In the original trailer for House of Wax (1953), Warner Brothers heralded the third dimension as “the new wonder of the entertainment world”. Though that wonder had been discovered a year earlier in Bwana Devil (1952), Warner Brothers explored immersion further by releasing a colour 3D feature that incorporated stereo sound for the first time. So not only did action spring from the screen, but sound effects were also heard in different sections of the cinema, heightening tension and drama through the illusion of multi-directional audio. Both of these innovations are standard in filmmaking today.
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The House of Wax trailer via Warner Bros. YouTube channel.
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16 February 2031
ACMI: Gallery 1
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The Story of the Moving Image → Moving Pictures → MI-08. Immersive Innovations → MI-08-C01