| Bullets And Blood: Thaine R. Morris Presents The Hit Kit >> Virtual Winter Blast | | Join master pyrotechnician and Academy Award winner Thaine R. Morris for a fascinating discussion about the evolution of his forty-plus-year career in . . . special effects, the development of his Hit Kit bullet hit system, and a demo of the Hit Kit, followed by a Q&A. Thaine R. Morris is a legend in the effects industry. From his early days in stage and theatre to his ground-breaking work in major motion pictures like The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Ghostbusters, and Die Hard, Thaine’s forty plus years of experience make him one of the industry’s foremost experts in the field. Now mostly retired from filmmaking, Thaine is owner of Roger George Special Effects, a family-run effects company that provides practical effects supplies to film, television and stage productions all over the world., as well as president and co-owner of MP Associates Inc., a world-wide supplier of pyrotechnics. Get to know this Academy Award winner here. | Watch |
| Saturday Night Displays >> Virtual Winter Blast | | Garry Hansen Memorial Pyrofoor de Amsterdam – Defqon in the time of Covid Big Sky – Galaxis Demo Pyrodigital – Holiday Show in the time of Covid Pyro . . . Spec – Pyro Party | Watch |
| Set Pieces and Lance Work >> Virtual Winter Blast | | Lanceworks consist of a series of small, quick matched colored flares (lances) arranged to form images and designs or to spell out messages. They . . . reached an elaborate form in the mid – 19th century in Great Britain where some lanceworks were as long as 200 feet and 60 feet high and produced fire pictures for example of Queen Victoria and her generals. Today, lance works continue to be used around the world to advertise fireworks display sponsors and to deliver messages to the spectators. This presentation will briefly consider the mechanics and techniques used in creating lanceworks and importantly, provide a series of lancework ideas – some tried, and some untried by the author. Lanceworks can and should generally be inspirational, humorous, sometimes mysterious but always entertaining. They are especially effective when they have moving parts, are motorized, or tell a “story”. They can include various pyrotechnic ornamentations including fountains and gerbs, waterfalls, whistles, salutes, wheels, saxons, strobes and roman candles and many other kinds of pyrotechnics. They can be accompanied by music and appropriate (or inappropriate) sound effects. They may include political caricatures, current events, and likenesses of famous (or infamous) people. They can feature changing images such as a frowning face becoming a smiling face, moving eyes, and a surprised face after a loud salute. Elaborate transformation pieces can be designed using color changing lances and dark fire lances in which a green pastoral scene transforms into a bustling city, or a green garden into a colorful flower bed. Hair can suddenly grow from a bald head, a big white mother duck lays an egg and the egg cracks open to release a moving yellow duckling, faces can transform from sleepy to surprised or from angry to happy, a long green caterpillar changes into an elaborately spotted winged butterfly, or a giant figure on stilts walks mysteriously through a forest. Multiple lancework frames can be ignited by a series of line rockets. Lancework frames can be ignited when lying flat on the ground and then pulled upright on hinges to become fully visible – this can be designed to be especially “mysterious”. Creativity and imagination have few limitations! | Watch |
| Introduction to Making Girandolas >> Virtual Winter Blast | | This seminar provides an overview of how girandolas are built and how they function. Topics include girandola performance aesthetics, basic girandola . . . designs, stability considerations, drivers for lifting and spinning girandolas, girandola frames and common construction methods, driver ignition sequencing, fusing techniques, rising garnishments, ending effects, and launch considerations. If you’re considering making your first girandola and want to know what you would be getting into, or you are simply curious about what all goes into making the ones you’ve seen, this seminar will provide that insight and demystify these fascinating items! | Watch |
| Sharing the Stage – Techniques and Technologies in Working with Multiple Medias >> Virtual Winter Blast | | Designing pyrotechnic displays within a multimedia production requires much more than the average viewer might consider. Mammoth productions such as . . . the Olympics Opening Ceremonies, Rolling Stones World Tours and Fantasy in the Sky at Disney Parks all must go through an extensive design and planning process. A vast number of disciplines must be considered such as music, video, lasers, water features, moving scenic elements, and live performers. Additional considerations might include smoke mitigation, trace chemical residue, relative light levels and even the cultural traditions of the audience. Eric Tucker and this group of renown panelists are all very accustomed to working with these conditions on some of the finest multimedia, highest budget productions of our time. They discuss these topics and lend some of their experiences to what might very well be the most informative seminar in WPA history. | Watch |
| Passfire Presents “Western Winter Blast 30th Anniversary” >> Virtual Winter Blast | | What do you get when art and fireworks collide in the desert during the middle of the winter? Winter Blast! Join us for an encore presentation of . . . “Winter Blast,” the Passfire Maximum Load episode on WWB’s 30th Anniversary. Filmed on location in 2019 and featuring a sound mix by club member and sound designer Peter Brown. | Watch |
| Pumped and Pressed Stars for Maltese Shells >> Virtual Winter Blast | | In this seminar Mitch goes over various methods of making pumped and pressed stars. Discover the reason your stars may be fragmenting. Watch how . . . married stars are made in one pressing without joining two stars after they are pressed. See pounds of composition pressed in minutes. The use of basic hand pumps to star plates & hydraulic pressing it will all be covered. Other topics discussed will be: composition dampening and granulating for use, pressure calculation and how much, priming techniques, and general safety rules for handling chlorate compositions. Kevin Mather adds color and comments | Watch |
| The Pyrophile Brothers Show >> Virtual Winter Blast | | A couple of decades ago the Pyrophile Brothers changed a boring safety meeting into a live-fire presentation. Originally crafted for an industrial . . . setting, it soon became obvious that some of the most worrisome chemicals were readily available at the local grocery, pharmacy or hardware store. It ultimately changed from an oft requested safety meeting and morphed into the “finale” for the annual “Take Your Daughter/Son/Kid to Work Day”. The presentation includes vintage video clips and a live discussion on chemical safety, scrounging for pyro chemicals, and insights on live pyro demonstrations. | Watch |
| Friday Night Displays >> Virtual Winter Blast | | Live Opening – Sara Park Shoot -Round Eye Fireworks Spirit of 76 – Countdown To VWB Flame FX Fire Dance Group Fireworks America – Salute to America!
