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Topic: UK Drive In

Ken McFall
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 615
From: Haringey, London.
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 07-07-2002 02:25 PM

As promised here are some pictures of the equipment van at our Drive In show on Friday 5th July.
The feature was Moulin Rouge and it looked stunning.... shame about the rain towards the end.
Its a very simple setup which is its main strength. The equipment listing is :-

Vic 5
4000 Lamphouse with 3k lamp
Single sided tower (breaks down into two parts)
Strong Switch Mode 3ph rectifier.
15m X 7.5m Airscreen (Instruction sheet is in manuals)

Long shot of projector and tower..

This is the screen ready and waiting for it to get dark.

This is the screen with white light, we filled the width on scope. It may not look it but the picture is as good as many cinemas I've been to recently.

The portable tower loaded with Moulin Rouge...

Finally... the park starts to fill up with 180 cars.

Hope you all find this interesting...

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Randy Loy
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 156

Registered: Aug 1999

posted 07-07-2002 03:00 PM

Ken,

Great photos! It sounds like attendance was good too!

Are you planning to do this on a regular basis at the same location or are you planning to move everything around to other locations?

It is my understanding that the U.K. has never had any permanently constructed drive-in theatres like we have here in the states. Am I correct? Has anybody else done what you are doing with a "portable drive-in." I know that Japan does portable drive-ins and I think it is a fascinating concept.

One more question (sorry, I know I'm asking a bunch of them) but did anybody complain about sight lines since the parking area was not ramped and the screen height was relatively low?

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-07-2002 03:10 PM

Beautiful.

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Ken McFall
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 615
From: Haringey, London.
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 07-07-2002 03:12 PM

Hi Randy,

the company I work for, City Screen, bought the screen last year for the Cambridge Film Festival, and I have done most of the full service hires. We recently did a similar Drive-In in Livingston Scotland, so distance is not a problem for us. We can work all year round as required.

With regards to the sight lines, I was concerned about it myself, but on checking it seemed fine from most locations. I could have raised the picture another couple of feet but decided not to in the end. It has to be said the pics make it look worse than it was.

Next Friday & Saturday 12th 13th July, I'm running the Cambridge Film Festival outdoor screening once again. In this case we will be using a speaker setup for sound.

I'm aware that compared to what you are used to our setup is very basic, but I will upgrade the equipment bit by bit with time. I intend to go full 5 channel stereo in the next few months.

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Ken McFall
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 615
From: Haringey, London.
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 07-07-2002 03:20 PM

is that weenie loaded?

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-07-2002 03:24 PM

Ken:

Nah. It is a "no-load"

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Randy Loy
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 156

Registered: Aug 1999

posted 07-07-2002 03:30 PM

Ken,

I agree with Paul, your drive-in set-up is beautiful.

I'm also glad to find out that Paul has not been pointing a loaded weenie at us for the past few months.

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Ken McFall
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 615
From: Haringey, London.
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 07-07-2002 03:36 PM

The tought of it going off in his hand is worrying....

Weenie fall out.... would FilmGuard sort that out?

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Mike Fitzgerald
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 224
From: Castle Hayne, NC, USA
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 07-07-2002 04:17 PM

Great pictures Ken I hope to be able to post some of my own in the next few months as I get closer to my equipment coming together.

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Ken McFall
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 615
From: Haringey, London.
Registered: Apr 2001

posted 07-07-2002 04:26 PM

Thanks for that Mike, look forward to seeing what you finally decide on. Keep it simple to start with that way its more reliable. I have to say I prefere doing the Drive-In shows as they are much easier from a tech point of view. Open air shows are more involved so open to more to go wrong.....

Mind you the only problems we've had so far are the generators that we hire locally. Three failures in Scotland and two this weekend gone. We were lucky that we could use local power for the screen fan.

Next weekend I'll take pictures of the whole setup loaded into the Luton van.... It all fits in one van if needed but for simplicity we use two vans for non Drive-In, outdoor shows as we need a home for the amplifiers behind the screen.

Watch this space.....

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Ben Wales
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 602
From: Southampton. England
Registered: Jul 99

posted 07-07-2002 05:40 PM

There was for two years a semi-permanent Drive-In in Bournemouth about 3 years ago, it ran for three nights over three months.

The largest mobile cinema set-up in the UK is the Stella Screen and MJ Movies, they both hold large scale outdoor Screening events with screens up to 60ft wide.

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Ian Price
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1714
From: Denver, CO
Registered: Jun 99

posted 07-07-2002 06:12 PM

I'm ready!

I want one!

I had thought a couple of years ago about an outdoor cinema along these lines. It's good to see that it is possible and relativly easy. It's great that the Drive-In works well and you don't have to provide a soundsystem. Just transmit the sound on low band FM. Cool!

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 07-07-2002 06:55 PM

Yesterday, I was using a weenie like the one pictured to shake at an employee while trying to make a point. The darn thing broke! I made some other comment, and most of the employees laughed their butts off.

Ian, I am still trying to figure out how you got in that car. Did they build it around you?

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Robert Golding
Film Handler

Posts: 65
From: Sutter, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2001

posted 07-08-2002 03:35 AM

It looks fantastic, just one question. Any particular reason why you are running it with a tower sys. I've had experience with towers and found that a platter is much friedlier to film. Good luck in the future and keep us informed about the peoples response to the wonder of watching movies under the stars.

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Brad Miller
Administrator

Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99

posted 07-08-2002 03:37 AM

Paul, note that Ian could not fit his head into the car. Ian's got a big head. (Yet remarkably small hands!)

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