Backyard Theater! Anyone have one?

[Kelemvor]

Well, I found this link a couple weeks ago and got addicted almost instantly:

http://www.backyardtheater.com

Just wondering if anyone here has their own backyard theater and shows outdoor movies... If so, post some pics!

I'm in the process of getting a screen built. Frame is up, screen is sewn, just gotta put the two together. End size will be around 8' x 16.5' which gives a 220" screen. heh heh. But we've had rain lately so I haven't been able to get it fully assembled yet.

Anyway, just thought I'd see if anyone else here is into this hobby.

UPDATE:
See this thread for pics of my setup. Scroll to the bottom to see the final layout and some sample pics.

This is going to be fun. heh.

 

[kranky]

Is the picture clear when it's blown up that large, coming from a digital source?

We used to do that with 16mm films (borrow films from the library, show them in the backyard projected onto a sheet) and it was always a big hit with the neighborhood.

 

[Kelemvor]

Originally posted by: kranky
Is the picture clear when it's blown up that large, coming from a digital source?

We used to do that with 16mm films (borrow films from the library, show them in the backyard projected onto a sheet) and it was always a big hit with the neighborhood.

That all depends on the projector and the screen. But usually you sit pretty far back so it doesn't have to be perfect.

One of the main premises of the site is that the original Drive In didn't have good video quality or sound quality but they were still a great place to go just to hang out and have a good time. SO you coudl start your backyard theater with an old projector and a bed sheet hanging from the roof and still have a great time.

But some of the setups people have on there are just insane.

 

[lokiju]

I saw them do this on Monster House once I think, or maybe it was some other show.

 

[arod]

I did it once with my ae100 (i now have an ae700) and played ID4 for a independence day party and it worked suprisingly well. Just hang a king sized bed sheet from the side of the house and setup the projector. It was actually suprising how good it looked. The one issue you have to deal with is you dont want to do it in the summer because #1 its too hot and #2 it doesnt get dark enough until very late (it has to be pretty dark for it to work)

 

[Kaido]

I don't but I have a friend of a friend who did. The guy had a projector and a couple giant DJ-style speakers and would hang a tarp outside the windows across the apartment's wall (it was in a college town). I went over for a barbeque once...they invited pretty much anyone in the complex and their friends who wanted to come and just cooked food and watched movies all night, it was pretty fun. It'd be sweet to do like a backyard drive-in theater or something, that pool idea looks cool too

 

[spasticnationboy]

Yeah, someone I'm good friends with from ATOT, whom I won't mention (He can speak up if he so chooses) put up a screen on his garage and we watched "Old School" and "Meet the Parents" out there with about 20 people and a roller cooler full of beer that we just swoosed back and forth across the parking lot.. It was great and we should do it again......... No pics, sorry..... it was a pretty transient theater.........only up for one or two nights...

 

[mindmaniac]

Cool, if I had a big backyard, a projector, and friends I would like to try that out

 

[waggy]

I have the backyard for it. hmm if i ever fidn a good projector cheap i might do it. im sure i could get a bunch of people over to watch heh.


but some of thsoe have some nice setups

 

[Blazin Trav]

Wow when you said backyard theater I was defiantely thinking something else...

 

[krunchykrome]

The thought of watching a movie outdoors in my backyard in this hot humid weather depresses me.

 

[Thraxen]

I just go to our local drive-in... went this last weekend.

 

[Scarpozzi]

The neighbors complained too much when I was playing a Ron Jeremy flick so I'm back indoors again.

 

[Alienwho]

It seems like one of my neighbors does that on a weekly basis. They're fun and really simple to do.

 

[jimbob200521]

That looks pretty cool....now all I need to do is get my own place

 

[Juice Box]

I'm actually working on setting something up for this weekend! My DIY projector should, hopefully, be done tonight, and I can work on coming up with some kinda dummy screen to use. Should be a grand time!

 

[Kelemvor]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
I just go to our local drive-in... went this last weekend.

The last local drive in we have closed at least 5 years ago...

 

[Homerboy]

I was just thinking about something like this the other day... now you post this.
Man I'd love to set this up for my kids and the neighborhood kids. Would be a damned blast. mY neighbor is in the awning business and could weld up a bitchin' fram and some solid material for a screen too.
I gotta find a cheap/used projector now.

Our neighborhood association does this once a year too at the local school playground. They set up a cinema size screen, distribute all kids of candy and treats for the kids. There are hundreds and hundreds of people. TONS of fun.

 

[Homerboy]

The last local drive in we have closed at least 5 years ago...

5yrs? Hell our have been closed for 10+
and even before they closed they simply sucked and the clientle was not somebody I would want to sit through a movie with, let alone any kids I have.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: Homerboy

The last local drive in we have closed at least 5 years ago...

5yrs? Hell our have been closed for 10+
and even before they closed they simply sucked and the clientle was not somebody I would want to sit through a movie with, let alone any kids I have.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: Thraxen

Originally posted by: Homerboy

The last local drive in we have closed at least 5 years ago...

5yrs? Hell our have been closed for 10+
and even before they closed they simply sucked and the clientle was not somebody I would want to sit through a movie with, let alone any kids I have.

I realized I may have worded that poorly. Personally I LOVE(D) drive-ins... but in their declined state, they sucked simply due to the atmosphere and the car-loads of losers they attracted. I wish my kids could enjoy a drive-in the way I did when I was younger.

 

[Thraxen]

There are a fair number of odd people there, but our local drive-in has gone through a bit of a revitalization this year. They used to only get older movies that were already out of the other theater in the area, but this year they have apparently decided to spend money on new releases. The combo my wife and I went to see this week was Pirates 2 and Cars.

This new move of getting new releases is really paying off big. The gates are supposed to open at 8pm, but they have been forced to open them before 7:30 every day since by that time traffic is backed up all the way up the drive (and they have a long drive) and over a quarter of a mile down the highway. They end up having to send a lot of cars out at the end since the lot fills up.

Overall it's not too bad. Lots of people bring food or grill out. They say alcohol is not allowed, but that's nearly impossible to enforce. Sure, there's no surround sound, but the experience is just so much different than a normal theater that it's worth going once in a while.

 

[Kelemvor]

Here's the thread about my screen:
http://backyardtheater.com/forums/index.php/topic,291.0.html

No updates lately as I'm waiting for a day that it doesn't rain so we can size the screen to the frame and finish sewing it...

As for the drive in's by us... We had only a couple for the past 20 years then for the past 10+ we had one and then 5-6 years ago that one closed too. I never had the pleasure of the kind that you had to hang the speaker on your window, just the FM radio kind...

 

[Kelemvor]

Just a bump since I did a trial run of my setup today in case anyone wants to see the pics.

 

[MrChad]

Looks great! What a great idea for the summer!