9 replies to this topic

[Creepin_pyro]

OK - we've all heard about girandolas, but there seems to be a general lack of info about them - pics, videos, construction techniques, etc. I have spent many web hours trying to find a decent video of a girandola. Luckily, the Freakpyromaniacs team have provided an excelent display video containing FOUR fantastic girandolas, flying in formation. Download the following video. (sorry 56k'ers )

Bonn79mb

Skip to about four minutes in, and wait to be amazed. I know these guys send us updates and links to the videos, but you REALLY don't want to miss this one. Just thought I'd let y'all know. Enjoy.

[Matt]

yay only 4 more hours

[Stuart]

http://www.pyropage....andolaMain.html

A 56K friendly video is on there too

[Mortartube]

The four double acting Girandolas are great, the rest of it is an awful mess. Any idiot can shovel that lot up given the budget. The single Girandola on the 56k link is certainly a thing of beauty. I like the willow star heading at the top.

[Creepin_pyro]

Well, I wouldn't call it an awfull mess - I thought it was rather good, actually. What did you think was so wrong with it?

Can't wait to see the 56k one, I get "surf control - ACCESS DENIED" when I try to click it from here...... damn paranoid IT departments, banning sites at random.

[BigG]

The four double acting Girandolas are great, the rest of it is an awful mess. Any idiot can shovel that lot up given the budget. The single Girandola on the 56k link is certainly a thing of beauty. I like the willow star heading at the top.

I would not call it an awful mess The winterblast final shoot in the states is an awful mess....

The display kept changing heights - kept the sequences going - had at least four synchronized shooting points (the Girandoles, the Z-fan etc)... They kept smoke volume low - overall, an acceptable performance. It is probably not an international winning performance - but it's okay.

Adam? Your professional opinion?

Edited by BigG, 28 May 2004 - 01:34 PM.

[Phoenix]

I made a small girandola last New Years Eve (two 12mm vertical drivers and two 12mm horizontal drivers). It spun a lot, and shot a lot of sparks downwards, and then made a nice burst of stars, but it never went anywhere . I had anticipated that it might not make it off the ground, so I mounted it nice and high up so the vertical drivers would not be completely wasted, rather just a spinning waterfall effect. It was fun though.

[Mortartube]

Perhaps I've just got cynical over the years, but I don't actually like a shovel full of pyro in the sky as you can go almost anywhere and see that when there is a reasonable budget. It's a bit like there's thousands of bedroom D.J's mixing it up and all being pretty much the same, then very rarely something special comes along.

I ran a display company for 11 years and worked in a firework factory for 8 years and in that time I did a lot of those sky full type displays as it was what the customer wanted, but the beauty of a front of 14mm Red dragon candles in it's simplicity is rarely seen these days because many displays just end up mixing colours and effects and it all gets samey IMHO. I think the biggest round of applause that I ever got at a display was 3 fans of 3" Igual willow and tail shells on their own, the general public just don't get to see that sort of thing as an isolated sequence in a show very often these days. The same with setpieces, many display companies omit them or use very few, but a tree of gerbs or a horizontal gold wheel is so simple but relatively unseen by the masses.

[Phoenix]

I would definately agree with that. Granted, I haven't been to very many professionally fired displays, but those I have seemed to be on a "more is better" theme, just keeping as many red and green 3" shells in the air as possible. Doesn't the traditional Japanese display allow the audience time to appreciate each effect individually? I'd love to see a display like that, with a few smaller cakes, but most importantly a decent helping of large shells with interesting effects (hummers, crossettes, sun and planets etc.) fired individually, rather than masses of small colour shells constantly bursting. Also, I have never seen anything other than shells and comets at professional displays. I would love to see some Category 4 ground effects, like Clark's Giant Steel Fountains, 6" mines and the "Niagra Falls" described in "Pyrotechnics." I'm not saying that no pros ever use these effects, just that they don't seem to be very common in the UK. I know that lancework has its limitations in large shows, with very far off audiences, but that's no reason not to have a 16" willow and salute shell to finish.

[adamw]

I cant give an opinion until I get broadband!!