• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Fireworks 2015

SuperMuscleMan said:
If they did fly a drone over the audience then Alton towers and the filming company were asking for trouble. I use the quad copter (a drone is a device that can do remote operations ie for the army but the press latched onto filming quadscopters/octocopters and called them drones and we all know how the press like to distort things). And they should NEVER be flown above crowds. It's illegal to start with. If it came down think how much that would do for Alton towers credibility! Im OK with it personally going up and doing a side shot with no people under but again legally its 100 metres from crowds and near no roads (which obviously sonic is near). Totally irresponsible if it was organised by the towers.
Click to expand...

The drone I saw was not directly over the crowd but towards the left of the display, it never once went over the crowd. It was hard to get a full perspective of exactly where it was in the sky. I believe it was Jubilee Fireworks that were doing the filming and that they have used drones to film shows in the past.

I'm sure the relevant permissions had been gained.

:)
 
Um, I know Towers would not run a UAV themselves without licencing, and any licensed UAV filming company would not break the CAA laws on UAV use for aerial Filming.
 
Last edited:
Rob said:
The drone I saw was not directly over the crowd but towards the left of the display, it never once went over the crowd. It was hard to get a full perspective of exactly where it was in the sky. I believe it was Jubilee Fireworks that were doing the filming and that they have used drones to film shows in the past.

I'm sure the relevant permissions had been gained.

:)
Click to expand...

Went right over the heads of everyone stood by us (bottom of Towers Street where the hearse was parked) and to get there it went over the crowds in front of us. Maybe it didnt other nights but Friday it certainally went over the crowd, not that it bothered me in the slightest, but just saying :)
 
Watching more videos of the show on YouTube I appreciate this years show a little more. Seeing videos that have the pre-show bit makes more sense of the story (it seemed a little lacking/confusing watching videos without the pre-show). You can tell there's been thought and care put into the show. It's not quite executed perfectly, but it certainly has that Alton Towers charm.

It's the lack of pyro and music selection that lets it down for me. Some parts sound great, other parts don't sound right (different tracks might have made all the difference). I however still love the pre-show and finale music created by IMAscore, and I love the finale production as a whole, that's the Alton Towers magic right there (if it still exists).
 
James said:
It's the lack of pyro and music selection that lets it down for me.
Click to expand...

That's what I noticed first when I went on the Sunday, the lack of fireworks. It was smallest display I've ever known from Alton Towers.

Such a shame really, with working in fireworks I see so many shows but Alton is always the highlight of the year for me because it's always one of the biggest in the country. This year however I worked several shows larger than Alton's, which was really odd and a bit of a let down in that respect.

They got away with it though - the gaps where characters were playing their parts and narrating the story reduced the amount of firing time, so when the fireworks were on it didn't feel too thin. If that amount of fireworks were spread out over the full 25 minutes the way 2010, 2011, and 2012 were then it would have looked awful.

If they could get the budget back for next year, and maintain the quality of theme and story from this year, then I think they'd be back to the days of 'world famous' and 'record breaking' type shows.
 
Personally didn't see a problem with the quadcopter - it was to the right of the display when I saw it, and towards the monorail side of spinball so really the only roads underneath would be private ones owned by Alton, I know they have a lot of admin buildings round there.
 
I heard a few years ago that they blew up £150,000 a night... but not sure how true that is and I'd imagine it would be much less this year.
 
Kernow71 said:
Roughly what would the fireworks (just the fireworks) have cost?
Click to expand...

2010, 2011, 2012 - approx £25,000 per night. 2013, 2014 - probably around £15,000 to £18,000. This year, looked to me about £10,000 because I've done several displays with more product on it which were in the 12 to 15 range.

e4kenndr said:
I heard a few years ago that they blew up £150,000 a night... but not sure how true that is and I'd imagine it would be much less this year.
Click to expand...

Never ever.
 
Yeah the more I watch the videos the more I am appreciating it as well, in particular the timing of the fireworks and the music.

But.... I think I need help.... I cant stop listening to the remix of Hex and ITHOTMK. Love it love it love it.
 
GaryH said:
Went right over the heads of everyone stood by us (bottom of Towers Street where the hearse was parked) and to get there it went over the crowds in front of us. Maybe it didnt other nights but Friday it certainally went over the crowd, not that it bothered me in the slightest, but just saying :)
Click to expand...

Ah fair enough, I only saw it on Sunday!
delta79 said:
Are you sure the UAV (drone) was officially connected to the fireworks?
Click to expand...

Yes it definitely was.

:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top