Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Return of Smell-O-Vision

This is topic The Return of Smell-O-Vision in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 12-03-2017, 12:04 PM:

Fill in your own New Jersey joke...
This supposedly is the 4th such theatre, so maybe it's been covered elsewhere.
And the American Dream project was supposed to open summer 2017, but is now predicted for March 2019, so who knows...

quote:
Dine-In, 4-D Cinema Coming To American Dream Project
Moviegoers will be able to smell a movie's environment in their moving seats at the mega retail and entertainment destination.
By Daniel Hubbard,

A "revolutionary" 4-D, dine-in movie theater is coming to the American Dream project, developer Triple Five announced Thursday.

Cinemex will open only its fourth X4D theater in the United States in the American Dream project in the Meadowlands. The theater will be the company's only one in the New York Metropolitan area.

The 1,400-seat complex will feature moving seats and X4D technology, allowing moviegoers to smell scents from weather and items in the movie they are watching, Triple Five said in a statement.

Moviegoers can eat dinner and enjoy a drink while they watch a movie. Chef Mikel Alonso of Biko — one of the top 50 restaurants in the world — is in charge of creating the dine-in menu.

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"We could not have chosen a better location to create our flagship presence," said Jaime Rionda, Cinemex's chief operating officer. "We are convinced that this is an important step in our incursion into the U.S. market, and we're excited to contribute to American Dream's visitor experience with our innovative movie theater dine-in concept."

The announcement comes a week after Triple Five announced that LEGOLAND and Sea Life would be opening locations at American Dream.

The number of retailers included in the American Dream project keeps growing. Banana Republic, Gap, MAC, Microsoft, Zara, Pink, and Victoria's Secret will be opening up shop at the long-delayed mall and entertainment complex in East Rutherford. Luxury retailers Lord & Taylor, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Hermès will also open stores at the complex.

American Dream is slated to open in the summer of 2017, more than a decade after construction began on the project. Triple Five took over development in 2011.

Source

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 12-03-2017, 12:08 PM:

So what do you think of the movie?

It was a real stinker.

[Smile]

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 01-09-2018, 03:40 AM:

So you are going to be eating and at the same time smelling the sulfur gasses of a massive explosion or the car exhaust of a chase scene or the smell or rotten fish on a beach in a scene about a toxic dump? How about body odor in a sexy scene? You want to smell any of that when you are eating your penne in vodka sauce?

So how are they going to deal with the odor of the food that's in front of a person and the smell-o-vision nonsense? We all know its a gimmick -- does the studio supply the scents that are approved by the director? Is there going to be a matching alignment system where the odor that the "odor mixer" smells in the mixing studio is the same as the audience is going to smell in the theatre? Is there a Realtime Odor Spectrum Analyzer that they can do in the theatre for alignment and odor accuracy? Will it be DCI compliant? Or is it just a gimmick that theatre owner just doing throw together on his own?

And let;s get real; how many different scents are there that could actually be used in the course of a movie that would actually enhance it? Sure the rain, the beach, a musty old haunted house...my guess, throughout a movie...not many. Plus, I'll bet there are a lot more unpleasant odors than ones you would actually like blown in your face while you are eating as well as vibrating in your seat.

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 01-09-2018, 05:09 AM:

It seems this technology would be great for the revival of "adult" theatres. Imagine the experience that could be created with odors and moving/vibrating seats!

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 01-09-2018, 06:57 AM:

Yeah, but there'd only be one person per row.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 01-09-2018, 03:22 PM:

quote: Frank Angel
And let;s get real; how many different scents are there that could actually be used in the course of a movie that would actually enhance it?

How many did John Waters have with his scratch and sniff movie? 10?

But yes, I look forward to the smell of 3 week old rotting corpse in some big budget detective movie.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 01-09-2018, 03:50 PM:

I remember handing out scratch and sniff cards for a movie not too many years ago....

Aha. Spy Kids 4 in 2011.

I don't think I actually bothered to scratch one myself so I don't know what it smelled like.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 01-09-2018, 04:28 PM:

A few years back some cinemas in Belgium were running "smell-o-vision" during the commercial section. It was an Axe commercial and the system was hooked up to the air conditioning system. It would start to inject the scent a few minutes before the actual advertisement.

It was a flop though, besides this one commercial, nobody else tried Smell-o-Ads until now.

While I'm not a fan of "Smell-o-Vision", if done right, a certain smell can trigger quite some strong emotional responses. Disney uses fake smell a lot in their theme parks for example. Whether it's the smell of chocolate cookies or oil and smoke, it's a big, mostly unconscious part of the experience.

I think with movies and movie theaters, it's not so much a challenge to fill the room with a certain smell, but it will be a challenge to get rid of it in a timely fashion...

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 01-09-2018, 08:38 PM:

A theatre in a theatre I worked in years ago, the concessions had these spray cans, I think the name was "Kayola Gold," or "Popcorn Gold"...something gold. What it was was artificial popcorn scent -- like an air freshener but only the spray had a really powerful smell of popcorn. The owner, Mr. Schulman explained to me that because he used pre-popped popcorn (it came in these massive black garbage bags) and didn't pop his own, he would have the concessions guy spray that scent every half hour, but not in public view but instead in the back and into the air intake vent. The smell would move thru the entire lobby and auditorium. He said people would salivate when they get a whiff of that smell. He said people expect to smell popcorn when they walk into any theatre. He was right; I remember that theatres had that very distinct scent when you walked in from the outside and that scent for me still conjurers up good feelings associated with going to the movies, all the way back from childhood.

