I just received my proximate license. I passed all the tests and got all the necessary experience and training. I would like to talk in this thread about safety issues, tips and issues that are different with proximate than with outdoor for those who might be considering getting a proximate license.
I think the most important thing I learned in this process is that:
"You have to get it right the first time". In proximate, your audience can be as close as 15'. If something goes wrong, people could get injured or killed. With outdoor pyrotechnics, "distance is your friend", if something goes wrong, the audience has the NFPA 1123 "distance of separation" to protect them from most problems. This is not the case with proximate fireworks.
It is important to be a very detailed oriented person, so you do get it right the first time.
You have to be on the look out for potentially dangerous situations. During one training shoot, I had to go up in the catwalk in the ceiling of a stadium. The audience was 80-100' below (you can't be afraid of heights). Before I went out my trainer, told me to secure any items I needed and leave behind anything that was not needed. He pointed out that if something accidently dropped, it would kill somebody or leave a big dent in the stadium floor. About halfway through our work, I noticed my nose was sweating and my glasses were slipping on my nose a bit. They have never fallen off my face, but I decided to get glasses strap.
Another time, I was training with a concussion canon. Looking at the mixture, I mentally figured it was about 7x-10x more powerful than a M-80. I mentioned this to my trainer. He said, yes, that if handled in correctly it would vaporize you hand. So it was very important to learn the correct way so if it did go off, you would still have your hand.
My trainer insisted that not everyone is "cut out for" or may even like proximate. He was very picky about who he would train into proximate fireworks. Some people think it is too "futzy" work for the amount of effects you get. There are no breaking shells. You work with strobes, flares, falme effects, flame projectors, line rockets, gerbs, mines, concussion canons, air bursts and sometimes non-breaking candles. These have to be specially designed for proximate or indoor. They have less smoke and there has to be no fall out as there is with outdoor fireworks.
yeagerb
February 29th, 2008, 11:47 AM
Joe,
Great topic! Something that I have learned under my continuing apprenticeship, when securing product to riggings, especially those lifted high into the air above an audience, it's very important to not leave your tools or any unsecured items on the rigging. That is, when your working and you pull a pair of pliers out of your work holster, put the pliers right back into your holster. Don't leave any unsecured items on the rigging itself as they become a falling debris hazzard!
Remember that not all of the hazzards are necessarily pyro-based!
noel
February 29th, 2008, 03:54 PM
That right there will knock 1126 off my "to do" list
The audience was 80-100' below (you can't be afraid of heights).
Dan
February 29th, 2008, 04:45 PM
Boe,
in the theatre field..EVERYTHING is secured to your body when you are working overhead. Wrenches aren't in tool belts, they are attached to a safety cable and lanyard and clipped to your belt loop or belt, same goes with your maglight, etc. No loose tools go to the catwalk..PERIOD.
Dan
Marty
February 29th, 2008, 05:11 PM
A must have book for all of my close prox students is "The Backstage Handbook". It shows all of these rigging and working requirements.
One in particular, when you rig items overhead they must be secured and an approved safety cable attached. Next time you are at a concert or other event, take a close look at the equipment attached to the trusses, you will see these cables.
JoeRatman
March 2nd, 2008, 12:00 PM
My proximate license arrived in the mail yesterday from the State Fire Marshal's office. Yeah!
Pyro-ADF
March 29th, 2008, 06:36 PM
Congratulations Joe! Let me know where and when one of your shows are gonna be and ill try to be there!
Rikerz
March 30th, 2008, 08:35 PM
Congrats Joe!:lol:
Strictly FX Bull
April 15th, 2009, 11:04 AM
I know that I am a little late on this thread but I am a newbie to the forum.
