Le Mondial SAQ 2004
Montréal International Fireworks Competition Report

Holland Wednesday July 14^th, 2004 Invasion of the Colours

JNS Pyrotechniek B.V. [Gold Jupiter, 1995] Designed by Hein Hofmeester and Paul Philipsen, Pyrodigital firing; Show Director choreography; #modules and #cues to be determined

Hailing from Leeuwarden, in northern Holland, pyrotechnical firm JNS Pyrotechniek B.V. was founded in 1821 by the Shuurmans family. Winner of a Gold Jupiter (1995) and a Silver Jupiter (1991) at the Montréal International Fireworks Competition, the Dutch firm has also distinguished itself in several other international competitions. This summer, they present "Invasion of the Colours", a breathtaking and unforgettable pyromusical excursion that will transport audiences into the world of fantasy and science fiction with music from blockbuster films such as Star Wars and E.T.

Despite a portentious weather forecast and a few sprinkles around 8pm, we were graced with perfect weather conditions for the fifth entrant in the competition. JNS have a close association with the Chinese manufacturers Vulcan and Shogun so these companies supplied the material for the display, even including some consumer fireworks. The addition of two 23m high towers promised to add a new dimension to the display. The display used many small pieces of music linked throughout the display by small narrative sections to tell the overall story and this worked very well since the spoken parts were short. The challenge for your reporter was to correctly identify the twenty four tracks used keep the overall flow correct for the report. The links between the sections are indicted with an elipsis (...).

Part 1 to the film music Close Encounters section Signals by J. Williams. The display began with a barrage of strobe shells and fast bursts of glitter mines in the centre with comets as well ...

Part 2 to the film music Sphere section Pandora's Fanfare by E. Goldenthal. Barrages of shells of clusters of falling comets were followed by barrages of shells of clusters of yellow stars and then red. The two towers lit up on their left and right hand side with strobe lances forming diagonals from the top outwards, with the front of the towers and front of the display area lit up in strobes as well giving a good impression of alien lights. Then cakes of stars lit up on ramp 5 and from the tops of the two towers in fans. Above these barrages of shells of go-getters. Next, glitter mines moving from left to right, then right to left and left to right again as more shells of go-getters burst above ...

Part 3 to the film music Signals section Boarding up the House by J. Newton Howard. The towers lit up with incandescent lights in moving lines and large letter A's as shell-of-shells of thousand blooming flowers burst above. These barrages continued in multi-coloured bunches of flowers ...

Part 4 to the film music Tales of a Parallel Universe section Prisoners Transport by M. Simon. Brilliant meteor-headed comet fan candles were augemented by barrages of shell-of-shells bursting to silver falling comets as the meteor-headed comet candles continued below ...

Part 5 to the film music Star Trek section Deep Space Nine by Space & Beyond. Shells of crackling electric comets fired above the towers which shot diagonal comets out of their sides. As these continued, kaleidoscope shells with comet pistils fired above and were followed by barrages of shells of silver flying fish ...

Part 6 to the film music Blade Runner section Tales of the Future by Vangelis. Fat silver comets moved from left to right as falling comet shells burst above ...

Part 7 to the film music Matrix Revolutions section In my Head by Pale. Fans of crackling comets were augmented by diagonal red-headed meteor comets shots. Above these, shells of glitter comets as the crackling comets continued below. Note-synchronized comet shots from the tower in red meteors continued until ...

Part 8 to the TV theme music Space Cadets section Space Cadets March. Shells of comets with pistils were followed by blue shells at a high level with gold broccade shells below these. This theme continued and was followed by shells of willow to blue, then willow to red and then more willow to blue bombettes ...

Part 9 to the film music Superman section Superman Theme by J. Williams. Large red shells were followed by blue shells and bombettes and then large shells of willow turning to red with blue shells below these. Below these fronts of mines at the left and right in sequence ...

Part 10 to the film music Spiderman section Specter of the Goblin by D. Elfman. More mine fronts and the a fast sequence of three mine fronts in succession with meteor comet shots ...

Part 11 to the film music Daredevil section Church Battle by G. Revell. Very fast shots of star clusters from the towers in great synchronization to the music raised cheers from the audience. These continued and were augmented by fast star and comet chases ...

Part 12 to the film music Mortal Combat section Chinese Percussion by G. Clinton. Nice gold firefly comet candles were followed by shells of gold crossettes above as the gold firefly comet candles continued below. These were followed by large silver comet shells breaking dramatically low and loud. These were followed by silver kamuro shells. Then the sound of a cellphone ringing startled many and the narration amusingly had someone say they were busy at the fireworks to cheers and laughs from the audience. Butterfly comet shells with blue pistils were augmented by fat low comets as the shells continued above ...

