The other day I was watching the 1976 film Midway on TV when, in the closing credits, I saw SENSURROUND™ PATENT PENDING.
Fans of this site will know that that sort of thing is a challenge I can't resist, and it did not take long to track down the relevant patent, Special effects generation and control system for motion pictures. Here is its main illustration.
I was only vaguely aware of the technology. Special equipment was built into the perimeter of the cinema to convey high intensity, very low frequency random noise so that the audience would feel sensations such as earthquakes. In the case of Midway, explosions, I imagine.
The system was first used in, appropriately enough, Earthquake (1974). It was one of the top films of the year, but there was a problem which the applicant, MCA Systems, had not anticipated. Multiplexes were becoming popular, and the frequent juxtaposition of showing Earthquake next to The Godfather, Part II meant that those who wanted to watch mafiosi quietly snarling at each other were troubled by low rumblings from next door. Not surprisingly they complained in large numbers.
There was also structural damage in some cinemas. A test screening at Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood cracked the ceiling, so a safety net was installed -- very reassuring for the audiences, no doubt. In Germany films made with the process could only be shown in single screen cinemas. In Chicago, the head of the city's Building and Safety Department demanded that the system be turned down or removed to avoid structural damage.
Together with the cost of installing the equipment, and the $500 weekly fee to Universal for using the system, it simply wasn't worth the hassle, and not surprisingly Sensurround was only used in five films. The concept simply hadn't been thought through enough.
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