the note I wrote to our neighbors
Last week, before our first outdoor screening, I walked around the block to talk to the neighbors I haven’t met yet who live within earshot of our backyard. If no one was home, I left this dorky little note:
Hello Neighbor.
We at [address deleted] (the “bluish barn house”) are planning on screening some films in our backyard this Thursday night and most Thursdays after that, through mid-Fall.
Each night will have a loose theme and will include a few shorts, often by local filmmakers, followed by a feature. We’ll post the schedule and more details soon at bluishbarn.com. Most attendees will be friends and people we know and trust. Of course, our neighbors are invited too.
The screenings will start promptly at the end of civil twilight (which is around 9:30pm mid-July; around 8:30 by September) so that we can guarantee they’ll end by midnight. We love this neighborhood and we understand that our neighbors are working people like ourselves who need a good night’s sleep.
If things get too loud – whether it’s a screening night or otherwise - or if you have special requirements one particular day or week, please call my cell phone at [number deleted]. We’re reasonable, and we can always turn it down or off altogether or move it inside.
Thanks, and we hope to see you soon.
Timothy
the Bluish Barn
So now you know what our neighbors expect of us. As guests at our free screenings, please act accordingly.
And please note: this means that the features will always start at a time that will allow them to end by midnight. So people who arrive late will not only miss the beginning of the film and the better seats, but, because of the way our backyard is laid out, they might have to walk in front of the seating area to get to the back. They might even feel too awkward about everyone looking at them that they turn away and abandon the screening altogether. And everyone watching the movie will see this happen. (Ahem, Alex.) Bottom line: it’s not fashionable to arrive late to movies. Not at our house.
July 25th, 2006 at 12:23 am
How happy I am to hear that capable hands will continue the tradition of free public movie screenings in l’il ol Ann Arbor.
seriously, there isn’t much better than outdoor movies with friends.
Is there a name for these events? Films at the Bluish Barn?
July 26th, 2006 at 12:14 pm
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Since the timing worked out so that our screenings started pretty much right when Top of the Park ended, how about the parallel construction: “Back of the Yard”. “Back o’ the Yard”?
Stay tuned for a post in remembrance of Vinh’s TWITCH screenings.
July 26th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
!!!!!! Tim Im sorry about not pushing through the crowd but it wasnt my fault, my slow moving friend (she will remain nameless) would not agree to it. Rest assured, I will arrive at a timely fashion come tommorow evening. !!!!!
Trisha Donnelly
Night Is Coming (Warning), 2002
DVD loop, Édition 3 + 2AP
vue d’exposition 54 th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburg -USA *
In other news the informal show at the work gallery is still open for submissons and i think im going to bring some stuff over there over the weekend. See you tommorow night.
July 26th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
http://www.airdeparis.com/donnelly/expos/2004/carnegie/8P3W7721.jpg
July 26th, 2006 at 5:18 pm
Sorry for singling you out, Alex. It was more funny than anything else.
It’s actually not as bad as I made it out to be or as it probably looked from the driveway. There’s a sort of walkway to the right of the screen to get to the seats in back. And I’ll try to turn the porch light off so it doesn’t shine on people as they walk up the driveway. This way people will probably still notice latecomers, but in no more awkward a way than at a regular theater.