The 4GEE Community Cinema Club

We got the chance to give this a try.  It was a bit of a no brainer, as it involved gadgets and movies, which are the two biggest hobbies of almost all the Scottish Mum family.  I think most of us have heard of EE these days, and they launched a new Community Cinema Club for 2017.

This year, EE brought a series of 4G powered film screenings to rural communities across the UK, in partnership with BAFTA.

The first event was on the side of Gimmer Crag, a sheer cliff face in the Lake District, which has only recently become connected by EE and the 4G network.

I’ve obviously got no head for heights, as just looking at this picture makes me feel dizzy.

As a Scot, whose relationship with 4G was very patchy until very recently, when even the possibility of 3G working, seemed to be a distant memory.  EE is continuing it’s 4G roll out, with each newly connected community being given a 4GEE Community Cinema Kit to keep, which includes a 4G WiFi device, a state-of-the-art connected projector, wireless speakers, and a movie streaming voucher to host al fresco movie nights with BAFTA-winning films during the year.

Many rural communities which have just come online with EE, are pretty remote, and miles away from a cinema, although EE intend to connect 95% of the UK landmass by 2020,.  It’s also a lovely idea, to help communities make their own cinema club, with a kit that can be used outside and indoors too.

While the bigger competition for a full kit like mine is over, there is still the option of winning a smaller on the go kit to watch movies on the move.  On the 25th August, 10 lucky winners will be in with the chance to win one of these, so keep an eye out on their Twitter for the news, and details of how to enter.

We’ve been doing some renovations inside, and rainy weather convinced us to give our kit a try on a dark damp night, by stitching the canvas screen onto the supports of the new wall that’s going up.  It made a perfect place to hang the screen.

We used our box as the stand for the movie, which worked a treat.  As it’s the first time we used it, it took a fair few minutes to get it up and running, but how fabulous was that when we had half a whole wall to watch a movie with……..

I realise just how fortunate we are to have the opportunity to test this kit out.   With the canvas screen, the speaker and the projector, it’s a pretty good full blown cinema experience.  Outside, I think we’d have to try and find some trees to tie the screen to, but it’s worth a try to give it a go.

We hadn’t charged up the gadgets before use, so we had to plug in, but everything operates by battery.  I think we’re going to enjoy this very much over the next few weeks, while we learn to get to know it a bit.  In the end, it was fairly simple, with the EE 4G being used to provide the data, which allowed us to watch the movie by streaming it through the projector box.

Even the cat was interested in the box………

EE, is part of the BT Group, which means it’s the the largest mobile communications company in the UK, delivering mobile and fixed communications services to consumers.

EE pioneered the UK’s first superfast 4G mobile service in October 2012.

I have to admit, watching a film was the longest I’ve had our youngest in the room with us for about a year.  It must have been something about the size of the canvas screen, as we certainly did have the cinema experience.

Remember, make sure to keep in touch with EE on Twitter, to find out how to enter for the smaller on the move kit on the 25th.

We’re taking our kit outdoors next.  This will be interesting….

Thanks to EE for the opportunity to try the cinema kit.