One of the biggest safety hazards on a close prox show are the performers. Some are better than others about being in the right place at the right time. You have to make sure that anyone on the stage or in the area knows where everything is. It is very important to have a spotter to keep eyes on product to make sure someone hasn't kicked over or is standing over a piece of product when it fires. Communication between the shooter and spotter is important. If the spotter doesn't have direct communication with the shooter then they need to know the show like the back of their hand. A spotter should also not be afraid to have to grab and physically move someone who is in danger. I have had to physically have to move cops, firemen, performers, coaches, players and camera men (especially camera men). The first action should be to get their attention if time allows but the spotter needs to know when to step in and just move them. As the shooter you have to see the big picture to be able to react fast enough and sometimes be a little psychic (not psycho) to realize that someone will move in the wrong direction.
Bull
Marty
April 15th, 2009, 12:59 PM
Camera men/photographers have always been my PITA, nothing but what they see in the view finder exists and they have the "it's my world alone" attitude to boot.
As for the talent/performers, most are pretty good about it if they have had experience. One performer was problematic all along, she was sooo into her work the lighting guys had to change some stage lights so she couldn't keep damaging them. I had about a 30% "no fire" due to her being on top of the pyro at cue time.:rolleyes:
JoeRatman
April 15th, 2009, 10:09 PM
Camera men/photographers have always been my PITA, nothing but what they see in the view finder exists and they have the "it's my world alone" attitude to boot.
Ohh boy, tell me about it. I had one camera person who was so intentively looking into the view finder that the stepped on and broke the electrical connections to some streamer cannons I had set up. I had to make some quick repairs. I then grabbed some heavy metal grid work from backstage to form some barricades. Later, despite the barricades this same camera person managed to back into the cannons with their "backside". It was extremely tempting to fire them up this person's "backside" and blame the "misfires" on their clumsiness. :twisted:
I was also doing some proximate work for a Ron Paul gathering. I had positioned myself backstage so I could view the product as I fired them. So as I was standing their with my firing system controls and staring at the product on stage, I glanced to my right and noticed Ron Paul and a body guard were standing right next to me. Then a camera person showed up and tried to push me from my spot because I was blocking their camera view. They kept banging their camera lens into me to get me to move. I stood my ground and glared back at them indicating that I was not moving from the spot and then turned stared intently back at the product with the controlers in hand. This happened about three times before they finally left or repositioned themselves. I was not sure which, because I had to remain intent on the product.
GK
April 15th, 2009, 11:13 PM
I always smile when people tell me that they should get 'licesnsed' to 'do indoor' 'cuz it's easy.
It is true that the level of physical labor is generally less than doing displays. But in its place there are a myriad of other considerations....that is if you are doing it right.
You also run into a lot of places that may really not want you there (unlike most displays) and there seems to be a lot of walking into places where the last guy bounced comets off the roof, burned the scoreboard, had too much fallout from a waterfall, etc.
It can be a great gig, you generally get real food and real sleep, travel pretty light, and don't have to worry about the weather. But there is a lot to deal with and worry about.
GK
pyroscott
April 16th, 2009, 06:56 AM
Indoor / Proximate Pyro is probably the one area that people are the most intrigued about for varous reasons such as you get to play with propane, oils, etc. and there are not a lot of people doing it compared to display shows. Because there is not a whole lot of people doing it, and the people that are are a fairly elite crowd, this also adds to the intrigue of proximate shows. It can also add to the danger of them as well.
When doing a proximate show, there are tons of things that need to be considered. There are general safety issues such as "Does Joe have Croakies on his glasses" to the non-obvious issues such as "are you going to make a lot of people cough from the dust after you set off a concussion mortar". Above all, remember NFPA is only MINIMUM guidelines geared towards the protection of spectators, not necessarily performers, anyone remember Michael Jacksons Pepsi commercial or Gene Simmons hair catching on fire?
Some things to keep in mind:
1- Effects that require pressure (Propane, Oils, etc) can vary greatly on altitude and barometric pressure, even day to day. A test burn is always a good idea so you know how to adjust your accumulator tanks. For example, a propane effect in Denver with the 60 gal. accumulator tank set at 60 psi will be much bigger than if the same effect were at sea level.
