Czech fireworkers played with fire, drone show celebrated the warm relationship between Czechs and Slovaks

Brno – The Czech team Flash Barrandov SFX were Playing with Fire for the first show of the 26th year of Ignis Brunensis. The pyromusical was followed by a drone show called Dance of Two, which commemorated 30 years since Czechoslovakia was divided and also the beautiful relationship between both nations.

The very first of the four fireworks displays at the Brno reservoir set a high bar for a special year of Ignis Brunensis, "Winner of Winners". Flash Barrandov SFX, led by Jaroslav Stolba, stole the sky above the water with a dynamic show with striking effects. Playing with Fire, as the authors called their pyromusical, shone with colours. The Czech fireworkers were precise with synchronising the effects with six different songs. They also used various effects just above water to create various reflections on the water surface.

"We chose songs from the movie Plunkett & Macleane (among others) for the soundtrack. It has a special meaning for us, as it was one of our first special effects supervisions on an A-list film project," commented designer Jaroslav Stolba on the music selection. The fireworkers then continued with more movie themes: towards the end, the audience could enjoy dramatic effects evoking the falling sky to the tones of Skyfall, and then at the very end, the exuberant mix of Beucase We Can from the musical Moulin Rouge.

The show was a success with the audience. "The ending was unreal, during Skyfall I felt like in a Bond movie, they totally nailed it. The ending was very playful and colourful, really cool," said Sara Sedlackova, who appreciated the first show.

The fireworks were followed by the first of this year's two drone shows directed by Spectrum Production. The show had to be postponed due to weather conditions: drone shows are susceptible to bad weather, as the drones can’t operate in rain or during strong wind.

The show, called Dance of Two, was dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the division of Czechoslovakia. The show included a conversation between a Czech man and a Slovak woman about the relationship between the two countries and the two nations. The drones created impressive formations in Czechoslovak colours: namely the outline of Czechoslovakia, subsequently divided into Czech and Slovak, a dancing couple, or a symbolic final kiss to all the audience.

"I really enjoy the drones, it's something different from the fireworks which have been part of the Brno lake for a long time. The division of Czechoslovakia was an interesting idea with a very nice performance," said David Smejkal.

The audience can enjoy another fireworks show on Wednesday, June 14 at the Brno dam. The pyromusical Fire Kisses Water was prepared by the French team POK 2.0 Lux Factory, the winner of 3 out of 5 awards in 2018.

Dominika Lišková
The author graduated from FSS MU in Brno,
for more information from students of the faculty visit Stisk online

Photogallery: Robert Vystrčil