News Archive

MTFX provides special effects for BBC3 comedy drama

MTFX was delighted to be asked to provide special effects for the latest series of the hit BBC3 comedy drama Being Human.

MTFX launches new innovation – a continuous streamer gun

MTFX is delighted to add a new and innovative product to its portfolio. The streamer gun fires a continuous stream of silver foil into a crowd or audience. It's perfect for shows involving audience interaction as well as football games, music tours and street theatre.

MTFX provides confetti effects for Natural History Museum

MTFX was called upon to provide butterfly confetti for the opening by Prince William of the new Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum. We provided specially commissioned red metallic butterfly confetti, plus all the blowers, CO2 gas and technicians the event required.

Pyrotechnics at Red Bull X-Fighters finale

MTFX provided all the special effect pyrotechnics for the Red Bull X-Fighters finale at Battersea Power Station recently. This included mines, comets, and large spark simulators being rigged. Because Battersea Power Station is a Grade II listed structure, special close liaison with the authorities and owners was required.

MTFX creates car explosion for a pop promo

This video shows our special effect of a car explosion for a pop promo.

MTFX special effects at the Twenty20 men’s and women’s finals at the Lord’s Cricket Ground

MTFX were pleased to be asked to provide the special effects for the Twenty20 men’s and women’s finals at the Lord’s Cricket Ground.

As each team ran onto the ground they were accompanied by a series of CO2 jets 5m high set in to a chase sequence using a specialist DMX controller.

The cup lift for the England women’s team was enhanced by further CO2 jets and large scale streamer effects using 14 streamer cannons, each holding 1 kilo of streamers!

For the cup lift ceremony, MTFX also provided the CO2 jets and arena streamer effects. Together with the pyrotechnics display of comets, mines and jets and our new 5 way Firedance system, we provided a colourful choreographed finale!!!

MTFX works on the Britain's Got Talent tour

MTFX is providing all the special effects for the latest “Britain’s Got Talent” tour. The effects we are providing includes pyrotechnic waterfalls, concussion noise effects and the new extra large spinners that provide precision confetti effects over the stage.

MTFX moves to a new purpose-built unit

We are delighted to announce we have just completed our move to a new and larger purpose-built unit at our existing premises. The move gives us more space to store our ever-growing range of special effects equipment. And because all our contact details are staying the same, we won't have any of the usual difficulties associated with a move to new premises.

MTFX and Coldplay at the Brit Awards 2009

MTFX has just finished 3 days at the Brit Awards at Earls Court providing butterfly confetti effects for Chris Martin from Coldplay.

The effects consisted of 3 cues, one on each of the chorus of Viva la Vida.

To produce the effect Coldplay hired 12 confetti storms, 4 extra large venturi blowers, 3 extra large spinners and 250kgs of red, white and blue butterfly confetti. All were installed within the allotted time, and the final effect was stunning.

MTFX shows off its new toy – the 5 way coloured flame system, Flash Flame

MTFX has just invested in some new 5 way Firedance units. Mark Turner, MTFX's Managing Director said, "MTFX’s Firedance flames have been extremely popular with our customers so I wanted to take them to the next level, which is the new 5 way compact unit. Each unit is lightweight, compact and gives you a fantastic spread from such a small footprint. They are ideal for use on pitches and other sports arenas and add a new dimension to flame effects. The other advantage is that the flames can be coloured green, red, blue as well as the standard orange.”

Olympic Handover

MTFX and our sister company, Confetti Creations, were proud to be asked to provide the special effects outside Buckingham Palace for the Visa 2012 party to celebrate the hand over of the Olympics from Beijing to England.

With daylight being a major factor in the decision-making for the type of the effects we could use, we opted for 20 CO2 jets to be hidden under the stage with 80 small cylinders daisy-chained together. Unfortunately we were restricted by the stage height and were unable to use the large cylinders. The CO2 jets were then linked to a DMX controller and given to the lighting designer to operate the fast chases and complex sequences seen.

For the finale of the event we placed 6 medium MTFX master blasters around the perimeter of the main stage area from which we fired our  new “NO MESS Confetti” which is a white tissue paper that dissolves on contact with water, and which enabled a fast clear up of the site after the event.

