Confetti Magic were asked to provide special effects for the filming of Youtube Originals’ new series, Break The Record, where Olympians and sporting stars help kids train to take on world record attempts in a range of sporting challenges.
With each child dressed in their individual colour and a brief to match the colours with our smoke cannons, we undertook some tests to ascertain the best pressure and powder weight ratio to maximise the effect.
Our BigShot cannons were selected to offer the flexibility required to achieve a huge coloured powder burst after each attempt.
Power was chosen over confetti for the outdoor events as this blows away in the wind like smoke with no need for a clean-up.
In addition to this, the slip and slide challenge had pairs of smaller smoke cannons using cartridges preloaded with coloured powder and Powershot cannons to fire at regular intervals as each contestant slid past.
Filming took place at various venues around London including Crystal Palace sports centre. It was here that the tennis challenge and indoor Swiss ball challenge took place.
Our double-barrelled BigShot cannons were loaded with the corresponding-coloured powder and a pair positioned at the base of the scissor lift from where the tennis balls would be hit.
On the push of a button, a giant burst of colour marked the completion of the record attempt, awaiting confirmation as to whether the record had been broken.
The following day, the film crew moved indoors to the sports hall where the kids attempted a Swiss ball challenge, moving along a line and lifting the giant balls onto pedestals in the fastest possible time.
Smoke cannons are not suitable for indoor use, so here we used cartridges loaded with biodegradable tissue confetti after each attempt. A quick weep from the crew had the stage set for the next competitor in no time at all.
I don’t want to spoil the fun, so you’ll have to watch to see if any of the kids managed to break a record, but if you watch them all, I’m sure there will be a cascade of golden streamers somewhere along the way.
You can see the trailer here and watch the episodes on Youtube Kids.