Telling A Story With Heat And Air: The Feelies

Munduruku: a multisensory experience

Multi-sensory storytellers The Feelies needed their film ‘Munduruku’ to be a sensational experience, allowing viewers to live the challenges of the Munduruku people of the Amazon. They needed the extra sensory elements of heat and wind to bring the experience to life, but other studios had told them it wasn’t possible. So they came to us.

The feel of the forests

We created bespoke heating and wind systems for five ‘pods’ in which participants in ‘Munduruku’ would sit. We built them to heat and cool rapidly to simulate the feeling of the Sun or a fire, immersing viewers completely in the experience.

The Feelies’ collected multisensory data during their filming in the Amazon, which we used to plot the audience member’s sensory journey through the film. We programmed the data to trigger the heat and wind exactly to the visuals, while making sure the pods were easy to use for other technicians, wherever Munduruku might be shown.

Programming the heat + wind track.

Taking the Amazon everywhere

The narrative of heat and wind we created helped make Munduruku a realistic and immersive experience. Participants were able to really feel like they were in the Amazon. Munduruku has now appeared at festivals across the world, and been universally loved. The experience sold out its entire run at Centro Cultural Correios, São Paulo, Brazil. It has also gone on to win awards at the Sheffield Documentary Festival, Raindance Film Festival and Future of StoryTelling.

Ben and Dan are not only great at what they already do, but open to new challenges and were fantastic to work with. They designed a bespoke system quickly and easily, which not only did the job, but was technically robust and within our modest budget. They were with me every step of the way installing the system in Brazil, the US and Argentina. To top it all, they’re lovely guys and a pleasure to collaborate with. I look forward to working with them again.

Grace Boyle, Director, The Feelies