EYE-CATCHING ATTRACTIONS, from classic fireworks to high-tech visual effects, bring an element of surprise to — and enhance the message of — events.
The company's custom-designed Dragon system, which produces a DMX-controlled propane flame that can reach heights of 30 feet, is a current client favorite, Adams notes. The system can “produce a ‘chase’ effect that engulfs an area, or multiple ‘heads’ can be fired at the same time to create fireballs, flame columns and/or walls of fire,” he explains.
Adams notes that while the West Warwick, R.I., nightclub tragedy in 2003 produced many changes in pyrotechnics, the positive outcome is that “the attitude throughout the industry has now become to hire the safest and most professional pyrotechnics companies” to ensure guest safety.
At EffectDesign in Novato, Calif., Visual illusions top the request list, says president Geoff Puckett. “More and more our solutions revolve around electronic projection due to flexibility of setup and instantaneous ability to make ‘set changes,’” he explains.
The Versa TILE from Element Labs in Austin, Texas, is another eye-catching product. The video-controlled LED tiles can be assembled like building blocks to create wall or floor displays. Each tile represents one pixel on a computer screen and can display content from graphics programs or from stock imagery to create colors, patterns or moving images, explains Vanessa Durrance, sales and marketing assistant. “Anything used for special effects must capture the audience initially and intrigue them to sustain that attention,” she says, noting that the tiles have done just that at the MTV Movie Awards and for Saab at the North American International Auto Show.
With so many advances in special effects in recent years, it's not surprising that Kevin Bilida, CEO of Los Angeles-based TLC Creative Productions, names multimedia — or combining effects such as streamer cannons, lasers and video projection — as his company's primary service. “Instead of doing one effect for 60 seconds, we now do six effects for 10 seconds each, therefore entertaining people in a dynamic way and elevating the moment,” he says.
Among the products his company is using are disappearing balloon walls, which combine multiple effects leading up to a final crescendo; and moving video projections, which he calls “the latest and greatest and newest” technology.