This is topic Outdoor Screen Placement in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=003515
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 05-31-2002, 09:32 PM:
May have finally located a piece of land for that outdoor I've been working on. Sadly, in these days of red-tape regulation, one must choose by where zoning can be had, not necessarily for where a screen should be placed. But it's very good in many ways. The technical dilemma is this: Where to place the screen? We have a square lot with N-S-E-W borders. North and West are first two choices. BUT West would face the road and a very public-accessible area, plus some distant street lighting. North and South could be somewhat shielded to freeloaders, but light issues are the same. This leaves me with East. No ambient light or freeloaders, but a "suncatcher". Of course many drive-ins have done this, but would any of you? For those that have these "suncatchers", do you start the movie later? By how much? Suggestions?
Posted by Jerry Chase (Member # 660) on 05-31-2002, 11:15 PM:
1. Don't do it.
2. If you do it plant tall fast growing trees as a partial barrier.(Edit)- Rethinking this, it is one of my dumber statements. Trees probably won't make any difference. The days when there are light clouds in the west, there will be a glow from them after the sun goes down. I've seen days when the clouds are in the east and the glow was brighter than the sunset. I guess siting a screen is a YMMV issue depending on local conditions.
How many have started a show in dark heavy rain, only to have to shut it down as the clouds thinned out and the light overpowered the image on the screen? (Raises hand)
Posted by Timothy Eiler (Member # 383) on 06-02-2002, 10:37 AM:
I Have Screens facing N,S,E,W I dont have a problem with light. I just walk around and start them aprox the same time. I do have a ten minute intermission reel at the begining and I also have plenty of light on the sceenTim
Starlite Drive-in
Litchfield Mn
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 06-02-2002, 12:54 PM:
I was thinking about the "glow". That was precisely why I figure a west screen can't really start much before an east anyway. There is a pretty good-sized hill to the west which makes takes the sun out a little earlier. Thanks.
Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 06-03-2002, 01:10 AM:
Forget about the freeloaders. You will not loose that much in the way of adminssions. Most people don't want to think of themselves as cheap freeloaders and will come in an pay the admission. The advantage you will get by orienting the screen where you will get the LEAST amount ambient light is the place to put it. If freeloading along the side of the road becomes a real problem, then fensing, water spray and even a burried antenna that transmits a jamming signal to obliterate the soundtrack can be used to discourage them.
Posted by Barry Floyd (Member # 385) on 06-03-2002, 01:05 PM:
Dave... you sound like me. I've finally settled on a location a little further away (9 miles)from where I had originally intended, but have NO zoning issues to deal with whatsoever. They told me the other night in the meeting... "Heck you could build it next to the courthouse if you wanted... if the land was available."Our new site alows us to place the screens facing -15 degrees East & + 15 degrees West with parking capacities of 260 on each field, and still enough room on the site for a North facing tower with a capacity of 175 +/-.
Several weeks ago we went to a local drive-in to catch Spiderman and the owner started the show way too early for my taste... or so I thought. When the first image hit the screen, it was so faint you could barely even see it. He started off with the Filmack "Radioactive" trailer, a Pepsi commercial, then several (3-4) upcoming feature trailers. By the time Spidey hit the screen ... the lighting was perfect. It's obvious he'd done this a time or two.
Good luck... We still have the bet on who's the first to open - you or me.
------------------
Barry Floyd
Floyd Entertainment Group
Nashville, Tennessee
(Drive-In Theatre - Start-Up)
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 06-03-2002, 02:16 PM:
Well, you've got NO zoning at all, so I say you're ahead! You're right, I find that even where a screen faces west, 5-10 minutes of trailers is usually what's done. To answer Frank, there's a greater chance of "all-night-long ambient light" if I face the road (and freeloaders) than if I take the sun. It wouldn't happen all weekends, but once or twice a month. And they're off!
Posted by Geoff Bradley (Member # 658) on 06-03-2002, 11:37 PM:
Hey Dave. Maybe it's been awhile, but doesn't the direction of predominant winds play a factor anymore?I just remember seeing the screen fly towards North Dakota one night during Twister.
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 06-03-2002, 11:40 PM:
Sunset could be an issue.Good thing you are not adjacent to an oil refinery. One drive-in I ran was, and when they hit the flares, it washed me off the screen.
Posted by Dave Bird (Member # 490) on 06-04-2002, 06:44 AM:
Movies by candlelight Paul! Refineries can be worse, the last drive-in in Calgary Alberta was the Corral. Very busy, as you'd expect for the last 4 screens and a city of one million. The oil facility next door exploded, bathing the drive-in in pollution (so Cineplex Odeon says anyway). It sits abandoned. I suspect it was a way for Cineplex to take a huge insurance claim and sell the land. Thanks for all answers, I'm getting responses from, "Hell no, don't do it!" to "It's okay to do it."