Dear fellow event planner…
Now I know what you are thinking, you’re thinking, “A movie night?! Psht! How hard can that be Ange?” To that I say you’re right fellow event planner, it doesn’t have to be if you follow these three easy steps.
Step 1 – Screen
Now, a couple questions I get asked by clients and event planners are as follows, ‘does size matter?’ Or ‘is bigger better?’ And the answer to those questions would be sometimes and sometimes respectively.
When it comes to chosing an outdoor LED screen the real question that you should be asking yourself is, ‘how big is my potential audience going to be?’ We event planners are here to serve the people and ‘how do we serve the people?’ I hear you asking – we serve the people by putting on amazing movie nights with amazing LED screens.
When choosing a large outdoor screen there are two things to consider: size and resolution. Let’s start with resolution.
A LED screens resolution is dictated by its pixel size, outdoor LED screen pixel sizes range from P4 to P10. P4 being smaller and P10 being larger. A P4 screen will give you an image that is more detailed but less bright than the P10, whereas the P10 is the opposite, it will give you a relatively less defined image but the overall picture will be brighter.
Like anything in life there is always a trade-off, for me the sweet spot is right in the middle so the viewer can get the best of both worlds, a relatively detailed image that won’t get washed out in the summer sun. P6 it is!
What screen size is right for me? With this question it’s all about scale, how many people am I expecting to host?
Outdoor LED Screens come in many different sizes most are in 16:9 aspect ratio or can be manipulated to fit a movie comfortably so that isn’t really an issue with modern screens. When it comes to size I suggest if your audience is between 25-150 people Digital Screen 6 (six square meters) is recommended. For crowds over 150 people Digital Screen 15 (15 square metres) is recommended.
Step 2 – Audio
What type of audio setup will I need?
This question is a lot easier to answer once you have considered step one. Again, this comes down to scale. If your event is on the smaller side or even if the movie itself is not the main focus of your event, then a very basic PA system will treat you well until the cows come home.
However, if the movie is the focus and you are expecting a larger audience then that warrants a larger audio set up. For example, a PA system with two top end speakers and two subwoofers with a mixing console to produce a crisp clear sound that rivals any gold class movie theatre.
Step 3 – Location and extras
Location, location, location is everything. When choosing a location to host your event it is important to consider just a couple more things.
Is my event going to be on private or public property? Do I need to provide facilities or is the infrastructure already there?
The first of the two questions is the easiest to answer, where am I hosting this event- on private land or in public? A privately hosted event needing not much more than a handshake and a promise to leave everything as it was, whereas a publicly hosted event is a little more involved. The most important thing is to get clearance from the council your event is going to be hosted in. Getting the all-clear from the council early will save you a lot of stress and headaches down the road, trust me.
Facilities such as toilets and seating for your event must also be considered, the beauty of hosting an event on public property is that in most parks and areas where hosting a movie night is possible, public toilets are already readily available and there is already ample grassy ground just waiting to have a picnic rug thrown over It for another magical summer evening.
It’s a wrap
That about wraps it up for this one, fellow event planners. When you feel like you are overwhelmed and not nailing it as well as you would have hoped, always remember – Step 1,2 and 3. Screen, Audio and Location and you will be well on your way to putting on an outdoor movie night that will be the event for the summer.
Until next time,
Your friendly event planner
