Category Archives: Blog

Oh, you know each other?

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As I travel the country working on events and visiting schools, it always makes me smile when someome says “We had a visit from X, not sure if you have ever come across them?” or “Ah, so you know and get on with X?” (X is a STEM presenter).

Katie Steckles (seriously cool maths presenter) next to an unknown person

There’s a high chance that I know them and they know me. You see, whilst we may seem to operate by ourselves as freelancers or appear to compete for headline shows, we do talk and support each other. The UK Science Communication scene is very close-knit.

It may come as a shock to some people who consider us to be competitors that we may admit to liking each other or (heaven forbid) even recommend someone else for a particular gig. If I am unable to fulfill a potential client’s needs, rather than just say no, I would much prefer to recommend an alternative and point them in the right direction.

But our collaboration goes beyond that. There are regular messages flying around on WhatsApp, email and Slack groups about potential clients, laser safety, the best cameras or smoke machines, plus things like how to get hold of large quantities of borax or veterinary lubricant.

We are one industry with a mission: To engage our audiences with science (in fact, all of the STEM subjects). Sure, we each bring our own expertise or niche to the festival stage, school hall, theatre, online videos, television or radio shows, but collectively we share a common broad aim. With that in mind, why wouldn’t I want to support my fellow science communication colleagues, be it formally or informally?

I have worked with and supported many other presenters behind the scenes on theatre tours and festivals, particularly from a Health and Safety perspective. Whether it is working with Greg Foot on a national theatre tour, supporting production H&S at Cheltenham Science Festival or advising on Christmas show tour safety, I enjoy my work behind the scenes just as much as being on stage.

Of course, I get to see another side to presenters and support them towards best practice in science show H&S. It provides an interesting dual-perspective on the performance world!

That’s why I value being part of a close-knit group of people and organisations such as the BIG STEM Communicators Network. It gives us an opportunity to support each other and, in the longer term, raise the quality bar.

Rehearse! Rehearse! Rehearse!

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Science presenters often have stunts and acts that appear chaotic, funny and a bit haphazard on live stage or television. The truth is, for the majority of us, they are thoroughly rehearsed.

The result is that whenever you see a presenter doing something that appears seamless in a live performance, it is because it has been rehearsed. Yes, we rehearse. Even if it appears to be a first time for them or a surprise on stage, we’ve rehearsed it, especially if we are working with a fellow presenter or guest.

To those of us in the industry, this is a fundamental part of our profession. Each demonstration or stunt is blocked through so that everyone involved knows what to expect and what to do if something goes wrong. It is part of our risk assessment but goes much deeper than that. I like to think of it as a professional standard.

A few years ago, I was commissioned to create a vat of custard for a world record attempt on daytime television. A well-known TV chef was to do it first-time, but we had to talk him through exactly what would be happening to ensure that he understood what would be required and how to do it safely. In short, I tested it and then we had a rehearsal with the main presenter.

This is routine.

However, sometimes the thrill of live TV can get the better of people and the weaknesses in their preparation becomes apparent. Watch and learn from this example on Australian TV recently.

There is a catalogue of failings right from the start of the clip. The person leading the segment appears to be absorbed by the excitement of a live broadcast and is not paying attention to the safety of himself nor those around him. The presenters involved could have been seriously disfigured, blinded or far worse.

When I see a clip like this, I worry. I worry that impressionable people could see this as the norm; that it is acceptable to take these sorts of risks. In this particular case, the mishandling of liquid nitrogen can be lethal. There are asphyxiation, pressure explosion, projectile, frost bite and slip hazards, to name but a few.

Professional science presenters work tirelessly to perfect their demos in order to carry them out slickly and safely in high-pressured, live performance situations. Sometimes they work with specialist engineers or advisers (like me!) behind the scenes. The patter and banter are all worked in afterwards.

I hope that none of our Australian counterparts or crew carry any long term ill effects as a result of this incident. I also hope that TV producers and early career presenters can reflect on and learn from near misses like this.

If you have ANY doubt over a demo that you or someone else is doing, please please please contact an experienced professional for help and advice. We may joke on stage, but we are extremely serious about our work.

To speak or not to speak?

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Two frequently asked questions come up regularly:

  1. “Why don’t you publish a list of your forthcoming firework displays?”
  2. “Why don’t you vlog or post photos from all of your shows?”

The presenter in me often wants to shout about and share my work. However, when I work on a firework display, I am engaged as a pyrotechnician with a professional responsibility for that particular display, on behalf of a client. The client is a paying customer and the priority for my team is to make the show happen.

If we are slowed down by the poor weather or traffic delays to get to site, then standing around and talking to a camera isn’t going to earn me any favours with my fellow crew members, yet alone the client. It is ESSENTIAL that you are a focussed team player in this job.

The success, safety and security of the event are all interlinked, which means that I am not always permitted to disclose where I am going to be at a particular time.

A lot of this depends on the client of course, along with the size, type and location of the display. Often, I will only show on-site footage and pictures, rather than how we got there.

Sometimes a display is a complete secret, to create a surprise for the audience. It is really special to be able to create a surprise like this, but can you imagine the fallout (no pun!) if I gave it all away on social media? It would be a total failure on my part! As such, I’ve spent many nights hiding in fields, on roofs and bridges whilst being unable to say anything public until afterwards.

