Health & Fitness
Clearwater Nights Like This Are For Watching Movies Under The Stars
Enjoy this cool night air and watch a movie outdoors. Make your own drive in or outdoor theater and have a little fun in your neighborhood.
As the weather gets cooler it brings back the nostalgia of drive in theaters. Maybe you're too young to remember drive in theaters but those venues were a big part of the good old U.S. of A. The closest drive in to Clearwater is the Fun-Lan Drive In in Tampa. If you have never been you should check it out some time.
There is another crowd that is taking this on their own. Guerrilla drive ins or mobile movie theaters a/k/a mobmov are cropping up in some unique places. With just a computer projector, small FM transmitter, laptop or DVD player, a bit of power, and maybe a warehouse wall you are in the drive in movie business. [Clearwater Neighborhoods Coalition Blog Editor Note: Showing movies in a public venue requires the movie to be licensed. Motion Picture Licensing Corporation and Swank Motion Picture, Inc. are examples of two firms that provide licenses for public movie events.]
If you don't want to run the risk of the FBI raiding your movie party you can pull off something similar on your own property. Digital Dummies has a website that gives you step by step instructions for building your own backyard theater. If you don't like those instructions head over to Backyard Theater and see what some real outdoor theater lovers are doing. The forums on that site are awesome and if you can imagine it, there is a whole world of people who can help you do it.
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Doing something like this is a great way to get your neighbors or friends involved. You can usually rent popcorn and sno cone machines at most rental places. Crock pots, grills, George Foreman or gas, sterno cans, a local dollar store, some imagination and pizza delivery can put any movie theater concession stand to shame.
For ideas and inspiration check out the websites Drive In Movie, Drive-Ins, Drive In Exchange and Drive In Memories. [Hi CNC Blog Editor again sorry to interrupt but at blog post time the site http://driveintheater.com/ was down due to hacking. This is another good site and should have been listed by the blog writer. Not to worry a performance improvement plan is being initiated to address the writer's oversite.] You can get intermission clips at Drive In Film, YouTube, Ebay, or make your own.
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If you are going to do it up right then you'll need to get previews of coming attractions. You can find these items on ComingSoon, Trailer Addict, and Internet Movie Database. If you are a creative genius you can make your own.
Someone you know may be doing this already. Plywood boards in the backyard, old tarps, the side of a house, or the plastic backside of an old billboard ad are some clues of people enjoying an outdoor evening. Inexpensive DVD's can be checked out at RedBox, BlockBuster kiosks and your local library.
If this sounds like too much work then head down to on Clearwater beach and check out the free movie schedule at Sunsets at Pier 60.
Do it yourself or let someone else do it for you but get outside and make some memories of your own. The free night air conditioning is a real treat and to good to pass up. See you under the stars, neighbor.
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