Title: New toy
Post by: bubba on July 16, 2006, 09:58:22 am
I just got a new toy, well, toys 
... My buddy owns a home theater business, and from time to time, I get some good deals on things I really don't need. My latest deal is what turns out to be an outdoor movie theater. Its not really designed for it, but that is what I made it into.. Its a Da-Lite Cosmopolitan series motorized screen 84" 4:3, a nice pair of Linn speakers, and Phillips LC-4345 Pj with 70hrs on it. This along with another Linn Center channel cost me $350. We finally had a rain free sat night, so we got busy setting it up. I ran the audio through an Onkyo receiver and used my xbox for the dvd player.. I also setup my old Yamaha Sub, which surprisingly put out some bass... We watched a movie, then played xbox on the screen... I think I am going to have to make a bigger screen very soon, but this will get atleast one more showing before upgrading...
... My buddy owns a home theater business, and from time to time, I get some good deals on things I really don't need. My latest deal is what turns out to be an outdoor movie theater. Its not really designed for it, but that is what I made it into.. Its a Da-Lite Cosmopolitan series motorized screen 84" 4:3, a nice pair of Linn speakers, and Phillips LC-4345 Pj with 70hrs on it. This along with another Linn Center channel cost me $350. We finally had a rain free sat night, so we got busy setting it up. I ran the audio through an Onkyo receiver and used my xbox for the dvd player.. I also setup my old Yamaha Sub, which surprisingly put out some bass... We watched a movie, then played xbox on the screen... I think I am going to have to make a bigger screen very soon, but this will get atleast one more showing before upgrading...Title: New toy
Post by: Creighton on July 16, 2006, 11:14:34 am
Cool!!
Creighton
Creighton
Title: New toy
Post by: sodaworks on July 16, 2006, 01:20:53 pm
I guy I work with is setting one up as well. These outdoor set ups are becoming more popular. Brings back some drive in movie memories....
Title: New toy
Post by: halehouse on July 16, 2006, 03:01:12 pm
There is a drive-in about an hour from me that people around here go to just because "it is different". They seem to do pretty well. My wife and I also co-chair our neighborhood events committee. Tonight, for a community event, we have a company coming in with a 21' screen to show an outdoor movie. We were supposed to do it last night, but had to decide early to raindate it. Things like that are getting more popular.
Family Drive In
Family Drive In
Title: New toy
Post by: bubba on July 16, 2006, 05:09:15 pm
Dan... thats cool. I loved going to the drive in as a kid.. the last one by us closed when I was about 10 years old... watching the movie last night under the stars was definately a flashback.. We should have picked a more retro movie for the opening night, but the kids wanted Men in Black. Next showing may be Grease, or maybe Star Wars
Title: New toy
Post by: audiobeer on July 16, 2006, 06:42:51 pm
You got all that for $350? The speakers alone are worth that. What a deal! Your kids are loving it (Your buddies too)!
Title: New toy
Post by: bubba on July 16, 2006, 08:44:15 pm
These speakers have an incredible sound, and I wasn't pushing them with much power either. Typical Linn stuff. We were both amazed at the sound quality... They are firing back at the house, which kinda gave a surround sound effect. I wish it got dark earlier.. I want to use this every night, but my neighbors would not put up with it... The biggest down side so far is that I have to take this down at the end of the night. None of the parts are outdoor rated. I had to set the screen back up this morning to let it dry out because it got covered with a heavy dew. When I opened it up, it was covered with the little gnats and bugs. Not really sure how to clean that yet. I may try a damp sponge, but I don't think its good idea.
Title: New toy
Post by: Eric on July 16, 2006, 09:13:04 pm
Awesome!!!! now all you need is to get a old convertable (doesn't matter if it runs)
have it pulled and placed right in front to get the full drive in effect!
There's a theater her in St. Louis that has an area in the huge lobby that shows
previews and all the seat/booths are shaped like different 50s cars!!!
have it pulled and placed right in front to get the full drive in effect!