Make no mistake, keeping quiet is really difficult when you enjoy what you do! It’s like an industrial sponsored silence, but it is all part of the challenge and enjoyment of working in live events.

But of course, many shows are in the public domain and some event managers actually build public engagement behind-the-scenes into the whole package. The launch of Hull City of Culture with Titanium Fireworks is an example of this.

I make a professional judgement, in conjunction with my firework colleagues, site managers and the client, to ensure that what I disclose from a firework site doesn’t give away any key secrets or compromise security. (HINT: We travel with and work with explosives. If you didn’t realise this, go and stand in the corner.)

Over the years, I have earned trust across the firework industry to strike this fine balance and showcase the skills and huge amount of work that goes on behind-the-scenes. Right now, as I write this, hundreds of professionals are working flat-out to pre-prepare the fireworks for displays across the UK as we head into the Halloween and Bonfire Night season.

So where will I be firing from on the main Bonfire weekend this year? A major racecourse and a scaffolding tower on a Somerset beach both feature in my schedule. There may be more, but you know, I couldn’t possibly say. (See above – you have actually read this post, haven’t you?)

I’ll be posting more updates on Facebook and Twitter over the next two weeks as we head towards Guy Fawkes Night 2017.

Stay safe out there!

Making, baking and decorating cakes

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The past 48 hrs have been packed with even more visits and special treats. Firstly, we went along to see a Chinese pyro-musical wedding show with no bride, groom nor wedding guests. It was a trial and demonstration of a new style of show to demonstrate that smaller-scale and lower budget shows can still have impact.

The pyrotechnicians are essentially trialling the idea of off-the-shelf professional packs. There will be a variety of styles for weddings, birthdays, corporate events and so on. It may come as a bit of a surprise, but this has, apparently, not been done before. Until now, each pyro-musical show has been designed from scratch, requiring a significant budget and meaning that professional displays were not available to a lot of people. This new approach aims to make professional displays more accessible.

We were invited onto the firing site to see the rig in progress. It was an all cake show, with a few fountains included, meaning that there was no need to rig any mortars, which can be time consuming.Chinese firework rigging

The new packaged show idea uses a pre-programmed firing system, which even includes the music stored in the memory. What’s more, the system makes use of low-latency glow plugs – the fuse ends are fitted with a plastic sheath which then allow it to be clipped into the glow plug adapter. The head technician said that it had a response time of 1/50 seconds, which is barely noticeable to the human eye.

The factory doing the show allowed us to visit their production line the following day. Like several other companies, they are looking at ways of automating certain stages in the cake manufacturing process in order to meet demand.

Jack Ge and Matthew ToshFinally, we were extremely honoured to be dinner guests of Jack Ge, Senior Fireworks Artist Master, Liuyang Fireworks & Firecrackers Administration Bureau. He is one of the most senior people in the main Liuyang governing body of fireworks in China. A top bloke indeed and full of enthusiasm!

Making a shopping list

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20150114_064139A really important part of the visit to Liuyang is to see product demonstrations. Every single night, I have been outside watching demos and you know what? It is bloomin’ freezing when you are sitting still for over an hour.

Some factories specialise in just one type of firework, such as aerial shells. Others produce a wider range of materials and hence the demonstrations for these can be longer. The largest one I went to featured over 70 different fireworks and effects. That’s a lot to take in and remember, and so we are given mark sheets. To a certain extent, it’s like being back in the classroom.

After two or three demos, one’s brain becomes a bit saturated and so the group comes together to review and share thoughts on all of the material seen so far.

We go through our notes whilst watching videos of the demos we’ve seen. The video is a really helpful reminder.

The conversations are around the blend of effects and the markets that they are suitable for. There are three areas that we are looking at this week: Consumer retail goods, professional fireworks and stage pyrotechnics. The requirements of each are very different. For consumer material, we have to think about the calibre, height and burst diameter. We are also considering mine effects in cakes; stars that erupt from the ground around the main projectile to fill the lower part of the sky. There is a surprising difference in quality and spread – basically, you wouldn’t want to have too large a spread on a firework if it is intended to be lit by hand!

We are also looking for symmetry of spherical bursts and consistency of height in multi-shot materials. This varied quite a lot for some manufacturers, something that I hadn’t really appreciated until now.

Lab testingSome of the more sophisticated factories have introduced detailed testing and analysis of the raw ingredients and finished powder mixtures. One factory that I visited has automated several of its processes, including installing a machine that fills cakes, ensuring that even the cardboard discs are all pushed in to the same level in every single tube. Both of these can have an effect on the performance height of a projectile.

The group has some very detailed discussions about certain fireworks, freeze-framing the video and almost doing a frame-by-frame dissection of the effects. In some cases, we’ve decided to take the mine of one and blend it with the aerial glittering effect of another. This is how much control we have over the fireworks. I can’t give any specific details as some of this is commercially sensitive information; I’ve been sworn to secrecy!

A lot of people ask me if we customise or design fireworks for import – this is exactly what is going on in this meeting.

As this particular group imports shop goods and is the largest importer of professional (Category 4) fireworks to the United Kingdom, what you see in the shops and at many UK professional displays in late Summer and Autumn 2015 will be a direct result of this meeting.

Cool, eh?