Project Title:   I-Witness: A 4-D Time Travel Adventure

Museum/ Institution:  Newseum 

Program Created:  September, 2007 

Media Category:  Theater / Immersive 

Program URL (if available):   http://www.newseum.org/exhibits-and-theaters/theaters/walter-and-leonore-annenberg-theater/index.html

Project Image(s) and/or Video  

Media Source(s)/Credit(s):

Newseum

Program Description:

“I-Witness: A 4-D Time Travel Adventure at the Newseum” is a revolutionary 4-D multimedia experience at the 535-seat Annenberg theater in the Newseum, Washington D.C..  Upon arrival at the theater, visitors are handed 3-D glasses in order to be able to experience the movie in full 3-D effect.

The 4-D experience combines the 3-D film with physical effects. As the producers observed, “Most people have experienced a 4-D experience at a theme park or amusement ride, but the 4-D show at the Newseum's Annenberg Theater is a bit different. Visitors experience this show in a high-end, well-appointed theater setting, not an amusement park ride.” “Seat effects – including seat motion, leg ticklers, butt kickers, wind, and water – are used to invoke the ‘4th dimension’ of the experience. When combined with the 3-D visuals, these effects transport viewers back in time and allow them to experience the drama and adventure alongside the film’s characters.”

The film itself takes viewers on a global tour of significant historic journalistic moments:  “The content of the film stresses the importance of eyewitness reporters. There are three stories: Isaiah Thomas at the Battle of Lexington, Nellie Bly and her work as the first undercover reporter, and Edward R. Murrow, who conducted live broadcasts from the roof of the BBC during the blitz.”

The 4-D effects serve to make the content of the film’s message all the more powerful and impactful.

Firsthand critique (I have personally experienced the 4-D presentation twice):

It would not surprise me if “I-Witness” were one of the most expensive multimedia productions in a U.S. museum.  While it is hard to gauge whether it was worth all the money, it surely plays a large part in bringing visitors to the Newseum (and likely in bringing them back for return visits), so – over time – it will likely pay for itself.  Whether or not it makes total sense in economic terms, there can be no doubt that it has a significant impact on visitors.  I found it to be a truly memorable feature of my visits to the Newseum, and it is probably one of the more memorable single exhibits that I have experienced in any museum.

The 3-D effect is sufficiently realistic that participants can be seen ducking in their seats as a projectile seemingly flies towards them.  They are jolted and moistened and blown.  Since the 4-D total experience employs the senses of sight, sound, and feeling in a rather overwhelming way, it goes a step beyond the many multimedia experiences that essentially just use two senses (not counting touch screens as really being a “touch experience”).  It seems to me that this significant addressing of the senses, coupled with the serious subject matter of the well-produced movie, makes the overall multimedia effect very powerful at “I-Witness.”  "I-Witness" can, I think, be rated as a very successful multimedia experience.

Technologies incorporated: 

Combination of AV and broadcast technologies, with 3-D effects and special motion seats 

Internally or externally produced: 

Externally Produced:  Film Produced by Cortina Productions;  Theater designed by Polshek Partnership Architects;  Screen by Stewart FilmScreen 

Entry Contributor and Date:  Danny Schiff, 2/06/2012

Related projects: none known