How to install your outdoor movie cinema on the beach
An evening beach is a great setting for a movie under the stars. Any event — an open-air festival or an after-sunset screening — is always a hit, but a few technical challenges are worth keeping in mind.
Anchoring the screen in sand (pebbles, boulders… you name it)
One of the trickier parts of installing outdoor movie equipment is securely anchoring the inflatable screen. It can get quite windy at the beach in the evening, so proper anchoring is not something to overlook.
Open Air Cinema Home screens come with spiral stakes that are perfect for ground and grass but can come loose in sandy beaches. Before your screening, double-check the anchoring. You may also want to stock up on robust 24″ steel stakes or special camping stakes made for sandy surfaces.
Alternatively, on a pebble beach you might tie your inflatable screen to heavy objects instead of anchoring to the ground. And note that stakes set into wet sand can look secure but will come loose once the sand dries.
Use a tarp
The last thing you want at a beach screening is sand on the projection surface, so we suggest always using a tarp.
Avoid letting sand get sucked into an air blower by placing it on the tarp and putting the blower inside the sound-dampening blower box.
Don't put your projector on sand
Like an air blower, a projector sucks in air for cooling, so keep it away from sandy surfaces. A tripod may not be the best solution on a beach either, since one leg can sink into the sand. Place the projector on the media console or another stable object instead.
Cleaning outdoor movie equipment after a beach screening
If you used a tarp and detached your screen properly, there won't be much to clean. For screen-cleaning tips, see our screen cleaning guide.
Handy tools for getting sand out of your gear are a soft brush, wet wipes, and a wet fibre cloth — we usually use wet wipes on speaker cables and a fibre cloth on the speakers, media console, and projector. For sand removal we also recommend compressed air cans. Follow these tips and your beach screening will be an unforgettable experience for your viewers.
Hey Moonlight Outdoor Movies! Thank you for sharing your experience. I am sure that our community of outdoor movie enthusiasts and professionals will appreciate it. Happy screenings to you guys!
Hello, in response to this article, I would like to confirm what you mentioned as well as add a few points.
For starters, it is challenging just to get your equipment onto the sand. Unless you have 4×4 vehicle access, you usually have to haul everything several hundred feet across the sand to the setup area. Beach events require additional manpower which means I have to decline the smaller backyard “hit and run” events which can typically be handled by 1 person.
As you said, it tends to be very windy on the beach and you need a heavy duty screen like your Elite that can withstand that type of wind. A Home or Pro screen wont handle those winds at all. Also, staking into sand is definitely a challenge and you need to bring iron stakes and a sledgehammer. You also need some type of heavy weights to anchor to the bottom of the screen. I bring (4) 75 lb dumbbells. Movie screens will take off like a sail or parachute if not properly secured.
Perhaps the biggest issue is dealing with beach events is you have to take extra precautions to safeguard your equipment because sand and electronics don’t mix. The risk of equipment damage is higher on the sand than in a park or in a backyard. I have to spend extra time afterwards cleaning sand off of everything. That is very time consuming. A generator is always required because there’s never power on the beach.
For those reasons is why we triple our price for all beach movies. I hope you find this response helpful.