A cakes show : I think that this summarizes pretty well the kind of display we were treated with yesterday by B.E.M.

Magical Voyage (Voyage féérique) was based on a classical music soundtrack, and was therefore a nice departure from the excerpts from movie soundtracks Orion and Royal used in the past weeks. Yet, I feel that classical music doesn't carry emotion as well, so I found the display to be rather monotonous in nature because of that.

The effects were in the "average to good" range, because while some aerial shells were quite nice (such as double-ring farfalles and big caliber white bees shells), the majority were of the peony or chrysanthemum varieties. Also, using cakes and candles a lot at the bottom level doesn't help with regards to the diversity.

I also noticed that during some candle sequences, small calibers shells were launched and exploded in the middle of the sky, mixing with the comets from the candles. It might have been slightly better to use bigger shells in these sequences, in order to have them explode over the comets than at the same level.

One good sequence was based on a barrage of white bees which looked much like a snowstorm. As B.E.M. declined to do an interview on the firing ramps, I don't know how the designer intended to follow his theme, so this particular sequence might just have been about something else for all I know !

In conclusion, this was not a bad show, but so far I liked Orion and Royal's displays better. B.E.M.'s style seems sober in comparison, and people around me liked this show very much. Therefore, in the end, it all comes down to one's personal preferences; some may just like a cakes-based show such as this one !

My report

Due to one last exam tomorrow morning, I'll publish the video tomorrow night.

The videos for B.E.M. display are now online :

First part
Second part

Enjoy !

STL

Hi STL,

I just watched your nice videos and I have to say that the display seemed pretty neat, although, to me, the last minute or so of the first part somehow lacked vitality.

I personally like the use of cakes, though only if they are supported at mid to high level with large caliber shells. I am also dazzled by enduring cakes of salutes when present during either the penultimate piece of a display for setting up a faux finale or for the actual conclusion itself (much like Canada 2010).

In your commentary above, you mentioned "chrysanthemum" effects? What exactly are these, and what sort of appearance do they take on?

Thanks for sharing your footage, STL.

Trav.

A chrysanthemum is like a peony that leaves a trail in the sky, as far as I know. Look at these simulations to see the difference :
Peony
Chrysanthemum

Glad you liked it ! Now, let's see what Apogée will do on Christmas Eve !

Ah, I had no idea that those (common) shells were referred to by that term, but I now see why they are named after the flower:

http://www.flowersgallery.net/gallery/chrysanthemum/chrysanthemum-1.jp g

Thank you for providing the description as well as the corresponding photo/demonstration found on your site.

Trav.

Trav: I've had a glossary on this site for a few years now: http://montreal-fireworks.com/pyro_glossary.html

Paul.

Thank you for that link, Paul - the definition provided there further helped to clarify things.

Now, let's see what Apogée will do on Christmas Eve !

Isn't the next display taking place on Christmas day, or had it been recently re-scheduled for Christmas Eve?

Well, it's officially Winter (the season arrived just over an hour ago). Luckily, however, that Nor'easter is maintaining itself slightly farther East, so snowfall totals are more likely at a maximum of 7 cm by Thursday morning here in Montreal. The system's movement has also slowed over the last 24 hours, so instability is persisting until early Thursday instead of Wednesday. Christmas 2010 is expected to be dry, but chilly.

Trav.

Isn't the next display taking place on Christmas day, or had it been recently re-scheduled for Christmas Eve?

No, my bad. December 25th, so Christmas day indeed !

I had some exclusive info about the show from Alain Carbonneau, Apogée's designer. It will feature music from Titanic, Pirates of the Carribbean and of course Christmas-themed songs, as Apogée's display must be about winter, Christmas and have a maritime feel (my take on these requirements : can you say "we [the Old Port Society] are almost designing the show for the designer" at this point ?!) The final edit of the soundtrack runs for 19 minutes and 10 seconds, which is a good departure from B.E.M.'s display, which was hugging close to the 15 minutes minimum.

The show will feature 30 or so cakes, some candles and a lot of shells, plus a Niagara Falls, fountains and a hundred one-shot effects synchronized with the music. Alain Carbonneau intends to start his display in a more energic fashion than both Orion and Royal did, as both started their displays with a slow first sequence.

The finale will be kamuro-based, and the final barrage will last 20 seconds. It seems that this is an Apogée "signature", but I have to admit that I'm not familiar with this company's work at all. As they do the St-Jean display in Dorval, maybe is Travis more experienced with their work (as Dorval is close to West Island - wait, Dorval *is* in West Island !).

I'll have more details on Saturday, but this looks like a very good way to celebrate Christmas in an "explosive" fashion, at least for those that do not have a party that night.

In all cases, my video will be online shortly after the show, as usual.

STL

The finale will be kamuro-based, and the final barrage will last 20 seconds

I was more anticipating a finale rich with color, especially considering that the display is held on Christmas day. Ah well, I guess it's still something to look forward to, right?

