Oh I forgot! As far as "under the stars" movies we have discussed taking our equipment outside & projecting the movie on the tallest wall we have. We are a one story school. The screen we made could be taken outside or we could just use the wall. I have seen this elsewhere & it worked well.
We purchased two painting drop cloths from Home Depot then had a volunteer sew them together. We then ironed the "screen". Our coaches fashioned a sliding device on the ceiling of our stage so we can open & close the "screen" by sliding from left to right we're working on a track that can be used to move it from front to back. We had no curtains before so the screen serves a dual purpose. To play the movies we hook up a projector to a dvd player & our sound system.
The results were amazing! It really is like being in a theatre in our own gym! Each time we do a movie night we have more people. It's been great for us. The event is free. We pretty much break even on Hot dogs, drinks ,& popcorn. We have the families bring chairs bean bags etc.
We also offer a popcorn party to the class with the highest turnout.
I got carried away sharing. However, this event has been a hit for us!
Hi Tangles - we are looking to do the same for our back to school cookout in September here in Brooklyn Connecticut. Any insight you can share on how you cut costs in 1/2 for the movie would be appreciated! Maybe we have some local businesses with an available screen - I just can't think of who that might be.
Thank you for the info., we have found a neighboring town that will rent to us for half of what the pros wanted. We are still researching though for a June event maybe to do on the last day/night of school. Thank you in Connecticut!
We are working on a 'Movie Night under the Stars' for September 2006. I have found it useful to 'ask' around about screens. I called all the stores in town that rent items and they were not able to help me. I networked other volunteers to see if other organizations had knowledge of screens. I was told that the city had a screen to rent, but when I called many departments in the city they did not know of any screens. But I finally came across a large screen to rent by finding out that some small towns had purchursed one for anyone to rent- for a mere $20.
IF we were unable to find a large screen we were going to look into other options- such as a local movie theather that will close down and help non-profit organizations. So keep your options open when looking for location/screen.
We are going to use volunteers to run this event in September. And are still in the planning stages. So far we are know we are having it on our football field. It will be a free event. Although we plan on making money by selling popcorn, candy and spirit wear.
