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How to Bring Outdoor Movie Theatre into Your Backyard?

Published

4 years ago

July 20, 2020

Sebastian

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Outdoor Movie Theatre

There is nothing more entertaining like watching a movie outside in your own backyard. It allows you to enjoy an evening with your friends and family under the open air with some drinks and snacks. In fact, it’s something that just feels right when summer rolls around.

Backyard movie theatres are actually easy to set up yourself. With small supplies and a simple, straightforward setup you can create your own outdoor cinema in just under an hour.

Here is how you can bring an outdoor movie theatre in your backyard.

What You’ll Need

Portable Screen or Sheet

Practically, it’s better to use a screen instead of a sheet for your movie screen. It will have fewer wrinkles than a sheet, which is ideal for clear movie-watching. However, if you find them expensive to purchase you can get one easily from a projector screen rental around you. After all, screens are extremely quick and easy to setup. They keep the image tight and polished regardless of the wind.

Projector

Projectors may be very costly, but it is important to note that you don’t need the latest and hi-tech video projector if you are projecting a movie in your backyard.

Experts recommend that use a projector with 2000 lumens, as well as an HDMI connection. Besides, having a projector with HD resolution is also good if you want to watch a movie with crisp and clear quality. Also, it is better that you look for a projector with built-in MHL functionality so you don’t have to work with too many wires. And the good thing is that, you won’t have to spend a lot buying a projector for your backyard, you can find plenty of options that cost less than $1000.

Speakers

You may have decided about your picture, but now you need to look at your sound. Clearly, you’ll need some sound system to be able to hear the film you’re watching, and there are plenty of options out there for you. But the best one of all is are Bluetooth speakers.

With a Bluetooth speaker, you just need to sync it with a projector and you are good to go. You don’t need to get into the hassles of connecting your speakers with the projector using wires. However, if that’s not an option, you have to go with wired powered speakers, but you’ll probably want to keep your sound plugged into the same surge protector that’s powering your projector.

Nonetheless, whichever type of speaker you use, make sure the speakers are loud enough to compete with the outdoor elements like the wind.

Video Source

There are plenty of options available to get your video projecting. However, most people find the easiest method to use for outdoor movies is a laptop but you can also use online streaming options like Roku stick, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV.

Nonetheless, your biggest concern will be to make sure your media device stays connected to your projector and the audio source. For this, you will need to make sure that the wireless router signals are strong enough to reach the projector, or the cables are properly connected before you start.

How to Set It Up

Pick the Right Location

You can either up a portable screen in the backyard with a stand or against the exterior wall of your home. Whatever location you plan to opt, make sure you have sufficient space for everyone to sit comfortably and enjoy the movie just like in an indoor cinema.

Arrange Some Seats

Not everyone would feel comfortable laying down on the grass and watch a movie, therefore you also need to have some seats arranged. Besides, smaller gatherings can make do with small blankets, but larger groups may require folding chairs to make enough room. Make sure that the chairs you arrange in your backyard are comfortable enough to let people enjoy the complete movie.

Get Bug Repellent

Bugs happen, and you need to be prepared. Wet outdoors and dark spaces can bring in mosquitoes and all types of flies. That’s the reason why you need to have some bug repellents at the side of the backyard movie theatre, so nobody gets irritated with them.

Buy Some Drinks and Snacks

You can’t expect people to enjoy their movies without having some drinks and snacks by their side. After all, they would expect to have a somewhat similar experience watching a movie in a cinema. This means you don’t have to prepare dinner for everyone, you can go well with casual snack food. And when it comes to drinks, you can either go for an outdoor drink dispenser or disposable bottles.

Give It Some Style

You probably should give your backyard some style to make it look more appealing to everyone. Style it with comfortable blankets and piles of outdoor cushions to give it a retro camp look and feel. Install some dim lights at the boundaries and put hurricane candles if you want to give it a romantic look.

Some Obvious Don’ts

While you feel you have done everything right to bring outdoor movie theatre into your backyard, there might be a few things that you have not done right. Here are a few things to avoid:

Setting up your backyard theatre when there are chances of rain.
Using the projector as a coaster.
Installing a very large screen not appropriate to the size of the backyard.
Installing too many lights in the backyard and making it too bright.
Using low volume speakers making it hard for everyone to hear the movie better.

Some Last Considerations

It’s necessary that you should be careful when choosing the movie. Remember, you are in public, and you don’t want to offend anyone. Also, make sure to keep the sound to a dull roar and respect your neighbors. You don’t have to disturb their privacy by blasting a powerful speaker system at full volume. Enjoy your movie while not making things difficult for others around you.