Fireworks design workshop

First SessionJune 2, 2017

Topics
・The history of fireworks
・Fireworks in Japan, manufacturing technologies
・Types of fireworks
・Modern fireworks, entertainment-style fireworks
・Design theme

The first session was taught by President Aoki of Beniya Aoki Fireworks in Nagano and by President Ogatsu of Marutamaya in Tokyo. President Aoki prepared a slideshow for the day’s presentation, which was full of fascinating material. Participants learned about the origin of fireworks as well as the fact that Tokugawa Ieyasu was responsible for launching Japan’s first firework, and that it was brought into the country from England.

President Ogatsu talked about fireworks manufacturing. He used a model of a shell to explain how the inside of the shells are constructed, how the opening of each shell is timed, and more, presenting the technical details in a way that was clear and easy to understand.

Fireworks use many colors—reds, blues, greens, and more—but there is actually no limit to the colors. It’s the pyrotechnician that’s responsible for making subtle changes to the way each color appears, each expert taking on his own characteristic style over time.

The participants asked all kinds of questions during the Q&A period, including how the colors were made, how long fireworks burn, and the difference between fireworks that leave a trail and those that don‘t. Everyone was extremely engaged during this portion of the workshop in an attempt to find out what fireworks were capable of as they considered their personal firework designs.

Despite the limited time, the participants were able to get all of their questions asked before the day’s session was over. They were then asked to start working on their individual designs.

Second SessionJune 9, 2017

Topics
・The Star Mine bouquet launch method
・Q&A session
・Announcement of selected designs
・Advice on selected designs

The second day of the workshop was led by Sei Iwano of Marutamaya. The thirteen participants had submitted eighteen designs following the previous workshop.

The session kicked off with each of the participants presenting their designs. The idea was to have them talk about not only the design, but their reasons behind it, the creative techniques they used, how it might be used as a firework, and so on. It was clear from the presentations that the participants had already learned a great deal in a short amount of time.

After the presentations were finished, the workshop continued with Iwano talking about Marutamaya’s specialty, fireworks set to music, as well as the Star Mine launch method, which sets off multiple small fireworks in rapid succession and is critical to creating musical fireworks displays.

The design theme for the workshop was the Olympic victory bouquet, and the Star Mine method is ideal for displaying that kind of bouquet. The participants listened as Iwano explained about the kinds of fireworks that could be included in a Star Mine presentation and the kinds of visuals it could be used to create. This was followed by a discussion of how each person’s design could be refined for use in a sixty-second fireworks presentation.

Finally, at the end of the session, six designs were chosen based on discussions with the pyrotechnicians who would actually be manufacturing the fireworks. The participants really put a lot of thought into every design, making it incredibly difficult to choose just six of them. The submissions were full of ideas that the fireworks experts had never even considered, and many inspired them to go out and try things that they never had before. Even the pyrotechnicians felt that the designs were fresh and exciting.

The six designers whose work was chosen were asked to come up with ideas for a fireworks program lasting about a minute, which they would present at the next workshop session.

Third SessionJune 13, 2017

Topics
・Types of display methods (programming, sequencing, music, etc.)
・Advice, touching up the designs

Suggestions for the actual fireworks presentation were finally discussed on the third day of the workshop. The instructors for this session were President Komatsu of Komatsu Fireworks in Akita and President Ogatsu of Marutamaya in Tokyo, who was presenting for the second time.

This session kicked off with a discussion of how the programming and sequencing might work for the selected design. The fireworks experts led the discussion based on the programming ideas that the designers had come up with since the last session. The designers talked with the pyrotechnicians about the kind of display they wanted to create, the kind of color palette it might use, and how the fireworks might be combined in order to achieve the design as they imagined it, how the sixty seconds might be utilized, and so on.

Some of the participants had proposed that their designs be set to music from the beginning, and the fireworks experts and designers shared various ideas about how their ideas might be further improved.

The pyrotechnicians brought all their expertise to bear in responding to the participants’ ideas, taking several topics back with them for further consideration. They decided that they would create fireworks that had never been made before, and both instructors and designers alike seemed to greatly enjoy the discussion.

Creating a new firework involves making a test piece and actually setting it off to see how it does. It’s quite a process. Each design piece was thoroughly discussed, which resulted in several more assignments to be completed by the next session. And with that, the third day of the workshop was brought to a close.