Our school did a movie night last school year,We offered popcorn,famlies brought blankets to sit on .There was no charge for this event.A projector was used and it was held in our cafetira.We have around 300 students I would say half showed up.The only thing I would do different is make sure the parents keep control of their children,we had alot of kids trying to rome the hallways and a water fight in the bathroom. If we ever do this again it will be posted that the parents are responsibe for their children and if they can not do so they will be asked to leave.(not very nice but what can you do?)
We had our first Movie Night last Spring and it was well attended. We decided to have 2 showings- an early and late show. Admission was free, and we encouraged the kids from grades K-3 to attend the early show, and 4-6 the late show whenever possible. This just helped to prevent everyone from coming to the same one. The first show was actually more crowded, but not too much so. We have some lunchroom tables set up in the back for adults who couldn't sit on the floor, but otherwise kids just brought blankets and sat on the floor to see the movie. All went well for the first time we tried it.
We use an LCD projector (our librarian keeps these in her office). The devices are typically attached to a laptop computer to show powerpoint presentations up on a screen. They work the same way with a DVD player. Hook the LCD Projector up to a dvd player (or a VCR) and also to some stand alone speakers (for better sound). In our cafeteria - we show the movie on a screen that pulls down from the ceiling. In our gym - we show the movie on the wall. You can also show a movie outside against a building wall - call it "Movie Under the Stars" (but you need to do this between October and April due to daylight savings time).
I am wondering are u using a projector? or Big screen? Where do you get your projector or big screen? Thank you we are thinking about doing movie night but Our Gym is Huge and if I put a 60 in big screen not all would see it. Thank you for all input.
Our school has 700 students and yes...crowds can be an issue. We do not charge for admission to our family movie nights - we just sell concessions. We also do not set up chairs - we just have families bring blankets and bean bags to sit on the floor. At our first movie night - it was insane - way too many people. Everything was in the cafeteria including the concessions. At our second movie night - we showed the movie in english in the cafeteria and in spanish in the gym and had the concession stand in the hallway between the two buildings. It was amazing. The crowds were cut in half and everyone enjoyed the movie in whichever language they wanted to listen. Your school may not need it shown in both languages - but it was a great solution for us. Have fun at your movie night. This is one of our school's favorite events.