FLASH BANG WALLOP! What a picture!

Stage Pyrotechnics

Unique firework Displays

Virtual and fake fireworks

Stage Pyrotechnics

Yeah, I know.... everybody does those. Buy them from a respectable pyro supplier, hire firing equipment and use them according to the instructions ... great. You've got yourself a genie appear effect in the panto.

What we do is VERY different . If you have an pop concert stage, or a Proms in the Park, or a dancing fountains show ( we do those as well), or a private party , wedding reception etc, indoors or out, we can do you a spectacular choreographed five minute show on a exactly timed to music, using colour , height, shape, mood, and sound.Your audience can be within ten feet or so, feel the heat of the real flame, and yet be completely safe. We use the latest state-of-the-art firing systems from Le Maitre, running purpose made software on a laptop to time all the effects to within a fraction of a second. We combine this with smoke, dry ice or liquid nitrogen effects, and if the budget is sufficient, lasers, building to a very grand finish of air cannons firing flutterfetti which leaves the audience screaming for more.We even sweep up the flutterfetti.

ask us about a pyro show

FIREWORK DISPLAYS

We have a very simple philosophy. And its this. If you want a nice simple 20 minute display just like all the others, you might be better off going to one of the many very excellent firework companies. But if you want something much better, with some unique features, it would do no harm whatsoever to ask us for some ideas.

Because its not just a display. Its an entire event, involving the community, schools, theatre clubs and everyone else. We like to work with the client to produce anxillary events to the actual fireworks - for example a "parade of light", being the result of a series of workhops with local groups, making lanterns on sticks, or an infinity of tea-lights floating on a lake or dotted around the field and so on.

This year (2007) we will be holding a series of workshops ( grant application permitting) with local professional artists and the local art school to create a series of light sculptures on double sided 1200 x 1200 frames and multiple thereof, which we will install in a public street as a Gallery without walls which doubles as a Christmas Light display.Click here to receive an info pack when the project is announced.

We will use Colchester Castle as backdrop for an online live art event which will see photographic images of the building being manipulated digirtally and reprojected on the the catle at perfect registration in real time. Click here to receive an info pack when the project is announced.

We build bonfires with themes: We made:

a 30' high construction of timber filled with coloured light bulbs and fluorescent tubes and scrap neon signs. The animated pre-show caught the audiences attention and then burned spectacularly.

A giant windmill with rotating sails which made the world's biggest catherine wheel (made by Emergency Exit Arts Ltd ).

A huge giant Wurlizer organ with a 20' high rod puppet which climbed the bonfire and played on the fake keyboard while roman candles shot from the organ pipes. ( again with EEA)

We are now working on a project which will re-create a giant replica of a castle, which will act as a projection screen for a son et lumiere, culminating in it being burned safely down by the Iceni hordes led by Boudica, accompanied by a 20 minuite firework display.

VIRTUAL FIREWORK DISPLAYS

FOR THE WEST END MUSICAL "CHARLIE GIRL" AT THE VICTORIA PALACE THEATRE AND ON TOUR, Illuminati made a vast fake firework display. Based on a 40' back cloth, it was fitted with 32 50 watt light sources, fitted with colour wheels and twinkle wheels feeding128 bundles of glass fibre optics, each bundle with 350 size 2 glass fibres, 400 pea bulbs forming a 'rocket trail' and 80 small strobes. Add to that six gobo firework bursts and a piece of music specially written in the original Noel Gay style to accompany them and the result was breathtakingly real. The effect was controlled by some very special electronics

Dorian designed and had made a set of 30mm squareprinted circuit cards(Prometheus 1) containing low voltage incandescent lamp, firing circuit and a timer with an input socket and a flying lead. These could be cascaded simply by plugging together and connecting to a Prometheus-4 controller, and could be made to chase at any speed, it being set by the Prometheus-4 controller which simply sent a "go" signal to the first card. The circuit lit up the first lamp, waited a preset time and passed the go signal onto the next card. in the meantime the controller sent a second go signal etc. The result was a simple chase which could go on indefinitely until the signal hit the last card in the series. If the controller sent six pulses in a row, then paused for six pulses, sent six more and so on, the result was  a chase of ‘packets’ of light. The Prometheus-4 also controlled the sequencing of the optical fibre systems, the strobes and sent a step signal to the theatre lighting control to fire the gobo sets.

It only went wrong once in the run - very embarrassing. It turned out that an over zealous sqweek had disconnected the XLR from the control box thinking it was to do with the talkback. That will teach me to use connectors which can be mistaken for something else! ...I wont do that again!.

Interested in something similar for your restaurant, musical, theme park? Contact me