An experience for fans unlike no other at K-State home football games
MANHATTAN (KSNT) – Have you ever wondered who’s the team behind the decorations in the sky during a Kansas State football game?
27 news got a behind the scenes look of what goes on to make this magic happen.
Victory Pyro is the mind and team behind the pyrotechnics and special effects at every home Kansas State football game for the past three seasons.
Across 24 positions and the field effects, the team starts with planning their effects months in advance to ensure the best show at every game.
“We really start in a 3D simulation, software where the design kind of comes to life,” Cody Hanna, production manager, said. “So everything is designed to almost look like and mimic the stadium. So, we design on the 3D model of Bill Snyder Family Stadium and from that point we are actually precuring product.”
From the design, every item needed is labeled at their warehouse with a specific slot for the crews to wire and hook to the electronic tablet to launch.
But there day starts well before kick-off. For example, if a game starts at 6 p.m. crews get to Bill Snyder Family Stadium 12 hours ahead of time.
“We set up all the field boxes, the lightning and atmospherics that the team will run through. And then we will move to doing both roofs,” Kennedy King, game day coordinator and field manager, said. “Then, making sure to have enough buffer time to evaluate any concerns we might have like weather, just fan behavior, just some of the things that are a little more unpredictable.”
When the ‘Cats score a touchdown or end their game with a wildcat win, the director in the command center pushes the big red button to light up the sky.
“Tying it back into the design process, that’s where everything begins. Everything’s designed in 3D and then essentially given an addresses and channel to where when you’re shooting the touchdowns or shooting the intros, it all ties back,” Hanna said. “So, when we shoot a touchdown the scene that we designed matches accordingly.”
Having the effects and pyro takes the fan expereinece to a whole new level.
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