Part 13 to the film music Star Wars section Cantina Band by J. Williams. Inverted T shaped fountains fired at the top of the towers and a line of silver fountains lit up along ramp 3 as shells of weeping willow turning to stars fireed above. Then large meteor-headed comets with weeping willow shells above these. A new line of fountains lit up as silver kamuro shells fired above ...

Part 14 to the film music Tales of a Parallel Universe section Planet Cruise by M. Simon. A sequence of glittering meteor comets was followed by a left and right moving sequence of silver comets ...

Part 15 to the film music Escape from L.A. section Escape from L.A. by J. Carpenter & A. Howarth. Shells of tourbillons with mines below ...

Part 16 to the film music The Fifth Element section Diva Dance by E. Serra. Mines in threes, then fives and then sevens were followed by shells of tourbillons and shells of crossette comets above. Then the sides of the towers facing each other shot out comets as more shells of tourbillons and silver crossettes fired above. These were followed by shots from the outer facing sides of the tower. After this, mines in a sequence of one, three, five and seven with shells of crossettes above ...

Part 17 to the film music Hollow Man section The Elevator by J. Goldsmith. Shells of triple rings of tourbillons were alternated with shells of serpents. Then shells of red stars and then shells of blue and shells of yellow. Next shells of red stars and comets ...

Part 18 to the film music Signs section Main Titles by J. Goldsmith. Barrages of green shells in different shades of green from dim to more yellow like went well with the narration talking of men from Mars ...

Part 19 to the film music Star Wars section Princess Leia's Theme by J. Williams. A serene line of gold fountains lit up and then fans of gold glitter comets which dripped gold fireflies out of the sides. Above these, willow bombettes as the gold firefly comets continued. Then bright thick comet fans and barrages of very large shells of comets which broke loud and low. Above these, shells of gold charcoal comets and then barrages of broccade shells and then pale gold kamuros trailing to the lake as firefly comets shot from the towers ...

Part 20 to the film music Close Encounters section Parade of the Awoks by J. Williams. Comet fans on the notes and then fast glitter mines on the deep chords worked very well with the music. These were followed by shells of indistinct coloured stars and then shells of red. Next shells of charcoal turning to dim green followed by more indistinct coloured stars. These were followed by barrages of white shells and then shells of red, then blue and then white again ...

Part 21 to the film music Star Wars section Star Wars Theme by J. Williams. Pattern shells in intersecting rings and rings around starfish comets were followed by shells of half one colour and half another with pistils in reverse. Then kaleidoscope shells with the "rays" in alternating colours with strobing pistils. Barrages of the the large bi-colour shells continued and then were followed by shells of glitter turning to colour stars and then more shells with pistils ...

Part 22 to the film music Pirates of the Caribbean section Barbossa is Hungry by K. Badelt. A line of red flares lit up along ramp 3. Cones of rockets bursting to strobes flew up from the left, then from the middlle and then from the right. Angled comet shots at the left and the right were augmented by shells of comets above and then fast sequences of zig-zagging "Z" cakes in increasing numbers from the centre outwards. Above these, shells of broccade and shells of white stars which drowned out the broccades. Barrages of huge low-breaking comet shells were followed by more of the same ...

Part 23 to the film music Pirates of the Caribbean section He's a Pirate by K. Badelt. A line of triple fountains lit up as silver crossette fans fired above and shells of comet to colour above these. Then more large comet shells followed by shells of willow changing to colour. These were followed by fast "Z" cakes of tourbillons with many shots of these. Next, shells of comets to white stars and more "Z" cakes of tourbillons.

Part 24 to the film music E.T. section End-Credits by J. Williams. Shells of crackling comets became barrages as criss-crossing shots from the towers filled in below. Then blue mines, green mines and multi-coloured mines with shells of comets to colour above. These were followed by shells of crackling glitter comets with salutes below these and barrages of the low and loud comet shells. The pace increased with barrages of very large shells and then suddenly massive volleys of huge gold kamuros filling the sky. These continued and became more and more and then suddenly were replaced by silver kamuros, filling the sky and trailing to the lake to cheers from the crowd.

This was an interesting an unusal display with a narrative theme that worked very well. The two towers added a very interesting extra dimension and were used a lot - more than my notes could keep track of. The display was also interesting in that many of the items used on the tower and ramp three were actually consumer goods from the Vulcan and Shogun lines. The very large low breaking comet shells were interesting too and were appreciated by the audience though, it must be said, some of the other shells had dim and indistinct colours and odd-shaped breaks. Most were of high quality though. Humorous touches in the display such as the ringing of the cell phone were very well appreciated by the audience who cheered wildly at the end of the display. Synchronization was pretty good throughout with only minor run-on of some of the cakes. A very enjoyable and innovative display - and very difficult for your reporter to keep up with the many musical tracks!

Thanks to the public relations people of La Ronde for the official press release material, shown in white.