The $20.00 sideyard drive-in theater

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[victor-eyd]

Okay, I've threatened to make one ever since I found out about this forum so here we go....

This is my outdoor driveway movie theater. I have rather large and fairly flat driveway and I decided to install the ht there for a few reasons:
1. The house holds back the wind from the bay so no one overly freezes as they would if the ht was in the backyard and
2. The large expanse of driveway allows me to add or reduce the size of the venue as I see fit.

Everything I used to create this was either given to me as a throwout, or bought on craigslist. Being the resident cheapskate of this forum, this is the overall look of the theater.

Wiring: paid $7 for a 500ft spool 8 yrs ago, so currently worth nothing
Playback : Portable dvd player bought on craigslist for $10
Projector: NEC MT820 also bought on craigslist for $10.00
Speakers: No name flea market stuff, but 6" subwoofer is from a SOny HTIB and is powered by an Partsexpress sub amp (all free)

Driveway venue space measures 25x60 ft give or take. The pavers are a nice touch and as an added bonus, little kids can play inside the garage if it gets too cold outside.

Screen will be mounted on the metal fence and is made of 3 or 4 panels of 48"x81" 1" thick cardboard. This isn't your usual box-material cardboard. It more like rigid panels of two cardboard sheets with a 1" thick honeycomb pattern sandwiched between. This makes the panel very stiff but also very light. I am going to paint the cardboard with white paint (free) but if the material begins to warp, I may end up using wooden 1/8" mdf sheets. Again, I got these from work free.

Anyways, here are some pics

Driveway


Fence closeup


Rear spkrs


Front speakers mounted


Closeup of front speakers


My 1st attempt, which failed as you can see (to be honest, looking back at it the image would have been better if I made it more taut. I was able to on one pic but ultimately, I was pretty sure the wrinkles would have been too much



More pictures to come

[rfisk]

You are the master, Victor.

Lemme guess... you paid what, about 10k for that house?

I love it.  You even make low-tech speaker mounts and stands look great.

Nice work!

Randy

[Pass_The_Off]

Howdy

  Nice place.  Yeppers that mite not work to well.  But by looking at your speaker set up. 

I look forward to your finished product.

[Emperor PalpaTim]

I love the speaker stands!  (And your house rocks, too!) 

[hiredpower]

Victor,

  Very nice work.

Don't worry about the screen failures. Been there, done that too. I can't wait to see the end result.

I have access to some plastic corrugated sheets, but they're only 16" x 36" darnit!

[Emperor PalpaTim]

Plastic corrugated sheets?  Like the kind they make yard signs out of? 

Victor:  Yep, I've had my share of failures, too.  My first two screens were complete disasters.  Don't give up or lose hope.  I find that outdoor theaters are always a work in progress. 

[hiredpower]

Emperor, I'll shoot a quick picture of them on Friday.

I can't tell what they're supposed to be used for.

[Admin]

I gotta dig up the photos of half of my first screen (plywood) sitting on top of my roof.  And the other half in the front yard after a storm and get them posted here somewhere.  Live and learn!

Maybe we'll need a crash and burn forum. 

Randy

[rrg]

Randy,
Good idea, I still have some of my "crash and burn" materials in the garage.
My cable wire home made hoist device really did crash down a few times.

Live and learn.
rrg

[victor-eyd]

I just notice my "failure" is now part of the Featured Members theaters! Yikes! I've got to finish that screen pronto

Victor

[hiredpower]

Maybe a little motivator?

[victor-eyd]

Alright, more work in progress...

Here are the panels (3) 48x85


This is a test panel so the bump is no big deal.


Closeup of the cardboard panel. Extremely rigid, but also very light.


The next project- 16'x9' rear projection screen

Victor

[rfisk]

Hey Victor, I don't view that as a failure.  I get a lot of emails from people saying they want to start but can't build a screen or invest much cash.  I always try to encourage them to start with whatever they can manage -- but start.  Mr. Hollingshead started with a sheet hung between two trees and a projector sitting on the hood of his car, and drive-ins were born.

My first test screen was a big piece of Tyvek housewrap just because I had saved it from our remodeling project.  And it beat the heck out of no screen at all!

And you're an inspirational contributor here for a lot of people with your uncanny ability to find great bargains.  You should be featured.  But I'll update that photo for you when you have your $37.00 75-foot-wide screen done.

No pressure.

Randy

[victor-eyd]

Okay- phase 2 begins. Oh we are so close now I can't wait!!


This is my backup panel. The marks are to show where my velcro will be positioned. The electrical paint strips are for another use as you will soon see...


Back of the panel. Simple strips of velcro adhere the panel to the fence, insuring a secure fit from the wind.


All panels up. Thanks helper!


Rear of panels

Okay, why the electrical tape? Simple. I am going to use white masking tape to cover the gap between each panel. If I simply adhere it to the cardboard, when I remove the tape, the cardboard will rip. The electrical tape serves as a plastic buffer to protect the white tape from ruining the screen. Obviously, once the tape rips of it will take some paint with it. So I'll simply touch up and screen's ready for the next session.

Just to reiterate, this is a 12ft wide 16x9 screen, or 165". Its about medium size with this crowd


Photoshopped but you get the general idea for now

Next step: white paint

[movieman]

When you get done are you going to raise the screen up a couple of feet. Right now people in seating behind the first row will have heads in the way. Just a thought.