Eoin talks drone shows and Bonfire Night on BBC Radio Guernsey

[00:00] Station ident

BBC Radio.

[00:03] Steph Watkins

It’s 20 minutes to 12. Steph Watkins with you here on BBC Radio Guernsey. Sparklers at the ready. It’s Bonfire Night and lots of people will be looking to brave the cold weather for the exciting bangs and lights.

Now, we heard earlier in the week, actually, that the UK are looking at regulating the noise levels created by fireworks. The current legal noise limit for consumer fireworks is 120 decibels. However, the UK government is actively considering lowering this cap to reduce stress for pets, wildlife and local communities as well.

We spoke with Dr Tom Smith from the British Pyrotechnists Association. He told us that reducing noise levels would severely impact the experience of fireworks displays. But it is a major consideration for pets and pet owners and people who are concerned about the wildlife as well.

So what could the future of Bonfire Night displays look like? Well, anybody who was in St Peter Port last year in May will remember the spectacular drone show that was displayed on Liberation 80. One of the men behind that is Eoin O’Grady from FlightShows, and he joins us on the line. Morning, Eoin.

[01:14] Eoin O’Grady

Hi, Steph. Lovely to speak to you. How are you?

[01:16] Steph Watkins

So good to speak to you. I am absolutely great. Thank you so much. And I have to say, the drone display, Eoin, that we saw last year was one of the, I think, most memorable parts of the whole day for a lot of islanders. It was absolutely breathtaking, the story that was told in such an incredible and beautiful way.

What did it feel like for you and the team to tell such a story that was so important to its audience, and more so, I imagine, to have received such amazing feedback?

[01:45] Eoin O’Grady

Yeah, we still talk about it. We still fondly remember that show. It was a very, very special one. And, as you say, the feedback from the entire island, and just the fact that we could evoke that much emotion just by some little flying objects, was quite powerful. I fondly, fondly remember that show.

[02:08] Steph Watkins

I think what was nice about it is it was telling the story of a very historic moment for Guernsey. It’s very, very important for the community and yet told in such a modern way, but still being able to reflect the history of it. Do you know what I mean? It’s that juxtaposition, but I think it worked so well. I guess that’s got to be something that’s really exciting about creating drone shows for you.

[02:34] Eoin O’Grady

Yeah, it gives us that. We have that opportunity to do that and tell a story. Fireworks obviously have this massive scale and size and noise. But actually we can dig deep into the story and get something like that across, which is quite powerful. It’s an amazing opportunity. And we get to do some special things like Liberation 80.

[03:01] Steph Watkins

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I know as well that drones have sort of become increasingly popular in recent years. You look at London New Year’s fireworks displays, they’ve often got them as well. From your experience, are people kind of considering drones more when it comes to firework events, or is it more of just an additional option to consider?

[03:23] Eoin O’Grady

There’s certainly, it’s an alternative. We’ve some shows completely swapping them out for a drone show instead. We’ve got a show tomorrow that we’ve a drone show and fireworks, so we get the best of both worlds. We get a rich story and the spectacle of the fireworks. Yeah, it’s another option, which is great.

[03:52] Steph Watkins

Yeah, because, from your perspective, I know, Eoin, that you’re not anti-firework, are you, just because you run a drone show company?

[04:01] Eoin O’Grady

No, absolutely not. Fireworks have a place. Fireworks are spectacular. The whole sky lighting up and the power of the noise of it. Fireworks are amazing, and people still love fireworks. Are there issues that we can address? Absolutely. Either the noise for animals or people with PTSD, the environment, there are issues there. It just gives us an alternative that we can look at, which I think is really positive. As you say, we’re not against them, but we can offer something that is different.

A good example is we did a show quite recently on a deer park, and there’s no way fireworks ever would have happened there. But we wanted a big spectacle in the sky at the end of the evening, and we were able to do it. And the nosy deer came up and sniffed the drones, and they weren’t disturbed at all.

So, yeah, it’s just a lovely option. The technology is there now to do really cool things, either instead of or alongside other options.

