Drive-In Movies Without The Car

When I was a child and later a teenager we used to go to the drive-in theater. My kids got to go to our local drive-in when they were young but, alas, like so many others that theater is no longer in business.

With the exception of the occasional amorous activities during my teenage years, my favorite recollections of the drive-in weren't so much sitting in the car, as sitting on top of it or on a chair next to it. There is something very pleasant about viewing a movie outdoors on a warm summer evening.

Now thanks to technology, those days are back, at least in my neighborhood. On a warm August night, we invited all our neighbors and friends to "Outdoor Movie Night at the Magids," where we enjoyed viewing "Singin' in the Rain" with Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds.

What made this possible was a video projector coupled with a laptop PC with a DVD player. But even if you don't have a notebook PC, you can connect a standard DVD or VHS player directly to a video projector.

If you're like most people, you don't have a video projector and you probably can't justify spending several hundred dollars or more to buy one just for an occasional outdoor movie. Still, if you work in an office chances are pretty good that there's one around somewhere that you could borrow for the evening. Some schools and libraries loan them out and, of course, you can always rent one.

Almost all video projectors have a range of inputs including a VGA port for a PC or Mac, as well as both the audio and video inputs from a stand-alone DVD or VHS video player. Projectors come in two basic varieties: DLP (which stands for "digital light processing") and LCD (liquid crystal display). DLP projectors are optimized for movie viewing though, frankly, LCD projectors do an excellent job as well.

The main way projectors are rated are in terms of "lumens" (or "ANSI lumens"), which is the amount of light they emit. 750 lumens is pretty much the minimum you'll find, and these are generally used in small conference rooms. 900 to 1000 lumen projectors are sold for use with relatively small audiences and some ambient light, and 2,500 lumen heavy-duty systems are marketed for larger rooms or for use with the lights on.

For our show, I used a 1,000 lumen Hewlett Packard SB21 digital projector. This 2.2-pound projector is mainly used by traveling business people in need of a small lightweight unit for presentations in small venues. Frankly, I was a bit nervous about using it in an outdoor setting but it worked very well once darkness fell. The SB21 costs about $2,000, but you can buy video projectors for as little as $800.

Our show took place in our driveway. The night before the show, I tested the projector using a king-sized sheet tacked to the garage door and it worked fine. As it turned out a neighbor had a large movie screen, which worked even better since screens have a special coating designed to reflect the light. Either way, the 1,000 lumen projector was more than adequate for evening use just after dark.

I played the DVD on the Toshiba Portege M100 notebook PC that I reviewed last week (pcanswer.com/articles/synd_toshm100.htm) and, for sound, plugged in a pair of amplified PC speakers.

The only other technology involved was our popcorn maker and a flashlight so that I could see the keyboard of the PC in the dark.

We started the movie at around 8:30. Prior to starting the film we displayed some digital photos from the PC and played music.

The evening went very well. Everyone was able to see and hear quite easily. In fact, one family watched the show from their own driveway across the street and even they had a good view of the screen.

For me, the most interesting part was watching the expression on people who drove or walked buy. A number of cars stopped or slowed down. I guess the occupants had never seen an outdoor movie in a residential neighborhood.

"Singin' in the Rain" turned out to be an excellent choice for a few reasons. For one, it's suitable for all audiences, which is important if you're going to show a movie outside where anyone, including people passing by, can view it. The audience ranged in age from infants to octogenarians. Second, this was one of the old Technicolor movies back when they used to over-saturate the color, making it even more vivid on the outdoor screen. What's more, Warner Bros. did an incredibly good job with the DVD, bringing out the color and radiance. Finally, it's just a fun movie, but there are plenty of other excellent choices.

By the way, our outdoor exhibition was legal, according to Warner Brothers Entertainment's legal department. It's OK to show movies from DVD or VHS indoor or outdoor as long as "the guests are not outside your family or your normal circle of acquaintances." Most of my acquaintances are pretty normal, so I think we're OK. Seriously, there are rules regarding the public exhibition of copyrighted material, especially for businesses or organizations that invite members of the general public.

Fortunately, the weather was terrific. I don't mind singin' in the rain, but I sure don't want to watch a movie in it.

By Larry Magid