As they do the St-Jean display in Dorval, maybe is Travis more experienced with their work (as Dorval is close to West Island - wait, Dorval *is* in West Island !).

Unfortunately, I've never actually attended the St-Jean Baptiste displays that commonly take place in Dorval, so I cannot say what team Apogee is typically famed for in these performances. The shows that I do attend, or view, are those on L'ile-Bizard and at Pierrefonds Comprehensive.

And yes, Dorval is considered a part of the West Island.

Trav.

I was more anticipating a finale rich with color, especially considering that the display is held on Christmas day. Ah well, I guess it's still something to look forward to, right?

Well, Alain Carbonneau promised Christmas-themed colors throughout (well, except the kamuro finale), so I guess that yes, that's something to look forward to !

Well, Alain Carbonneau promised Christmas-themed colors throughout

I suppose that might partly explain employing a monochromatic approach for the conclusion.

Trav.

Apogée's show was very good, with lots of rare aerial shells like "delayed crossettes" (crossettes that only appear at the second explosion - could either be "dark-primed" stars or it could be a shell-of-shells) and multicolor short falling leaves, such as those seen at Taiwan's display last summer.

The Christmas colors were present, as promised. The kamuro-based finale was one of those that don't overwhelm you with golden effects during 5 minutes (like France 2010 for instance) : it was short, but very effective. Fortunately, Alain Carbonneau had selected kamuros with a rising tail, so it was quite a delight to see such a lot of shells ascend during the last seconds.

Some negatives include too-long chains of shells, which continued to fire from one segment's end to the start of the next, and the fact that the flares at the beginning were too low to be seen by the public (we did saw colored smoke from them, though). For the latter, though, Alain Carbonneau's unfamiliarness with the site may be the cause; to paraphrase Yanick Roy, this is the kind of mistake you do only once, as you learn the limitations and correct them at your next show (or in that case, your next Fire on Ice).

It was also slightly funny to see the (color-changing) Niagara Falls break in two just after it ended its combustion. Fortunately, the effect was over when it happened, as it's really bad to see such an expensive effect being spoiled by technical difficulties. Talk to the Junior Pyrotechnics Association from the PGI 2010 about that : their own Niagara Falls fell to the ground a few seconds after it was lit, so that's a few thousands down the drain... Fortunately, Apogée's display did not suffer such an extreme situation !

You can check my review and my interview with Alain Carbonneau

In French
In Google-Translated English

You may also check the video :

First part
Second part

Should the soundtrack be pulled by the [censored - replace with your insult of choice], er, recording companies, I'll upload the complete video (with the original soundtrack) directly to my website.

STL

with lots of rare aerial shells like "delayed crossettes" (crossettes that only appear at the second explosion - could either be "dark-primed" stars or it could be a shell-of-shells)

These are not so rare - we see them at the Montreal competition quite often. They're also not crossettes, but are referred to as "crossing stars" or "shuttle stars" - see http://www.saxtonsmith.co.uk/fw/glos2.htm#Crossing%20stars

Paul.

FAE's display was shot with wind conditions that reminded of the International's 2010 edition : weak and towards the spectators. Therefore, there was quite a lot of smoke accumulation which prevented people stationed in front of the Hangar 16 (and close to the skating rink) to see a lot of aerials. Mines and other one-shots were visible in the smoke at times.

[soapbox]
To add insult to the injury, some people were goofing around my cameras and bumped my tripods numerous times. I sternly told a woman to back off and she looked offensed. Hell, who arrived 30 minutes early to secure a good, unoccupied spot and spent 15 minutes to painfully level and set both cameras ?! Certainly not her, as she was bumping everyone to try to film the display with her crappy handheld without any respect to those who arrived early.
[/soapbox]

I'll refrain from writing a review this time, as I didn't see enough of the display to be able to formulate a decent opinion.

We finished setting up at 3:30 PM, so the wait was rather long. Yet, Jean-Pierre Gagné and the rest of the crew entertained me with their fireworks-related anecdotes for the 8 hours or so we spent waiting in the *electrically heated* shack for the New Year's countdown.

My interview and photos (French)
Google Translate of the above


You can check the video, but the view is obscured by smoke at numerous times :

First part
Second part

Check my YouTube channel in a few months for some random FAE display video, as I offered Jean-Sébastien Gagné to film another display to make-up for the fact that this one was spoiled by smoke accumulation.

Happy New Year to all !

STL

Hi STL,

I am sorry to hear that the display was marred by the vast smoke accumulations that were present. In addition to the winds being very light (roughly 4-5 km/h), the relative dampness of the air contributed to the rapid smoke build up. As expected, fog patches did develop, and this indicates that relative humidity levels at and near the surface were near 100% - the air was therefore saturated. The wind tendencies themselves were out from the SE to SSE for most of the day. Which direction do you commonly face when viewing the fireworks? From the videos, you seem to be looking from the North to North-northwest. In this case, though, it may not have mattered too much where you were positioned because of the overall weak wind speeds and the moist airmass.

Thank you very much for sharing the videos, and a happy new year to you, too!

Trav.