[05:13] Steph Watkins

Yeah, I mean, do you know what’s really interesting, actually, Eoin? I was listening round to some of the BBC local stations this morning. Nottingham Council, they’re not putting on a fireworks display this year. They are doing exclusively a drone show, and it’s paid entry. I think it’s cheaper for the people in the city of Nottingham. If you’re travelling in from further, it’s a bit more expensive in terms of the ticket prices.

But it is interesting to see that there are people, councils and people who are decision makers, who are making these decisions and looking more towards drones. I just think that’s really fascinating.

[05:47] Eoin O’Grady

Yeah, it’s an interesting time. And I think it’ll get even more exciting. Bigger shows, more drones. Yeah, it’s exciting.

[06:03] Steph Watkins

Eoin, while we’ve got you, I’m absolutely fascinated by it. I would love to know how it all actually works. Who designs the shows, and how does it work?

[06:15] Eoin O’Grady

Magic and unicorn dust.

[06:17] Steph Watkins

I love that.

[06:21] Eoin O’Grady

No, it’s relatively simple. The creativity and the technology just kind of come together at the end. But actually, say we were doing a big-number anniversary for BBC Guernsey, me and you would jump on a call, look at what story we’re trying to get across, what the goal of the show is, what we want to get across.

And if that was ending in a big 50 and a BBC logo, go, ‘Cool, that’s the target.’ And we’d work back there and go, ‘Okay, what’s happened over those previous years?’ And it would just be kind of an open, quick conversation. And very, very quickly, the music and the, is it going to be a really upbeat pop track? Or is it going to be quite classical? Is there going to be some narration to it, or are the shapes just going to guide the story? And very, very quickly, we have a really rough idea of what we’re going for.

Then there’s some kind of technical things of, maybe this logo or this shape is too complicated with the number of drones we have, so could we get that across in a different way? And then it slowly just builds into a text-based story. And then we have an amazing team of animators who literally just drag the little dots around, and the show kind of starts to come to life just as snippets.

And once we agree that that soundtrack and order of the shapes supports the story and builds, and has a beginning, middle, end, and the end is powerful, then all the rest of the transitions between those shapes are worked out.

And at the end of it, there’s a relatively simple file of just the paths each drone will take. And they get uploaded to the drones, and we press the button, they go create some magic.

[08:31] Steph Watkins

It’s so clever and so effective in what it does as well. I feel excited about it all over again, just hearing about the mechanics behind it and the magic. It’s so beautiful. It really is.

Eoin, before we let you go today, I hear that you’ve got a couple of plans this evening as well, haven’t you? You’ve got a couple of shows in operation?

[08:51] Eoin O’Grady

Yeah, we’ve got three shows this weekend, so some final prep is happening now. The guys are charging batteries frantically. Yeah, exciting weekend.

[09:06] Steph Watkins

Sounds brilliant. Eoin, it’s been such a pleasure to chat. Thank you so, so much for your time. When the BBC turns 50, I’ll… [brief aside unclear, 09:12] …I’ll be back in touch, okay?

[09:17] Eoin O’Grady

We’ll see you then. As I said, we look back on that couple of days in Guernsey so fondly, and we will likely be back next year. So keep an eye out. Not for Liberation, but for something else. So we really look forward to that.

And, yes, the island is so beautiful. Everyone was so accommodating, because obviously States and ports and the airport and stuff were just so supportive of it. So, yeah, I guess just a final thank you to everyone of Guernsey for making that show possible, because it is up there in one of the most beautiful things we’ve ever done.

[09:56] Steph Watkins

That means the world, honestly. I know that our listeners will be so, so happy to hear that, because it meant so much to us as well. So thank you, Eoin, so much, and have a wonderful celebration of Bonfire Night and some great shows as well.

That’s Eoin O’Grady from FlightShows. Him and the team were behind Liberation 80, the drone show, the absolutely amazing one. And it’s even one of their favourites as well, so it was just absolutely gorgeous for everyone involved.