Becoming a pyrotechnician

[KjeXz]

Yeah, how would one go about getting education to become a licenced pyrotechnician? (i dunno about the spelling of 'technician', but you get the point)
Is that like a two week crash course, or a special school that would take years?
I just felt i should do what i always wanted to, when it comes to choosing an occupation. :)

[THErAPIST]

weeeeeeell... becoming a licensed pyrotechnician isnt really that hard actually. it's just expensive and extremely involved.

to do the pyrotechnics for movies and such you would have to go through alot of schooling which would be highly expensive, and hard to get accepted into. to do pyrotechnics, as in fireworks there are a few things you have to do. You have to have a storage box for your fireworks with a minimum wall thickness depending on what the box is made out of, with a minimum amount of land to sit it in the middle of. somewhere around 2 acres if i recall. lets not forget the yearly costs that you have to pay to have your licenses renewed, the strict guidelines and rules that you have to follow, and the evermore bothersome inspections by the ATF and your local fire marshals

as far as the business aspect of it goes.. most people who are in the pyrotechnics business have other jobs as well because pyro doesnt usually pay too well unless yorue at the top of the ladder, your quality is better than others, and you work for somewhere like disney world.

it's better to not get licensed and just make fireworks for a hobby if you really like them. as well as get another job to actually pay for bills and such. for movies and indore pyro and stuff like that.. i dunno if there are any actual schools set up for that sort or thing or not, but id be 90% positive that it'd be really expensive.

[KjeXz]

Problem is I don't live in the states, so i can't buy fireworks all around the year. Actually it can only be bought the 28th, 29th, 30th and 31st of december.
Anyway I found out i can take a weekend course and get a license, for only 3500 NOK (divide by six for dollars), and then another course for 4500 to get licensed for organizing heavier effect shows. Like concerts, theatre and movies. :)

Me and my friend wolty have loosely planned taking various courses in the SFX genre, so we may start our own business doing what we love - blowing stuff up - and make a little money on it. And Norway is actually starting to make more good movies, so we might even get some customers! :D

I dunno where my life is headed, but I take whatever course i feel like and become one strangely educated guy. I feel that is more or less sums up to a domestic terrorist, but hush, don't tell anyone I said that. My brain is fried right now, so I'll hang up. Until next time!

[THErAPIST]

hey.. you dont sound like a terrorist. not to me anyway. if it were at all possible, i'd make fireworks every day all day if i could make a decent living off of it. sadly i dont think i can do that really, atleast not around where i live. i also dont feel like moving. i love this area. thus im screwed lol. do what makes ya happy though ya know?

[KjeXz]

My local PD would probly stamp me as a terrorist if they ever caught me doing what I do. Anyway, I don't think it's possible to make a living from pyrotechnics by itself, but as we speak, I'm also learning Maya, the industry leader in 3d modeling and animation, used in Hollywood by all the big ones like Disney etc... So this plus pyro plus theatre/movie makeup plus martial arts (fight rigging) equals a job in SFX which equals $$$ + a living through blowing stuff up AND doing lots of other cool stuff! :D

[KjeXz]

btw i love the experi-mental site. :D