MTFX helps recreate a classic story

MTFX has provided all the special effects on the soon-to-be-screened BBC adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Our services included lots of atmospheric smoke as well as fires, steam effects and wind effects. Filming took place in the South West over a three month period.

Download Festival

The services of MTFX sister company Confetti Creations were called on for the Download Festival, which took place at Donington Park near Derby from 13 – 15 June 2008. Confetti Creations provided 4 Master Blasters and effects including black and white confetti and 3' black and white balloons.

Dancing On Ice Tour

MTFX have just completed 7 weeks touring with the very successful Dancing on Ice Live tour. The effects provided included a series of silver jets and flashes on ramps as Torville and Dean made their entrance at the opening of the show, flame projectors and an amazing circle of fire on burning on the ice (see picture) during the show and a dramatic finale comprising silver jets, mines and flashes!

Dame Ellen

On 30 April on the River Thames, Seb Josse’s BT IMOCA 60 was officially launched after an extensive race refit. It proved to be a success for Seb and his teammate Ellen MacArthur as the all-girl band, the Sugababes, joined the duo onboard the BT IMOCA 60 to sing one of their latest hit records as she sailed under Tower Bridge.

MTFX’s sister company Confetti Creations were there to help with the celebrations by providing 2 of their large Master Blaster confetti cannons with more than 20kg of biodegradable confetti!!!

MTFX launch Table Pyrotechnics range!

MTFX are excited to launch their new range of table pyrotechnics! These can be supplied in MTFX’s silk flower arrangements or candelabras, alternatively they can be fitted in to your own table centrepieces. They can all be fired remotely on a single cue for a dramatic wow factor or they can be fired sequentially to create a wave of pyrotechnics throughout the room. They are perfect for formal dinners, charity balls, awards ceremonies and many more occasions. For more information, visit Corporate Pyrotechnics.

Ship ahoy!

MTFX were called up on to provide atmospheric effects, such as smoke, rain and fire, for a production of Treasure Island shot in Cornwall during the autumn of 2007.

MTFX and the NFL

MTFX were very excited to be asked to provide special effects for the NFL at the Wembley Stadium. The pre-match celebrations saw the Miami Dolphins hyped for a great match against the New York Giants!

MTFX enhances celebrations at Longbridge re-opening

MTFX enhanced the celebrations at the re-opening of the Longbridge site by providing a ticker tape confetti effect for the MG cars cavalcade!

When in Rome

MTFX provided the special effects such as volcanic ash, fire, underwater explosions and rain for the most popular and successful show on Children’s BBC – The Roman Mysteries. Filming took place in Tunisia and Malta throughout the summer and autumn of last year. Tunisia was the setting for the eruption of Vesuvius, with falling ash, burning temples, fire and brimstone. And in Malta huge underwater explosions took place in a large water tank, with truly staggering end results. This fantastic new series is being shown on BBC1 on Tuesdays at 4.30pm.

MTFX in Mauritius

MTFX were invited back to the beautiful tropical island of Mauritius earlier this year for a series of Firedance shows. This time the flames were sited on pontoons floating in the Indian Ocean and the shows were a resounding success!

MTFX at the Carling Cup Final!

MTFX provided Special Effects for the Carling Cup Final between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Millennium Stadium earlier this year. An exciting match was followed by an even more exciting finale!

Olympic Asian games – Doha 2006

After more than 9 months in planning, 1 December 2006 saw MTFX at the Opening Ceremony of the 15th Olympic Asian Games at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha. MTFX provided low fog effects to represent the sea as a ship passed across the stadium. They also provided CO2 jets and a series of sequenced flame effects, these were built on to the top 10m high structures representing the City of the Future. Despite adverse weather conditions, with the worst storm the country has seen for 25 years, the ceremony was a resounding success.

Pantomime Grand National – Event

On the theme of Christmas, what could be more fun than watching (or taking part!) in the annual Birmingham Pantomime Horse Race! This year the course at Victoria Square was even more gruelling with 12 jumps, including the water and foam jumps – the foam of course provided by MTFX!

Big Nothing – Feature film

Big Nothing is a comedy thriller starring David Schwimmer and Simon Pegg. MTFX provided special effects of rain effects and the use of pyrotechnic charges to simulate bullet hits on people, cars and scenery!