3D/4D MAKES MOVIES FEAST FOR SENSES.

Byline: Dave McNary Staff Writer

Coming soon to a movie theater near you - bees buzzing around your head, wind in your hair, water spraying on your clothes and smoke in your eyes.

Hey, what's that smell?

``The question we face is how do you create more tension and drama to make the audience a larger part of the experience,'' said Jon Corfino, senior vice president of film for Iwerks Entertainment, in describing his firm's 3D/4D Theatre Attractions. ``The focus is to bring you closer to the screen.''

Details of the 3D/4D techniques, developed at company headquarters a few feet from the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport, will be showcased in the next few days at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions convention in Atlanta. Corfino said the new product - coupled with fog machines, water cannons, smoke-ring devices and fragrance generators - should spark significant customer interest.

``What we've found is that the market is always demanding that you take the next step and raise the bar,'' said Corfino, an industry veteran who spent 13 years at Universal's theme park operations prior to joining Iwerks. ``A big part of what we do is trying to make the experience more immersive.''

The ambitious campaign is not surprising, given Iwerks' roots. It was founded in 1986 by former Disney executives Stan Kinsey and Don Iwerks, who had developed the 360-degree CircleVision camera and hundreds of projection systems for Disney's theme parks.

Lacking the clout of Disney and Universal, Iwerks has always looked to new formats in developing ``location-based'' niche markets beyond theme parks - museums, shopping malls and expos - and helped bring to life quirky films like ``Dino Island'' and ``Encounters in the Third Dimension.'' There are now more than 280 Iwerks attractions worldwide attended by nearly 30 million people a year.

Iwerks looked like such a winner that it raised $44 million in an initial public offering in 1993 when it went public at $18 a share, then saw its stock hit $37. But a misguided strategy of opening virtual-reality centers and tough competition from Imax Corp. has pushed the stock steadily downward in recent years to under $1 a share. The work force has been cut in half to less than 90 and it lost $1.57 million on revenues of $7.6 million in its quarter ended Sept. 30.

Still, perhaps 3D/4D will become the next big thing amid the growing desire for entertainment by consumers.

``People are always looking for that next level,'' Corfino said. ``There's a lot in this industry to be optimistic about.''

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Photo: (color) Jon Corfino, senior vice president of film for Iwerks Entertainment, says 3D/4D techniques bring viewers closer to the screen.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer