis 18 ans maintenant. Ayant vécue au Québec quelques années, je n'ai malheureusement jamais eu la chance de voir le Mondial SAQ dans sa totalité...

Bien que comprenant et parlant l'Anglais, je prends le parti d'écrire ici en Français, ce qui est tout de même beaucoup plus évident

J'étais justement à la recherche d'infos concernant les "prouesses" de Prestatech et je suis tombée sur les commentaires de Fred.

Il n'est guère surprenant de voir que Prestatech a réalisé un feu "aseptisé" sans aucune audace. C'est tout à fait le style même chez nous... De plus, il est particulièrement décevant de voir qu'ils restent sur leurs acquis sans aucune audace surtout à ce niveau de compétition. Merci encore pour vos commentaires.

Par contre j'ai eu la chance de voir à Chantilly lors du concours international qui s'est tenu les 12, 13 & 14 Juin derniers la société Apogée qui était d'ailleurs vainqueur en 2006 et là, aucun doute sur la qualité des prestations.

Bonjour tout le monde!

Ça m'a pris un peu de temps avant de venir mettre mes commentaires dans ce forum, mais je suis très heureux d'être de retour!

Ce premier spectacle pyrotechnique de la France m'a enfin apporté la satisfaction de voir et de ressentir un feu d'artifice, ce que j'attendais avec impatience depuis les feux du mois de décembre dans le Vieux-Port de Montréal.

Le spectacle m'a paru très intéressant sans plus et tout comme les autres participants dans ce forum, la finale m'a beaucoup déçu! Beaucoup trop courte et sans grande intensité.......et j'ai cru un instant qu'elle n'était pas finie, puisque la "Grande Roue" a tardé à s'illuminer! Je suis resté sur mon appétit........mais je me suis dit que ce n'était que le début de la saison et que je vivrais certainement une finale INTENSE au courant des prochains spectacles!

Je salue tout le monde dans ce forum....autant les "anciens" que les "nouveaux-venus"!

Pierre