2- After your show and you empty your propane accumulator tanks, they are not empty. There is gas still in there that just cannot come out because of air pressure.
3- Concussion mortars do emit a dust after they have been shot that will cause your audience to cough. Good ventilation is necessary for them.
4- When loading your show and it is dark, WEAR A HEADLAMP. Dont hold a maglite or anything. A friend of mine accidently dropped his maglite when he was loading effect. The effect went off and burned his face. He spent a long time in the hospital recovering from this.
5- Pay attention to what people are wearing and where their job duties are. Rumor has it there was a local shooter in Denver (it wasnt me) that let a truss spot operator wear nylon parachute pants. This operator's position was in proximity to and above a propane effect. The operators pants were melted to his socks and his shoes. Fortunately he was not injured.
6- There was a test by a university many years ago and the Luna Tech will blow a hole in a muslin sheet if the sheet is perpendicular to the blast at a 30' height. Keep in mind, these mortars are not the fancier kind of mortars with directional boring and high power powders.
7- Cocncussion mortars can and will fragment. It is best to keep these further than 25' from an audience and baracaded, just because it can't hit the audience doesnt mean it cant hit a performer.
8- It is a good idea to occasionally have your concussion mortars x-rayed for cracks. The last thing you want is shrapnel flying about.
This by all means is not a comprehensive list, just a few things that came to mind early on a Thursday morning.
Scott
Marty
April 16th, 2009, 08:58 AM
Indoor /
Above all, remember NFPA is only MINIMUM guidelines geared towards the protection of spectators, not necessarily performers, anyone remember Michael Jacksons Pepsi commercial or Gene Simmons hair catching on fire?
Scott
Remember it well and was always on my mind touring for 3 years with a group that had a line of ladies with fluffy hair-dos singing at the front of the stage. Thankfully they never got comfy with the silver gerbs that went up in front of them and always paid attention to their marked positions. The lead that was in front n center had butt length, flowing red hair. She just asked that I not make it "flaming" red ;)
I did drag a photographer backwards over the top of a sub cabinet during one performance. My concern was more for the clients expensive lens than the photographer, gerb fallout and fine clock works don't play well together :rolleyes:
Dan
April 16th, 2009, 09:04 AM
Great discussion
as an indoor shooter, I myself don't mind having a spotter, as an extra pair of eyes, usually on the opposite side of the stage as me...however I will NEVER shoot an effect unless I have a clear line of site to that effect. For the actors, dancers, etc...we always do dry run throughs if they are going to be close to an effect.
We make sure costumes are always flameproofed, as well as all surrounding set pieces.
I had to blow up the "butler" for one show..and the director wanted the effect loud and bright...so we built a concussion mortar and flash/smoke pot into the upper landing on this stair case. The person playing the butler had to stand less than 2 feet in front of the effect. he was fully flame proofed, and also wore earplugs. The nice thing about this setup, was that the concussion mortar was encased down in the stairs, so didn't have to worry about any mortar pieces should the mortar happen to fail.
Also..always have extinguishers on hand and close by, just in case.
Dan
Marty
April 16th, 2009, 09:16 AM
We make sure costumes are always flameproofed, as well as all surrounding set pieces.
Also..always have extinguishers on hand and close by, just in case.
Dan
Costumes can be tough, Ya really have to know what they are made of and if the flame retardant will be of much help or damage/stain the fabric. For all of the stage soft goods, we always had the current fire certs and samples for each type. Some had to have 2 certs if it was positioned/hung both vertical and horizontally. Some items are still flammable hung vertically but wont hold a flame horizontally.
Just to add,
1126 2006 edition requires 2 Minimum 10BC rated Dry Chem extinguishers and 2 of the pressurized water extinguishers. I always positioned 1 each with me on one side, the spotter had the others on the opposite side of the stage.
Dan
April 16th, 2009, 01:21 PM
you are right marty..there are different flamex liquids for different materials from cotton to polyester, and even to mix with paint. We know and use each one on it's specific recommended material. we also test the material as well.