There's a theater her in St. Louis that has an area in the huge lobby that shows
previews and all the seat/booths are shaped like different 50s cars!!!
Title: New toy
Post by: halehouse on July 16, 2006, 10:52:47 pm
Ken, bet that screen is cool, especially playing video games on it. Our movie night went well. Here are some pics I took before it started. My son is in two of the pictures.
Title: New toy
Post by: halehouse on July 16, 2006, 10:55:26 pm
Here is another picture before our Movie night.
It was nice that he (the company out of MD that did it) did all the set up and tear down.
It was nice that he (the company out of MD that did it) did all the set up and tear down.
Title: New toy
Post by: bubba on July 17, 2006, 05:38:45 am
Thats cool! I've seen those inflatable screens around alot more lately. I think Walmart has one that is pretty inexpensive and had some decent reviews. Could you hear the fan running to keep the air in the framework? I love the popcorn machine.. very nice touch. We have a small airpop unit that we are going to fire up for the next night, but this one it was a last minute thought, so microwave popcorn it was...
Out of curiosity, what did something like that cost to get someone to come in and do it? Are there any legal issues or licensing issues for showing movies in public like that? Technically, dvd's are meant for private, home use only. I would have never thought about that, but I saw some comments on another forum about it...
Out of curiosity, what did something like that cost to get someone to come in and do it? Are there any legal issues or licensing issues for showing movies in public like that? Technically, dvd's are meant for private, home use only. I would have never thought about that, but I saw some comments on another forum about it...
Title: New toy
Post by: halehouse on July 17, 2006, 06:42:29 am
The blower was pretty quiet and definitely could not be heard during the movie. The sound system was very good. For the movie, set up and take down, popcorn machine and popcorn/bags, extra for travel since they are 2 1/2 hours away, and paying for a raindate was around $800, which isn't bad I don't think for a community event. The license to show a movie varies by the movie and I think depends on whether or not you are charging and profiting. We didn't charge for the movie, but did charge .50 for popcorn or pop. Their website is funflicks.com
Title: New toy
Post by: bubba on August 03, 2006, 01:46:16 pm
I came across this site with some old intro's from drive in movie theaters... Some are pretty cool.. here is an old one from Lucky Strikes..
http://ia310114.us.archive.org/0....8_2.mpg
Someone posted a search for intermissions, and there is 57 different clips..
http://www.archive.org/search.....eAds%22
I am going to try to set up a bunch of these and play a startup disk before the movie starts... I am really getting into this outdoor setup. We've had 2 movie nights so far, and everyone has had a blast. The 2nd showing was Rock and Roll High School.... the kids all loved it. My neighbors across the way said they could here the sound clear as day, but couldn't see the screen cause of the angle. I had about 20 people for the 2nd night.
http://ia310114.us.archive.org/0....8_2.mpg
Someone posted a search for intermissions, and there is 57 different clips..
http://www.archive.org/search.....eAds%22
I am going to try to set up a bunch of these and play a startup disk before the movie starts... I am really getting into this outdoor setup. We've had 2 movie nights so far, and everyone has had a blast. The 2nd showing was Rock and Roll High School.... the kids all loved it. My neighbors across the way said they could here the sound clear as day, but couldn't see the screen cause of the angle. I had about 20 people for the 2nd night.
Title: New toy
Post by: halehouse on August 03, 2006, 02:03:27 pm
Thanks for passing that along. Some of those are great! But juicy pickles at a movie? Anyhow, we might show one or two before our next outdoor movie.
Title: New toy
Post by: bubba on August 03, 2006, 06:35:54 pm
There is a whole forum I found on backyard theaters... http://backyardtheater.com/forums/index.php?
I thought I was crazy for doing this... After spending some time on that site, I am not near as crazy as I thought. There is some really cool things out there for this stuff....
I thought I was crazy for doing this... After spending some time on that site, I am not near as crazy as I thought. There is some really cool things out there for this stuff....