Frozentech Posted March 6, 2006 Posted March 6, 2006 Well, last night I got to shoot for a display company, it was a small handfired show (300 or so shells, mostly 3,6 and 8 inch, with some 10's and 2 12's. I had my video camera sitting on the dash of my truck trying to catch some of the action in the shooting line, and some of it came out OK. We were shooting on a frozen lake in Wasilla, Alaska. Here's the last few minutes of the show, we shot the finale from off screen unfortunately. Hand-fired show, Wasilla Alaska
Pretty green flame Posted March 6, 2006 Posted March 6, 2006 I would love to do something like this. I was promised a full training course for my 18th birthday. Can't wait. Nice job on firing those shells, must be very thilling when it fires a couple of feet away from you.
TheSidewinder Posted March 6, 2006 Posted March 6, 2006 Hey, nothing quite like the chest-pounding of a six from 3 feet away, eh? Sweet job. (You all weren't hand-firing the 10's and 12's though, were you?) M
aquaman Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 Wow that is pretty sweet. Too bad you couldn't have someone hold the camera to see the whole show . Especially the finale.
justanotherpyro Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 We are all thinking it. You are one lucky bastard.
Frozentech Posted March 7, 2006 Author Posted March 7, 2006 We are all thinking it. You are one lucky bastard. Waiting for a call back about 3 more shows, going to try and do at least 2 of them, but one might require an overnight trip that I don't feel like making...
aquaman Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 Waiting for a call back about 3 more shows, going to try and do at least 2 of them, but one might require an overnight trip that I don't feel like making...Heck, an overnight trip, I'd do it.
justanotherpyro Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 Awesome deal frozentech. I would say take advantage of the opportunity that few have.
FrKoNaLeaSh1010 Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 That is a very cool opportunity that you came across. Mind telling how you came about to do the show? I am almost 18 and would love to be able to do that I just dont know how to go about doing it. Do you need to like join a group or just call a company or something. Idk deffinitely a cool opportunity though.
Frozentech Posted March 7, 2006 Author Posted March 7, 2006 That is a very cool opportunity that you came across. Mind telling how you came about to do the show? I am almost 18 and would love to be able to do that I just dont know how to go about doing it. Do you need to like join a group or just call a company or something. Idk deffinitely a cool opportunity though. I was looking into joining the Western Pyrotechnics Association, and I found out the regional Vice President ran a display company. I contacted him about membership and one thing led to another. Joining a local guild or regional club might be your best entry, where pyro's mingle you'll find the opportunities.
Chris Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 How is the contracting like in the US? Here in Finland, there are just a few display companies and many shooters work 'freelance' for many of them. Ther arn't too many gigs available to every shooter, but if I get to shoot a display every now and then, I'm guite happy.
Mumbles Posted March 7, 2006 Posted March 7, 2006 From the shooters I've talked to, it seems you are hired by a company and you work for them. I don't know if there is an agreement where you only work for them or not. I would imagine working for more than one company around new years or the 4th could get a tad hectic.
moonshot Posted September 9, 2006 Posted September 9, 2006 I got my first chance to help setup and shoot a big display July 4 2006.A good friend of mine is on the fireworks commitee for the town of Saint Helens Oregon USA. He got me on the volunteer staff. The show is put on by an all volunteer commitee and staff rather than a professional company. the commitee works all year to raise money for the fireworks. This year they had $17,500 worth of display shells. We worked from 9:00 AM to 8:30 PM to get the show set up. I learned a great deal on how a big show is set up by working with people who had been doing it for years. Its cool because a big show is all set up in sections. The Opener, the mid show, the side show, the special and the Finale. I was in charge of shooting thirty rounds of 4" shells to help fill in the lulls if the other shooters slowed down. The show was set up on a beach on an island in the Columbia river. It took up about an acre. The tubes were buried in the sand. The trenches were dug by a backhoe but we had to place them all and backfill it all by hand with shovels. The mid show alone had three rows of 100 rounds each of 3,4, 6 and 8 inch shells. Then we had to fuse and foil the finale with quickmatch. The whole thing went off in 35 minutes. Now thats really burning money! Helping on this shoot gives me the chance to take the seminar to get my license so I can work on other shoots but you have to work on 3 shoots in one year to get certified to buy 1.3 and do big shoots.
