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How a Show is Put Together

Here is what happens to put together a MAJOR PYROMUSICAL:

SECRETS OF DESIGNING A SHOW

An explosive medium
While other designer's dreams are brought to life through paint, textiles, wood and a myriad of other media, the vision of the pyro-musical designer is expressed in explosives. For this unique designer, the sky is their palette, shells are their media and music, their inspiration.

The pyromusical designer is a relative newcomer to the world of fireworks. For hundreds of years, it was the shell maker who was the artistic force behind any fireworks display.

Now, the focus of attention has shifted towards an overall vision of a fireworks "show". Synchronization, structure, coordination and rhythm are the new standards. The shell maker is still a very important player in the process, working behind the scenes to create a repertoire of shells that explode with precision giving the desired effect. However, now the shell maker gets his/her direction from the designer.

Even before the designer begins, a number of important factors shape the show, including budget, location, length, weather, safety issues and specific directions or a "theme" the client or competition has put forward. Once these have been established, the long design process begins.

Selecting the music
The design process starts with the music. The designer and his or her team invest a lot of time listening to music and have usually developed a bank of music they find inspiring and conducive to pyrotechnics.

Once the music is selected, a soundtrack is built. The soundtrack is constructed to conform with the time duration that has been set by the client or competition. It is important the soundtrack not only have a homogeneity to it, which allows for one feeling to make a natural transition into another, but that it also has both high points and low points, with which to shape the show.

Once the soundtrack is built, the designer begins to visually create the show. Listening to the music, they take note of the colors, forms, shapes and rhythms that come to mind. These will ultimately express themselves in the fireworks used.

Then the soundtrack is cut, section by section. Each section serves as a frame within which the show is built. Accent points in the music are targeted, and these become the points to which the special effects are synchronized.

In the pyroarchitecture, the designer treats the water and the skies as vast building blocks, designing the tables of the show from the bottom up. Smoke plays an important role in shaping the design. Since the tables are created on different levels, something high and spectacular must be followed by low images like aquatic shells or a cascading waterfall to allow the smoke to dissipate.

The designer and team must then cost out the show to determine whether or not it is within budget. The designer then returns to his or her vision and makes any necessary changes.

With all revisions made, the designer transfers his/her ideas onto paper. The designer then begins working with a master shell maker. The designs use both existing bombs and specially configured bombs created especially for a specific effect the designer has in mind.

On average, it takes a show designer about four to six hours to plan the fireworks spectacle for each minute of music for a 25-minute show — meticulously synchronizing the fireworks to cues on the recorded soundtrack.

FIRING THE SHOW
Today's fireworks teams use computers to develop the script, synchronization and timing of the show, and more and more teams also use them to fire their shows electrically from the firing panel. Some teams opt to fire them individually so as to be able to react immediately to changing environmental elements such as humidity (which can make a fuse burn slightly slower). Other teams have the computer run the firing of the entire show.



SECRETS OF DESIGNING A SHOW…PART II "IN DETAIL"

So what's involved with producing and planning a fireworks display?

Much more is involved than the average spectator could ever imagine! That’s why we like to educate people and clients about the lengthy process of designing a show. Here are the steps that are taken in order to design a fireworks performance, which is choreographed to music. Whether creating a basic fireworks display or a complex, multi-location pyromusical, basic steps to achieve the final result are similar.

Designing a fireworks display starts when the Special Projects Manager delivers the initial creative concept from the client to us. The Display Designer then designs a show that fulfills the brief and the client’s expectations.  Together you determine the tone for the event by discussing the music, emotion, color, and sound, and how they relate to client’s theme, if there is one. For example, is patriotism, humor, mockery or delight needed in their show? Or does the client wish to cover a broader range of emotions?

Second step in the creation of a fireworks display is selecting a soundtrack. The soundtrack selection is very important, as it is the foundation on which a display is designed and fired. The soundtrack will provide the rhythm and the tempo of the display and will be a major influence on what product is picked and how it is fired.

After appropriate musical tracks are chosen for the show (using broadcast-standard editing software such as Sound Forge, Cool Edit Pro or GoldWave) the tracks are then digitally edited together. Individual music selections are combined into a single music program to create the music score for the display. Good explosions can’t overcome bad music. Which is why the songs chosen are pored over months before the final track is selected.

