Co-founder Dan Jamele, who has a background in audio engineering, says he relies on a music-industry technology called MIDI - commonly used to trigger synthesizers or help sync audio tracks - to coordinate seat movements and other effects with what’s happening on the screen.įor every movie, a team of nine programmers - mostly musicians, says Jamele - spends two weeks deciding when a seat should tilt (forward, back, left, right), when to cue a water blast and when to pump in a scent (“Fantastic Beasts” includes the smell of fresh pastries). But we’ve got to continue to evolve.”Ī handful of companies make 4-D seating, but National Amusements chose California-based MediaMation, which has a background in theme parks, and its brand called MX4D. “The social experience of being together to watch a movie continues to be such an important experience. “Cinema has been around for a very long time,” says Duncan Short, senior vice president of operations at National Amusements. In other words, movie lovers seem increasingly tempted to stay at home rather than trek to their local theater. Meanwhile, home-video revenue is growing so fast that it may outpace theatrical box office next year, according to a widely cited report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Box-office revenue has risen over the past decade, from $8.8 billion in 2005 to $11.1 billion last year, according to BoxOfficeMojo, but only because ticket prices have increased. That’s exactly what National Amusements, the chain that owns the Island 16, wants to hear. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.
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