The residents on my sister's street in Camarillo, CA hold a great block party every Summer.  I've attended the past couple of years and it's a lot of fun.  It's exactly what you would expect; good people, good food and drinks, kids running around having a good time, a bounce house, and everybody outside sitting in camping chairs enjoying a nice day.  This year was different though because, on behalf of my sister, we set up the outdoor movie screen for everyone to enjoy.

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The screen was set up immediately in front of my sister's house on the sidewalk between the driveway and the street.  Since we didn't have any dirt or grass to drive stakes into, we tied the screen to the back of a truck bed.  This was all done and setup well before dark so we could still enjoy the festivities.  As it got dark, more and more people were asking about the screen, the audio, what movie we would be watching, and other general outdoor movie rental questions.

"Thanks again - it was awesome!"
Aimee - Camarillo, CA - Ventura County

When it came time to get things going, we wanted to control as much ambient light as possible.  First, the driveway lighting of my sister's house was turned off as they were positioned immediately behind the outdoor movie screen.  Second, some neighbors within about 1-2 houses of the viewing area turned their house lights off as well.  Lastly, there was a street light to contend with.  We couldn't turn it off or cover it in anyway, but luckily it was far enough down the street that its angle had minimal negative effects.

"Thank you so much…it was awesome. Everybody loved it! I hope we get to see shows around the neighborhood."
Andrea - Camarillo, CA - Ventura County

Almost everyone stayed out and they really liked the experience of watching movies outside.  The adults hung in the back rows in their camping chairs with some still sitting under their canopies.  The kids took the front rows using their bikes, scooters, electric toy cars, and big wheels as chairs.  Careful not to bump the projector!  We'll have solution coming up for that in future articles.

Outdoor Movie Party Tips

If possible, ask the party's host to provide a new copy of the movie they would like to watch.  This will prevent skips and pauses due to scratched disks that take away from a smooth outdoor movie party experience.  Since new disks aren't always possible, do a little research and use players that have a reputation for flawlessly playing back disks with blemishes.  The night of the block party outdoor movie, we just happened to have a clean second copy to replace disk originally provided that skipped early on due to scratches.