8mm Forum: Outdoor movies

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Topic: Outdoor movies

Ronald Green
Film Handler

Posts: 53
From: Delray Beach, FL, USA
Registered: Nov 2016

posted January 07, 2017 06:57 PM

I have always wanted to show outdoor movies for my neighbors in my backyard. Please tell me the rule of thumb on protecting the projector. Does it need to be under a overhang or can it be out in the open?

Thanks for your help.

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Bryan Chernick
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 654
From: Bothell, WA, USA
Registered: Mar 2010

posted January 07, 2017 10:37 PM

I do it mostly with a digital projector and don't protect the projector. I live near Seattle and despite our reputation for rain, we do have quite dry summers. I guess it depends on the weather. I know Florida gets a lot of afternoon/evening thunderstorms so you should take that into consideration. Right now it's 34 degrees F with a chance of snow so I don't think I could get many neighbors over for an outdoor movie, I'm mostly limited to July and August. It's a lot of fun, my neighbors look forward to it every summer.

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted January 11, 2017 03:19 PM

We have a nice patio, and I'm a fan of drive in theaters, so we thought about giving this a try.

-Just my kid and me, see! We have all sorts of adventures on bikes, in canoes and out on the trail: when it comes to the Great Outdoors, we are the go-to guys...or so I thought!

One summery Saturday night, just for an experiment: one table, one ST-1200, one outdoors oriented film, one crappy tripod screen (...seemed about right).

The first thing we learned is it's best to start around dusk. Not coincidentally this is the mode of operation also favored by mosquitoes.

Lesson Learned #1: bring some personal insect repellent.

(Avon Skin So Soft is our own favorite.)

We also learned why people like houses so much: It turns out the weather is not always our friend (-who'da thought?!) . There we are maybe 4 minutes into Journey into Spring when I started to notice little dark circles appearing on the patio brick.

-makes sense: the sun sets, the air cools, it drops below the dew point and suddenly you have...RAIN!!!

Just ponder the physics of my situation: I am there with a machine that has a white hot GLASS light bulb inside, and the tiniest droplet of that cool rainwater will send blazing hot shards of it moving in a hurry! Just dumping the beam won't help enough: the bulb will stay hot several minutes!

We talk about various good things about these machines: quality of sound, ease of focus, kindness to film, etc. If another quality is how comfortably it can be stuffed under your shirt to run inside the house, the Elmo ST-1200HD fails miserably!

So yes:

Lesson Learned #2: Working under an overhang is just good planning. I'm lucky I didn't wind up with a spindle scar!

--------------------
All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Michael Lattavo
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 160
From: Canton, OH, USA
Registered: May 2014

posted January 11, 2017 06:09 PM

The projector doesn't HAVE to be under an overhang, but Steve is definately right about the rain! I typically set up my large screen near a barn during the day (luckily, under an overhang, as it is a pretty large screen). I then set up the speakers near the barn, and the projector stands. I wait until I'm going to give it a go to bring the projectors themselves out. Once the films are done for the night, I wait about half an hour,then carefully move the projectors into a small garden shed 10 feet away for the night. I've only had rain once, and got to do the quick equipment shuffle under cover. I have toyed with idea this summer of putting some kind of camping canopy over the projectors as an insurance policy...

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007

posted January 11, 2017 10:09 PM

Our climate is dry, so as long as there's no significant wind, projectors can be outside with few issues. I've even had them outdoors shining through a window to an indoors screen when the exterior temperature was 45 degrees.

My favorite is the late summer season because many insects are "burned off" and the sunset is a little earlier. And the arrangement: the screen is hung from the shed (stable, tied-down, and less likely to be affected by a breeze), and the projectors are indoors shining out through a window, audience on the patio. They can see the retro technology with only a little projector noise, which I think is just right, and at the end of the show only the screen needs to be brought in.

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