Author Topic: Environmental Theater - Scents in the House  (Read 13005 times)

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philimbesi

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Environmental Theater - Scents in the House
« on: Jan 18, 2007, 10:30 am »
Ok, I'm know it's not an SM question but you all have a knowledgebase that I can't help but tap.  I'm looking for a quick and easy and hopefully cheap way to pump scents into the house.  One scent in particular, pine. 

Right now the front runner is a case of glade scented plug ins. 

centaura

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Re: Environmental Theater
« Reply #1 on: Jan 18, 2007, 12:18 pm »
How big a house, and what type?  I ask because in my old vaudeville, there are old ducts under the house that fans could blow a scent through.  In a very small house I could see a few strategic bowls of essential oils adding enough scent.  Though part of me does wonder about possible audience allergies - maybe signs out front like you'd have with a show with heavy fog?

-Centaura

philimbesi

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Re: Environmental Theater
« Reply #2 on: Jan 18, 2007, 01:27 pm »
It's a 300 seat old vaudeville house with exactly the same style ventilation system you speak of.   Now I kick myself for not thinking of that sooner. 

I did wonder about allergies myself, but considering the mold level can get kind of high in there, those with allergies will have bigger problems. ;)

LiLz

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Re: Environmental Theater
« Reply #3 on: Jan 18, 2007, 02:18 pm »
Do you want the scent to be in the house the entire show or just part of it?  Will there be times when you want other scents or is pine the only one? Whether you use the vents or some other source, pine oil will be really helpful and you may still be able to find it in piles of Christmas stuff ... and really inexpensively at this point.  I use it in my house during the holidays ... I bought a little fan thing from QVC with scented oils ... it works really well - makes my whole apartment smell like fresh pine.  The scent is really concentrated, so a little bit goes a long way.

philimbesi

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Re: Environmental Theater
« Reply #4 on: Jan 18, 2007, 03:22 pm »
Pine is the only one... all the time.

centaura

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Re: Environmental Theater
« Reply #5 on: Jan 18, 2007, 07:14 pm »
Is it important that the audience notice the pine smell at certain times during the show, or do you just want the impression when they come in?  I ask because the human nose will very quickly acclimate to a new scent, and after a while not smell it anymore.  If its important that the audience notice the pine, I might suggest sending 'bursts' of scent at appropriate times.

-Centaura

Scott

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Re: Environmental Theater
« Reply #6 on: Jan 19, 2007, 12:09 pm »
It's a 300 seat old vaudeville house with exactly the same style ventilation system you speak of.   Now I kick myself for not thinking of that sooner. 

I did wonder about allergies myself, but considering the mold level can get kind of high in there, those with allergies will have bigger problems. ;)

In regards to mold and allergies, have you considered "bombing" the venue with Lysol a few nights after cast (and most crew) have left?  I find this can be a big help.  Adding some Ozium to the mix will also help sanitize the venue.

(This will also help equalize the "nose" of the venue and your pumped in odors should be more pure.)

ljh007

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Re: Environmental Theater
« Reply #7 on: Jan 29, 2007, 08:51 am »
Actually, scent machines were really popular for about five seconds on the club scene a few years ago. (Don't ask me how I know...)

Just like fog machines (and often used alongside them), some of the same companies presented machines to fill rooms with carefully controlled scent fx. Try
http://www.rpientertainment.com/scentfx.htm
http://www.envirodine.com/enviroscent.htm

Most companies with scent machines in the USA are in LA or on the west coast. They're a little harder ot find right now because it's no longer trendy. But they're also cheaper (perhaps not cheap enough for small theatres...). Just google scent machine and you'll come across some solutions. These probably open up all sorts of problems for your purposes - chemicals, allergies, etc. Blowing essential oils through the vents is probably your best bet here. But isn't it kind of hilarious that scent machines even exist?

centaura

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Re: Environmental Theater
« Reply #8 on: Feb 01, 2007, 04:07 pm »
There's the latest trend in the home scent market for 'scent stories' - little machines that play a series of scents that 'tell a story'.  Not sure how big a trend they've become, but they're what I thought of when you said scent machine.

-Centaura

dyarrum

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Re: Environmental Theater
« Reply #9 on: Feb 03, 2007, 11:30 pm »
you can also try newbielink:http://www.scentair.com [nonactive]. scentair is the leading provider of scent machines for businesses. they have clients such as westin hotels, bloomingdale's, sheraton hotels, macy's and lucky brand jeans. they also provide custom scent systems for museums, theme parks and the military. they also provide a home edition of their commercial machine.

adding scent to an environment is actually a very hot concept right now in the retail and hotels business. businesses are realizing that adding scent to their currnet branding campaigns can help create a "multi-sensory" experience that is more engaging and memorable.

 

riotous