cplmac Posted September 9, 2006 Posted September 9, 2006 How is the contracting like in the US? Here in Finland, there are just a few display companies and many shooters work 'freelance' for many of them. Ther arn't too many gigs available to every shooter, but if I get to shoot a display every now and then, I'm guite happy. There are fewer and fewer companies here in the US. The larger companies have figured out that they can rally together and buy lobbyists state by state and pass laws that run the small operators out of business. It happened here in Illinois this year. Illinois went from scores of display companies to less than 20 this year. The five largest pyro companies got together and paid a lobbyist $10,000 wrote the law and told him to get it passed. Which he did with the help state Senator Angelo Saviano of River Grove. That law closed the doors to dozens of small display operators and it is happening in more and more states.
cplmac Posted September 9, 2006 Posted September 9, 2006 From the shooters I've talked to, it seems you are hired by a company and you work for them. I don't know if there is an agreement where you only work for them or not. I would imagine working for more than one company around new years or the 4th could get a tad hectic. As a shooter you are hired by the display company. I have worked for four different display companies in the same year. I have never heard of anyone signing any kind of agreement to work for only one company. Those who are full time employees might, but 99% of shooters are seasonal. A good way to get your foot in the door is to take some training seminars and join a pyro organization for your region. Pyro groups are fantastic places to network. Since pretty much all pyrotechnicians do the job for fun it's pretty easy to get invited to come work on a show. Don't expect to make much money though.
Mumbles Posted September 9, 2006 Posted September 9, 2006 I worked on a couple this year. Two were totally voluntary at the PGI, but I actually got paid for one. I made a whopping $40 for 13 hours of work. It was well worth it though. Most fun job I've ever had.
noslo98 Posted September 9, 2006 Posted September 9, 2006 I did my first handfire show at the begining of june this year it was a blast, then did another on the 3rd of july that one was awesome. The other 15 shows i have done since june have all been e fired.There is definitly nothing like a handfired show.It just sucks that the handfire shows are getting slimmer and slimmer to come across.
moonshot Posted September 9, 2006 Posted September 9, 2006 Yeah. The Saint Helens group is switching to electric fire for the 07 shoot.They want to choreograph it to music and all that rigamorole. The supplier that sells them the fireworks is giving them the firing system if they can buy $20.000 of works for the 07 show. Takes the fun out of it if you ask me. There is just nothing like torching a quickmatch leader and feeling the thump when the lift goes off. P.S Now I know why the call it QUICKmatch!
artificier Posted September 29, 2006 Posted September 29, 2006 he lost your time to remove each safety caps , i prefer electrical method.
cplmac Posted September 30, 2006 Posted September 30, 2006 Same here, although there is a real draw to lighting the fuse and feeling the shell leaving the gun.
artificier Posted September 30, 2006 Posted September 30, 2006 yeah ! i will fired manually two time last years and its a very good felling and adrenalin to light 6" shell or the final rack
joker5 Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 i got my state operators license last month. i did my first paid show on sept 16, made 150.00 for a 5 minute show, 100 shells and 10 cakes, it was for a high school homecoming. total work was about 1 hour. i made 15% of the bill. with my state license i can purchase,posses, and discharge "class c dangerous " fireworks, which in utah is anything that goes more than 15 feet in the air, or explodes. i dont have to go to wyoming now to buy it either, i can buy it in salt lake from a distributor. so, im thinking 2 or 3 hundred shells in front of my house on new years, and the cops cant do shit. plus i can run all my own pro displays now, instead of volunteer.
Mumbles Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 You still need a permit from the local authorities for the show. However, if you were "testing material" I believe you can get away with it. If you manufacture (licenced that is), you can use the excuse too.
joker5 Posted October 17, 2006 Posted October 17, 2006 i dont need a "permit" , just "approval" from the local licensing authority. they dont have a permit for this type of show becuase i am the only licensed pyro in the city or county i live in and they have never had such a request as this. i dont think they knew about this loophole in the state law. anyways, i have talked with the city's fire inspector, and as soon as i submit a site plan they will issue a letter of approval.
Recommended Posts