Next, the display designer determines the product (shells), colors, etc. to integrate into the music program. A customized shell or database of product inventory, such as ScriptMaker, is used and each display item is entered into this database.

From there, it is then imported to another software, (by using easy point-and-click selection) this time used for choreography. The designer then listens to every musical track over and over, while trying to visualize in his mind a place for each shell or display item. He listens to any verbal cues in his ear to match the next lyrics or beat change and crescendos with the proper fireworks. He then can create actual scenes in the sky incorporating varying styles, sound, color and motion, as each shell or display item is matched to the mood of the music. This is where the real artistry and creativity comes in to play.

Once the entire product has been scripted into Show Sim the choreographed music must be assigned appropriate display positions. The software allocates what display positions are going to be fired from what firing slat or module. If this is a small display they will all be fired from one box. However, large displays or displays involving multiple locations over a distance require the use of multiple boxes. This piece of software assigns automatically all products to a specific cue. This reduces setup time.
We then need to create a time code. . This creates perfect digital time code for the music score created. The time code is necessary to synchronize the choreographed fireworks to the music score. Time code is recorded on the left channel of a musical selection, such as CD, or DAT, and the music is recorded on the right channel.

Once the show is created, a choreography worksheet or a script is arranged. A software program called Show Sim is then utilized. This technology tells us, and records in synchronization with the music, exactly when to fire individual cues.  These scripts then go to our storage containers, where the shells and other display items are stored. Shells are pulled and cue numbers are written on each of the shells matching the firing sequence with the script. Without it, the fireworks would be a chaotic mess. The script maps out each second of each song and the corresponding fireworks that are supposed to be in the air at that moment. Each group of fireworks is assigned a number on a master control board if fired electronically with a firing panel. Special instructions for each shot may sometimes appear on product labels and allocation sheets for the crew setting up the display to follow.

The designer then can playback the script with the music to ensure the timings are exactly on the musical changes, beats and crescendos. This is as close to a fireworks rehearsal as it gets without a shot being fired and from it we can see the tempo of the display. A database containing all of the displays product pre-fire timings operates in the background of this process and takes care of all the pre-fire calculations and saves a lot of back calculating when products are to be fired. The software does all the work.

The digital firing of the display is executed by Show Sim software in conjunction with Pyroleda hardware. Additionally, the software may be used to download the display into a control panel for firing without a laptop computer or the software.

Firing system connector rails (also called slats or firing modules) are set out and control wires or cables are run. Shells are then precisely loaded into the mortars and wires connected to the rails and main modules. Cables are then extended to the main firing system. Some firing systems are remotely controlled, so no cables are necessary.

Once the checking and re-checking is completed, the designer then can download the file to the fire modules or email it to other locations for downloading, or burn the soundtrack with time code to a CD, print out the product stickers and rail allocation reports and give any final briefings to the crew setting up and firing the display. Then it is up to the crew firing the display to make it happen and fire a perfectly synchronized display to music at the touch of a button.

Shows can take anywhere between one to five days to set up, depending upon size and design complexity of each show.  A small show can be setup and fired with a crew of 2 to 3 people.  Large displays can have as many as 20 or more pyrotechnicians involved with preparation and setup.

Setup details are very important and translate to a successful show. Some pyrotechnicians may use a protractor to set specific angles on mortars to assure correct display patterns in the sky. Very important when special pattern shells are utilized, which can only be viewed from a specific angle. The result of this very time consuming process can be seen with the show including Roman Candles and Comets, along with multiple special shots aerial shells.

Setup is usually concluded at least 3 or 4 hours prior to the show. The crew then continues to check and double-check the site and make final preparations for the show.

The final stage is clean up. This is the messiest and dirtiest part of the entire show.  Debris can be scattered for may metres  around the perimeter of the shooting site. Some people dread the clean-up job. We do not leave the site until the entire fallout area has been checked and cleaned of any possibly unfired material.

So next time you see a fireworks display, you will have a better idea how much work and time goes into creating such a memorable event.