Making Smell-o-Vision A Reality

In 1971, Willy Wonka first spoke the immortal words, “The schnozberries taste like schnozberries!” But did anyone in the theater wonder what the schnozberries smelled like?

Next Thursday, The Brattle Theatre hopes to take advantage of the close ties between smell and memory as they present a unique screening of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” in Smell-O-Vision.

Smell-O-Vision is a concept that combines the release of scents with the viewing of a film to create a more complete sensory experience. Brattle Film Foundation Creative Director Ned R. Hinkle and Boston Children’s Museum Community Program Coordinator Megan L. Dickers collaborated to bring the event to the Brattle.

Hinkle says he hopes their approach will provide a novel twist to a well loved film.

“A lot of people have done sing-along shows and things like that,” says Hinkle. “But this is sort of a really interesting way to utilize a different sense, obviously, in conjunction with the film.”

THE SCENT OF SUCCESS

Theater owners started to think about combining films and smells as early as the beginning of the 20th century. Yet only one production ever specifically included smells as part of its final product: the aptly named 1960 film “Scent of Mystery.” The American film director John Waters (“Hairspray”) released a separate “Odorama” version of his film “Polyester” in 1982 using scratch and sniff cards, but the idea of films that stimulated the nose as well as the ears and eyes never quite caught on.

Dickerson aims to change that with a slightly different approach using essential oils and oscillating fans. She previously presented her concept this summer in New York City’s Union Square, but the outdoor space was not ideal. The enclosed area of the Brattle provides a predictable environment, but it also brings up new ostacles.

According to Dickerson, a major concern was the mixing of different smells.

“Our mistress of ceremonies described it as, ‘You know when you eat an apple pie and then some chicken and then a pizza and all those things mix in your stomach and then you throw them up? Well, potentially, that’s how Smell-O-Vision could be,” she says.

Dickerson and Hinkle hope that their scents will rise to the ceiling after initially filling the theatre.

“Obviously we don’t know exactly how it’s going to work out when the smells are contained, but they actually fade fairly quickly” says Hinkle. “And the thing about doing ‘Willy Wonka’ is that they’re all good smells.”

OTHER GOODIES

The multisensory experience also takes advantage of other means to nudge the nostrils and tease the tastebuds.

“There’s, like, a gift bag that [is included] which is filled with things that you do during the course of the film,” says Hinkle. “There are bubbles that happen at different places in the film, and you chew gum at certain times, and the bubble gum smell fills the theatre. The goodie bag is filled with all these fun things to make the film more interactive.”

It’s these sort of group experiences that Dickerson hopes to foster through Smell-O-Vision.

“It’s a way of interacting with what you’re seeing on the screen and also with the people sitting around you,” she says. “It’s a really magical thing to go to a movie theater, if you think about it, and sit with a bunch of strangers staring at this screen. So, I’m interested in making that more interactive and the Smell-O-Vision thing was a natural way of doing that.”

Dickerson will also use “live scents” to heighten the authenticity of the smelling experience.

“I’m trying to go with all the natural smells that we can use,” says Dickerson. “So blueberry pie might actually be a blueberry pie. And let’s just say that there might be an actual piece of meat going up and down the aisle when you smell roast beef. So vegetarians beware: if you don’t want to smell it, don’t come to Smell-O-Vision.”

Hinkle says he’d like to make the experience an annual occurence, presenting a variety of films that lend themselves to aromatic enjoyment.

“The idea is that if the sing-along ‘Sound of Music,’ ‘Rocky Horror Picture Film,’ and John Waters had a baby, this is what it would be like,” says Dickerson. “Maybe.”

—Staff writer Beryl C.D. Lipton can be reached at blipton@fas.harvard.edu.