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| Fire Engine Gone Wild! >> Virtual Winter Blast | | Using theatrical pyrotechnics and gas flame effects from a moving motor vehicle in a parade presents many unique challenges compared to their use from . . . a fixed stage. These challenges range from how to make their use entertaining to how to do so safely. Working out the details from the types and styles of theatrical pyrotechnics and flame effects to be used, their locations on the motor vehicle, the firing methods, the personnel required and their duties, how to communicate in the shifting dynamics of a parade with an unrestrained audience, and provide for fire prevention, fire protection and public safety requires both creativity and attention to detail. This presentation will cover the use of theatrical pyrotechnics and gas flame effects from a 1953 Ford F600 Fire truck in both daylight and night parades over the last 20 years. | Watch |
| Tried and True Pyro Chemistry >> Virtual Winter Blast | | The seminar covers a variety of well-known and other useful formulations from published literature and personal experience, explaining why they are . . . reliable, and including tips on how to adjust them for better handling and performance. The requirements for making good, all around fireworks mixtures will be contrasted with specialized techniques. Everyone likes to pass recipes around, but some information gets misunderstood over time, and some things found online are best avoided. Much of this was covered in Rev. Ron Lancaster’s 4th edition, and that overview will inform the formulations covered in the seminar. Force and spark, colors, glitter, illumination, tailed and trailing effects, whistles, flash and sound and others will be described. Tom Mattrocce is guest panelist | Watch |
| The Essence of Pyro Wizardry >> Virtual Winter Blast | | During the past several years a new and unusual series of workshops were included called “Pyro Wizardry”. These workshops were influenced by the . . . magical effects seen in the Harry Potter movies. It was decided that the essence of what was presented at the PGI workshops might find interest among the WPA members. Therefore, the essence of all of this is being presented. | Watch |
| Passfire Presents “World’s Largest Firework” >> Virtual Winter Blast | | Four teammates dedicate years of their lives to building the 62″, 2800-pound Guinness World-Record largest aerial firework. This is the 60-minute . . . version of the 90-minute feature-length documentary included with Passfire Maximum Load. Jim Widmann joins afterward with Q&A’s. | Watch |
| Selected Modern Pyrotechnic Literature >> Virtual Winter Blast | | Anyone who is serious about getting involved in pyrotechnics needs to be well informed on the various aspects of chemistry, safety, manipulations and . . . perhaps some history. Newcomers to the craft may naturally migrate to Google for information, and certainly much can be found there, but a vast wealth of fireworks knowledge can be found in the trove of excellent pyrotechnic literature that goes back a few centuries. This literature is not easily found in the average public library. In this seminar we have assembled a comprehensive list of prominent literature written over this last century or so, primarily in English, which you might want to consider acquiring and poring over. We will discuss many of these pointing out their strong points, importance and availability. | Watch |
| Building BP, Whistle and Strobe Rockets >> Virtual Winter Blast | | This seminar details the general construction of a variety of rockets using one set of tooling. Information detailing making fuels and basic shop . . . safety guidelines will also be covered. Nozzled BP, nozzleless BP, whistle and strobe rocket construction will all be detailed. Though this class will use the FireSmith Super BP Core Burn tools, the basic techniques, fuels and safety guidelines are applicable to the construction of just about any type of rocket. | Watch |
| Pumped and Pressed Stars | | In this seminar Mitch will go over various methods of making pumped and pressed stars. Considerations will be given specifically to chlorate water . . . bound star comps used in Maltese style shells. | Watch |
| What Kinds of Fuse Might You Use when You Use Fuse? | | An overview of most every kind of fuse used in pyrotechnics and blasting. Bob will discuss the merits of each kind of fuse and it’s applications.
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| Birth of the Blues | | A history of the development of the color blue in fireworks will be presented, including limited formulae prior to the use of copper compounds and . . . chlorates. Barry Sturman will present this seminar live from Melbourne Australia. | Watch |
| The Wonderful World of Winged Tourbillions | | This seminar will cover techniques for making traditional winged tourbillions of the type that take off from the ground (not the smaller wingless type . . . used in aerial shells). The seminar will explain how they work and cover in depth the tools, techniques and formulae used for making flitter, glitter and colored tourbillions. The seminar will also weave in historic commentary from some of Kurt’s favorite nineteenth century pyrotechnic writers on the subject of tourbillions. | Watch |
| Developing excellent pyrotechnic formulations and effects for use in display fireworks by thinking “outside the box” | | Advice, ideas, suggestions, and techniques are discussed and compared for creating effective and entertaining content for use in professional . . . fireworks displays. This includes some do’s and dont’s and pitfalls to avoid. Topics include how to prevent boring your audience, how to make them laugh, how to surprise them, how to engage them, and techniques that make fireworks displays more than simple spectacle. Fireworks displays should not only be entertaining, but also should be stimulating and engender an appetite for genuinely good displays. They should utilize humor, generate emotions, puzzle and sometimes fool the audience, engage perhaps in social and or political commentary and be more than simply “pretty”. | Watch |
