Gadgetory

the powered pop of a fireworks show relies on some technology that hasn't changed in centuries this is the bottom of the shell which has gunpowder in it which is called the lift charge when this ignites it lights all the black powder as ancient as can be and creates gas gas pressure which pushes the shell out of the mortar at about 400 feet per second before you grab a big scale production like this one at the Oakland Coliseum with synchronized music you need a burst of new tech to pull it off the technology as far as firing systems has really improved over the years allowing us to use computers with the show design as well as the launching of the display shells weeks before the big spectacular producer Jeff Thomas assigned specific fireworks to each moment in the show's playlist in this case it's music from Nintendo's Super Mario Brothers slow quiet segments I'll put some slower quieter effects in big robust pieces of music put in the louder more concussive devices fun songs to put the happy faces in or maybe that heart love song then it's up to the crew to lay out the shells in the correct order this is the main body of the show that's from the beginning until the finale everything that gets fired comes out of here how many shells are there today would you say over a thousand while the fireworks show itself may only last 15 minutes it takes hours and hours for the pyrotechnic crew to fill all of these canisters each one is then connected to a firing module with specific addresses I would have 4d set on this these address buttons and then it would be zero through absolutely the shell address could be four d0o they're all synchronized with this timecode they call it and when the time codes receive we say okay go we're in sync and we just fire the show three two one fire set P the sky lights up over the Oakland Coliseum everything firing as planned as fans enjoy this summer we allow fans on the field we take great pride in in the quality of the fireworks we put a lot of thought and effort into the themes we want fans to walk away saying that was the best fireworks or they ever saw happy faces in the sky and in the stands in Auckland I'm Kara Tsuboi cnet.com for CBS News