Meet the Pyrotecnico team, the crew behind most of Chicago's biggest fireworks displays
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's almost time to turn your gaze upward and take in an Independence Day tradition: watching fireworks.
Just last month, Navy Pier was voted best place in the country to watch fireworks by USA Today. This got us thinking about what exactly it takes to put on a best-in-class firework show.
It's the exclamation point to just about every 4th of July celebration, but to arrive at the moment you can't help but say "ooh" and "aah" takes a lot of work.
"We start preparing for 4th of July usually in December and January of the prior year," said Jonathan Gesse, an account manager and soundtrack producer for LaPorte County-based Pyrotecnico Firework Company, a fairly corporate sounding title for what is a very cool job, producing firework shows and effects for the White Sox, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks, the City of Chicago and Navy Pier, among others across the region and around the world.
"There's a lot of guys here. We're just normal blue collar workers but we've entertained literally millions of people," Gesse said. "A phrase that a lot of us use around here is we say, 'The sky is our canvas and the fireworks are our paints.'"
What exactly does it take to put on an award-winning firework show? Gesse said preparation for Fourth of July shows starts in the fall, bringing in new products and testing each individual piece.
"There's a thing called a pre-flight time, which is when you hit fire, you want to know how long it takes to actually get up in the sky and break in the sky. We record things like that, and the duration of each effect, so that way we know how long it lasts in the sky," he said. "We'll make notes if this product is really good, the colors are really bold."
Next comes getting the music just right. Typically, a 10-minute soundtrack includes snippets from seven or eight songs.
Director of design Matt Peterson choreographs fireworks to music. Intuition is what drives his design process, but the result is much more concrete.
"It's just a matter of allowing that music to speak to you," he said. "Products just start to appear in your mind."
The run of show, a list of the specific fireworks displays, makes it easy for crews to create labels and pull the product, including mortars that give lift to the fireworks.
It's a failsafe system that allows shows to go off without a hitch, Gesse said.
What has been his favorite show?
"My number one would be Montreal, a show we did in Montreal in 2006. It was a Broadway theme, and it was just remarkable. I still think about it today," he said.
Creating a moment worth remembering; that's what it's all about, and on this Fourth of July weekend, know that while everyone else is waiting for the sound of that first firework, this crew is waiting on something else.
"The roar of the crowd, exactly. Yeah, and every show when we hear that crowd, we know we did a good job," Gesse said.
The Independence Day weekend fireworks at Navy Pier are happening Saturday at 9 p.m.
