Think Tank Thursday

Smell

Not the B.O. kind, but targeted, specific, story telling smells.

The sense of smell is the strongest trigger of memories. This is partly because the Olfactory bulb plugs directly into the amygdale, the walnut shaped structure that acts as the brain's "watchdog." The amygdale is on the lookout for any sensory information that would signify a threat or advantage. When the amygdale is activated or excited it takes the sensation that triggered it and quickly looks for basic matches in the memory banks for explanations. Once a basic match is found, the amygdale triggers the hypothalamus which influence our autonomic nervous system and readies us for appropriate action.

For example, when you are walking outside any you catch a smell of something burning, your amygdale is quickly activated to bring up matches to that particular smell. Is it a safe, campfire burning? Is it a barbecue? Is it thick and acrid? etc. Once the similar memory is brought up you have a basis to determine whether you are in danger or not. The memory also serves as a template for appropriate action. A good memory of a campfire does not involve fleeing for your life. A bad memory of a campfire might.

For as little credit as we give our sense of smell, it is a pretty amazing gift. If we were to sit at the highest seat in a football stadium, we would be able to detect on drop of a scent released at the middle of the 50 yard line!

We can also distinguish multiple variations of the same scent, combinations of scents, intensity, and many other differences. This leads to a multitude of different memories that can be tied and triggered from a large variance of smells.

For violence and theatre in general, well placed scents can trigger memories in the audience that may be in the same vein as the story being told. Triggered memories carry their emotions to the surface with them. This primed, or in some cases instigates, a reaction from the audience. Because what they are viewing takes primary focus, the audience will most often feel that the scene is the cause of their feelings.

A fight may have the smell of gunpowder, sweat, or even the "sweet" smell of death.

Care should be taken, however, to not overuse this convention. Not only can it get overwhelming and tiresome, the audience will eventually catch on and grow to resent it. Care should also be taken with constructing the scents, an allergic reaction mid show would not be the reaction you are looking for.

Greg