Hollywood films...Earthquake....fantastic film!!! One of the famous films in World cinema!!! Sensurround system introduced !!! Earthquake is a 1974 American ensemble disaster film directed and produced by Mark Robson. The plot concerns the struggle for survival after a catastrophic earthquake destroys most of the city of Los Angeles, California. Directed by Mark Robson and with a screenplay by George Fox and Mario Puzo, the film starred a large cast of well-known actors, including Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene, Geneviève Bujold, Richard Roundtree, Marjoe Gortner, Barry Sullivan, Lloyd Nolan, Victoria Principal, and (under an alias) Walter Matthau. It is notable for the use of an innovative sound effect called Sensurround which created the sense of actually experiencing an earthquake in theatres. In the wake of the tremendous success of the 1970 disaster-suspense film Airport, Universal Studios began working with executive producer Jennings Lang to come up with a new idea that would work within the same disaster-suspense genre. The genesis of the idea literally came to them as a direct result of the San Fernando earthquake that shook the Los Angeles area during the early morning hours of February 9, 1971. Director Mark Robson and Lang were intrigued by the idea of creating a disaster on film that would not be confined to an airliner, but rather take place over a large area.Producer Bernard Donnenfeld helped produce the film, but was uncredited. Budgeted at $7,000,000, Earthquake found itself in a race against the clock with the bigger-budgeted disaster film, The Towering Inferno, which was being financed by two studios (20th Century Fox and Warner Bros., a motion picture first) and produced by Irwin Allen (The Poseidon Adventure). Extensive use of highly trained stunt artists for the most dangerous scenes involving high falls, dodging falling debris, and flood sequences, set a Hollywood record for the most stunt artists involved in any film production up until that time: 141. Major stunt sequences in the film required careful choreography between the stunt artists and behind-the-scenes stunt technicians who were responsible for triggering full-scale effects, such as falling debris. Timing was critical, since some rigged effects involved dropping six ton chunks of reinforced concrete in order to flatten cars, with stunt performers only a few feet away. In other scenarios, some stunt artists were required to fall sixty feet onto large air bags - for which they were paid the sum of $500. Universal Studios and Jennings Lang wanted Earthquake to be an Event Film - something that would draw audiences into the theatre multiple times. After several ideas were tossed about (which included bouncing styrofoam faux debris over audience members heads), Universals sound department came up with a process called Sensurround - a series of large speakers made by Cerwin-Vega powered by BGW amplifiers, that would pump in sub-audible infra bass sound waves at 120 decibels (equivalent to a jet airplane at takeoff), giving the viewer the sensation of an earthquake. The process was tested in several theatres around the United States prior to the films release, yielding various results. A famous example is Graumans Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California, where the Sensurround cracked the plaster in the ceiling. The same theatre premiered Earthquake three months later – with a newly installed net over the audience to catch any falling debris – to tremendous success. The Sensurround process proved to be a large audience draw, but not without generating a fair share of controversy. There were documented cases of nosebleeds generated by the sound waves.When the film premiered in Chicago, Illinois, the head of the building and safety department demanded the system be turned down, as he was afraid it would cause structural damage. In Billings, Montana, a knick-knack shop next door to a theatre using the system lost part of its inventory when items from several shelves were thrown to the floor when the system was cued during the quake scenes. Sensurround was used again for the films Midway (1976), Rollercoaster (1977) and Battlestar Galactica (1979). The disaster film trend had reached its zenith in 1974 with the combined releases of Airport 1975 (the first Airport sequel), Earthquake and The Towering Inferno. The films enjoyed staggering success, with The Towering Inferno earning $55 million in rentals, Earthquake earning $36 million and Airport 1975 earning $25 million.By 1976, the disaster film cycle had also left its mark on the list of all-time box office champions, with The Towering Inferno ranking 8th, Airport 14th, The Poseidon Adventure 16th and Earthquake 20th.Such success spawned a flood of similar films throughout the decade. Earthquake eventually grossed nearly $80,000,000 ($367,364,200 adjusted for inflation in 2012 dollars). Earthquake was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design (Alexander Golitzen, E. Preston Ames, Frank R. McKelvy) and Best Sound Mixing (Ronald Pierce, Melvin Metcalfe, Sr.). It won for Best Sound Mixing (Ronald Pierce, Melvin M. Metcalfe, Sr.) and a Special Achievement Academy Award for Visual Effects (Frank Brendel, Glen Robinson, Albert Whitlock). The film was also nominated for two Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Original Score (John Williams). Williams music for Earthquake was the second of his trio of scores for large-scale disaster films, having previously scored The Poseidon Adventure and following with The Towering Inferno (briefly earning him the nickname King of the Disaster Scores).Williams scored both Earthquake and The Towering Inferno in the summer of 1974, both scores showing similarities to one another (notably Earthquakes theme and The Towering Infernos love theme sharing the same eight-note melody). The music of the song Cest si Bon by Henri Betti is played on the guitar in the middle of the film.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 16:41:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015