We pop our own popcorn so we get a good smell of it in the lobby, but the theatre proper is huge and the smell never gets into that barn. For years I have been trying to find that spray, but to no avail. I did find a company that makes a scent that smells like cookies, while it's nice and warm feeling, it's not the same -- I was told it was a big seller with real estate agents -- they use it when they prep a house for showing.

I sure would like to find that popcorn spray scent for our theatre. Mr. Schulman claimed that it increased popcorn sales by more than 50%...said he experimented using it vs not using it...said it was worth its weight in gold. Then he said, "Watch this," took me in the back and sprayed it for about 15 seconds into the vent. Three minutes later, a handful of people came out of the theatre to buy popcorn; this was in the MIDDLE of the movie. How's THAT for a Pavlovian effect!

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 01-11-2018, 01:31 AM:

While I doubt it is the same as the spray you remember, there are popcorn scents available from multiple sources, including diffusers, which will spread it through the room.

One example is AromaTech which offers a full library of mostly food related scents.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-11-2018, 11:33 PM:

I think Disney uses a combination of scents that are "heavier than air" (hence they sink out of smell range quickly) or other moving air in the room to blow the scent away quickly after you get a whiff of it.

Probably their most famous use of it is in "Soarin'" where you get whiffs of pine trees, orange groves, diesel fumes (from helicopters) and etc. (They have since updated the Soarin' film so the scents are probably different from my memorized ones.)

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 7758) on 01-12-2018, 12:27 AM:

I was so distracted by the inferior image quality of the updated Soarin' that I completely forgot to pay attention to the smells. (Now digital. Horrible brightness/contrast/clarity loss.)

Posted by Lyle Romer (Member # 1266) on 01-12-2018, 06:50 AM:

quote: Bill Brandenstein
I was so distracted by the inferior image quality of the updated Soarin' that I completely forgot to pay attention to the smells. (Now digital. Horrible brightness/contrast/clarity loss.)

Based on your location, I'm assuming that you've seen the "improved" Soarin' at California Adventure? When they switched to digital at Epcot, they used Christie laser projectors. I think CA is just regular Xenon DLP.

The brightness and contrast aren't an issue that I've noticed. The crazy amount of faked/CGI stuff is a big issue. Also, I think on the original film they used lenses to film and project (when it was IMAX) that compensated for the curved screen. The new version is terrible in that respect. Unless you are sitting dead center, every straight line gets curved. The Eiffel Tower looks like it is made out of rubber!

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-16-2018, 01:26 PM:

Last time I was in the basement of the Cinestage Theater in Chicago, about 1992, the entire Smell-O-Vision machine was still there with it's vials of fluid all still in place. Sadly, long gone now. It was only used for Scent Of Mystery and that's it.

Mark

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 7758) on 01-16-2018, 01:38 PM:

quote: Lyle
Based on your location, I'm assuming that you've seen the "improved" Soarin' at California Adventure?
...The crazy amount of faked/CGI stuff is a big issue.
...Also, I think on the original film they used lenses to film and project (when it was IMAX)

All completely true!
Yes, the contrast was bad enough to be explained by DLP.
As usual, the unsuspecting public's been sold a bilge barge.

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 01-29-2018, 12:17 AM:

There's 4DX screens as the Regal E-Walk on 42nd street in NYC and at the Regal Union Square. Regal is also building a new complex on Essex and Delancey and I suspect that will have 4DX as well. The Regal E-Walk charges $26.15 for 2D 4DX and $30.65 for 3D 4DX.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 01-29-2018, 02:29 AM:

quote: Mike Blakesley
I think Disney uses a combination of scents that are "heavier than air" (hence they sink out of smell range quickly) or other moving air in the room to blow the scent away quickly after you get a whiff of it.

Probably their most famous use of it is in "Soarin'" where you get whiffs of pine trees, orange groves, diesel fumes (from helicopters) and etc. (They have since updated the Soarin' film so the scents are probably different from my memorized ones.)

I think that most of the molecules carrying smell will be heavier than air, which is mostly nitrogen (N2, ~80%) and oxygen (O2, ~20%). Still, without much air circulation, they usually will linger around for a while.

Now, it seems to be pretty simple to hide a previous odor by simply overpowering it with a new, stronger one (which is the primary trick used by most deodorants and room sprays).

Soarin' has some added advantages in delivering the smell. They're essentially constantly blowing air at you already, to create the sense of flying. They're blowing this air from behind the perforated aluminum screen. So, they can inject the smells right into this air stream and the same stream of air will also ensure quick dissipation.

Now, I wouldn't be so fond to blow all kinds of "smellified" air through a normal, perforated cinema screen. [Wink]

quote:
The new version is terrible in that respect. Unless you are sitting dead center, every straight line gets curved. The Eiffel Tower looks like it is made out of rubber!

I don't really understand why the digital version is actually worse at this. In a "pure optical" version, it's pretty hard to get it somewhat right, since all you can do is optical manipulation using lenses. In a digital world, you should be able to map the image in such a way that the perspective distortions are minimized, a rather simple distortion map in any high-end video editing solution could do the trick already and some advanced video-mapping systems can even do most of it on-the-fly in real time.