3- from gimmicks to FX
Feature-length movies are expensive to make and must compete with other forms of entertainment—television, video games, sporting events, concerts—to attract and retain the large audiences they need to turn a profit. For this reason, moviemakers endlessly seek new ways to bring audiences into theaters. Movies added sound and color in the late 1920s, widescreen formats in the early 1950s, and more recently, advanced computer-generated-imaging to dazzle us with increasingly elaborate special effects. Many of these special effects (FX) started out as "gimmicks" but proved to be genuine advances that are now essential components of most big- budget movies. Other gimmicks have found their appeal more short-lived.
One of the oddest gimmicks was the effort to add odors to the movie-going experience. If sound and visual images are possible, then why not smell? As silly as it sounds, there were several serious attempts to enhance films with distinct aromas. In 1959, a film called Behind the Great Wall sent 50 odors through the air-conditioning system of a theater. For the I960 film Scent of a Mystery, producer Mike Todd, Jr. (1929-2002) introduced "SmelI-O-Vision," a process designed to release carefully timed scents, such as pipe smoke or food, to each seat. Rather than launch Smell-O-Vision as the next evolution in entertainment, the film flopped. Mr. Todd lost all his investment, and after that both he and Smell-O-Vision were out of the movie business.
Another group of less expensive gimmicks came from a small-time movie producer and director who actually did make money. To attract audiences to his low-budget horror films, William Castle (1914-1977) tried various schemes to convince people that his movies were scary. For Macabre (1963), he offered free $1,000 life insurance policies in case the viewer died of fright. For his film The Jmgler, he equipped selected seats with the "Percepto," a device that gave an electronic jolt to patrons at crucial points in the film. This jolt would cause the patron to scream, thereby adding to the tension in the theater. Castle is perhaps best remembered for "Illusion-O," a device he used in the movie Thirteen Ghosts. He supplied each customer with handheld "ghost glasses" that would allow the user to see the ghosts and remove them if they became "too frightening." Since everyone would most likely want to see the ghosts, the device seems pointless. Why not just show the ghosts? But the gimmick was intended to be fun and increase anticipation that the ghosts were going to be a lot scarier than they actually were. In practice, most of Castle's gimmicks were only marginally successful and often got more giggles than screams—an inflatable skeleton floating above the audience during House on Haunted Hill (1959) became a target for thrown candy boxes and soda cups—but his movies were entertaining and made money. In fact, Thirteen Ghosts received a big-budget remake in 2001. This time, though, only the actors got to wear the ghost glasses.
Advertising for the 1975 movie Earthquake highlighted Sensurround Sound, promising sound that was powerful enough to "crack ribs." The effect of a low-pitched earthquake rumble was achieved by placing up to ten large subwoofer speakers around the theater wired to a powerful amplifier. When cued by signals in the film, the speakers emitted a powerful vibration that was felt more than heard. Unlike Smell-0-Vision and Castle's inexpensive tricks, the problem with Sensurround was that it was too successful. Since more and more theaters were multiplexes, the vibrations bothered patrons in adjacent theaters watching different films. Complaints by patrons and reports of damage to theaters convinced most theater owners that Sensurround was not worth the trouble. Only three more films— Midway (1976), Rollercoaster (1977), and Battlestar Galactica (1978) featured the effect.
The most famous special effect is the movie in 3-D. Studios had experimented with three-dimensional photography as far back as 1922, but the first hit 3-D movie was House of Wax in 1953. This visual effect is achieved by sending a slightly different image to each eye. For this to occur, the moviegoer had to wear special glasses that eliminated the image that the other eye was seeing. This technique was successful enough that from 1953 to 1955 studios released dozens of 3-D movies. However, the process was not free from technical glitches (patrons complained of eyestrain), and eventually the novelty wore off. For the next 40 years, 3-D movies became less common, with the technology mainly associated with nonfiction IMAX releases.
It is tempting to look at a box-office loser like Smell-0-Vision and mutter, "What were they thinking?" But the other short-lived gimmicks were actually associated with box office successes. And in recent years, with better technology, 3-D has enjoyed a resurgence. One 3-D film nearly (2.8 billion (U.S.) worldwide in 2009, and that success almost guarantees that more 3-D movies will be forthcoming. And be ready for the next gimmick. It may be so terrifying that moviegoers are advised, "Check with your doctor before seeing this film."
