French fireworker: We will aim to create a mirror effect between sky and water

Brno – His team won the 2018 Ignis Brunensis and took home 3 out of 5 prizes. Arnaud Fouriau, designer from POK 2.0 Lux Factory from France, reminisces about his memories of Brno and talks about the creation of their show, Fire Kisses Water. The fiery musical will shine above the Brno dam on Wednesday, June 14. 

In 2018, you won the main award, the music award and the award for the best scenography with A Night Under the Stars. How do you remember your visit to Brno?

Our visit to Brno will remain forever etched in my memory. Meeting and collaborating with the extraordinary people from Flash Barandov SFX was a great human and professional experience. And we certainly didn’t expect to win all these awards and become the winners this edition of a renowned festival.

With which feelings are you returning to Ignis Brunensis? Do you believe that you will build on your success?

We are looking forward to presenting our show to thousands of people who are used to watching pyro shows of great quality and have high expectations. Also, the teams we are competing with are world-class teams. I know them very well so we will see who will become the Winner of Winners. We are certainly proud to be here with some of the best fireworks teams in the world.

Your pyromusical focuses on the contrast of two elements – fire and water. Which one do you prefer and why?

I can’t pick a favourite element from the two mentioned, but I love designing shows while thinking about the three dimensions of space.  Water works as a mirror for the light though fire can’t merge with it, that’s what’s interesting for me. Those two elements seem to become one but are never really together.

One of your musical themes is Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights in a cover version by Imagine Music. How did you enjoy working with this version of one of the most famous classical music pieces?

For me, it’s a powerful and emotional classic composition, evoking Romeo and Juliet, an impossible history of love. It brought a lot of inspiration to the theme of our show.

Five years ago, you filled the sky above the dam with effects resembling stars. Are you planning to continue with the star effects that brought you the victory in 2018 in this year's show?

We are coming back to Brno with a new project and new great and different effects from some of the best manufacturers in Europe – probably also the best in the whole world. Stars, mines, swimming stars, special shells from Italy…

How do you plan to use the water surface of the Brno Lake for your fireworks show?

We will use some horizontal effects grazing the water surface, and bright effects which create a mirror effect between the sky and water.

What are you excited for this year?

I’m very excited to come back in Brno. Like I said, I have a special memory of 2018. I’m so happy that we are now known outside of France (also thanks to our victory in Brno in 2018) as we are very busy with a lot of great projects. For example, this year we will participate on Cannes International Pyrotechnic Arts Festival on the 8th of August.

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

Photogallery: Robert Vystrčil