Watch a movie from a distance with friends? Now you can, thanks to various applications and software, extensions and small tricks, you can not feel alone and watch movies with friends just as if you were at the cinema.
This evening it would really take an evening popcorn, sofa and movies (or TV series), possibly in the company of friends. A chat and then all together to follow the events on the screen, commenting on them, laughing, getting excited and moving in company. After all, the cinematic experience is amplified by sharing for many. Seeing a movie with friends often makes it more pleasant, creating unforgettable memories even years later regardless of the quality of the same (indeed, sometimes if it is bad it's even better!).
Unfortunately, however, it is not always possible find yourself live. Sometimes there is no house available, other times commitments prevent us from moving. Or it is simply a problem of distance: maybe our friends or our partner live miles and miles from us and it's not really possible to be together for a movie. Now then, that the whole of Italy is in a condition of quarantine, the chances of meeting for a film are zero.
How to watch movies remotely?
Fortunately though, the technology once again comes to our rescue. And just as we have learned to work from home, to have food delivered, to have fun with role-playing and board games, we can also find ways to watch a movie with friends, without necessarily leaving the house. And it will surprise you to know the possibilities to choose from they are different! Let's see together the main techniques you can use.
The conference call, the most obvious way
Let's start with the most obvious, which is based on tools you probably already know well. In fact, many of us have tried to use Skype, Zoom, Meet, Teams or one of the many other systems of conference call present on the market.
With these tools you can not only find yourself with your friends for chat with friends, but also to watch movies from a distance. Just take a few small steps to create your 'virtual room' where welcome everyone for projection.
The most difficult aspect to manage is obviously the synchronization of the film. For the experience to be pleasant, it is important that everyone follows the events at the same time, without any delays. To do this you can use analog methods, choosing a moment to press Play all together (maybe using the internal clock Of computer). But it doesn't take much for losing synchrony and this can ruin the vision.
Need help with your first conference call? Here is our dedicated guide!
Better therefore to opt for the screen sharing. In fact, most conference call services offer the possibility of showing our friends what we see on the monitor. In some cases it will be necessary to carry out some changes to settings to ensure that audio is also transmitted, other programs (such as Zoom) allow it by default. Once everything is sorted out, however, you can enjoy watching with friends.
It is the most obvious solution and not necessarily the optimal one. Relaying from the screen surely yes lose some quality and may not hold up on less stable connections. Furthermore, in some cases it forces the user who 'projects' the film not to be able to comment on it, since the transmission of the PC audio often replaces that of the microphone.
Better then to bet on other shores to synchronize the viewing, perhaps still keeping the video call as a means of keeping in touch and commenting.
Kast, the collector's choice
A proposal similar to the previous one but more refined is to use a service like Kast. It is a platform dedicated to video parties, with which it is easier to transmit the film to friends. Just create a group and invite them, and then find yourself with a comfortable system to organize our projection including audio, without the need to make too many changes.
This service is free basic, but it also offers several paid Premium features, starting with superior streaming quality and no ads. To use it you have to enroll (with a very quick and essential form) and download the program. This last request is actually valid only for those who will broadcast the film, for all the others it can also be accessed simply via browser.
Once you have done all these steps and followed the quick tutorial, we will be good to go. In our party, therefore, we will have the opportunity to interact with friends, send reactions and see the film all together, even from a distance. Eventually we can, as we said, take advantage of this program for the film transmission only and keep comments on Skype, Zoom, Hangouts or whatever we prefer.
However, there is an important fact to point out: this platform does not work with i streaming services. The only movies you will be able to see with friends will therefore be the ones you have locally, whether it is digital or physical (i.e. Blu-Ray, DVD or similar media). This can be a problem for those who have gotten used to watching movies on platforms like Netflix, giving up classic home video products, but there is a solution to that too.
Netflix Party, per chi vive di streaming
There is indeed a very convenient extension available for Google Chrome, which allows you to stream movies and TV series in the company of your friends from a distance. Or rather, for the moment as you can guess from the name, this only applies to a service of this type, that is Netflix. Who knows, however, with the success achieved, it will not be able to expand its boundaries to other platforms ...
WHAT IS NETFLIX PARTY AND HOW IT WORKS
Its operation is very simple: once you have added the extension to your trusted browser, just open the platform, choose the program you want to see and press Play. The icon of will now be illuminated at the top Netflix Party. Clicking on it will open a window to start the party and then it will provide you with the link to send to friends to join and that's it!
We suggest that you always check the option Only I have control. This allows you to synchronize the vision practically to perfection, giving only the user who created the party the possibility to stop, resume, advance or rewind the film.
Two things are important to point out. The first is that this extension clearly works only between Netflix users: all participants must have a subscription to the platform therefore, no one excluded. The second is that it doesn't offer an audio / video chat system (it's in the upcoming features promised on Patreon) but text only. However, it is easy to remedy the problem with one of the conference call tools mentioned above.
What if I want to go to the cinema?
Before saying goodbye, we wanted to report aalternative option to watch a film from a distance in company. In this case the idea is not to replicate the home projections, but those film. In fact, there are 'virtual rooms' that reproduce the experience of physical ones as faithfully as possible, but without the need to leave the house.
Some of these arise in conjunction with specific events, as in the case of the Venice International Film Festival, offering the possibility even to those who are not present on the spot of to live a part of the demonstrations.
In general, however, it is streaming projections reserved for a certain number of seats (similar to what happens in the cinema itself), which start at specific and mandatory times. We will therefore not have the possibility to interrupt the vision as often happens at home. We will live the movie along with the rest of the audience, often with the ability to see their reactions.
In this field, it is worth mentioning the proposal of MYmovies who, to keep the Italians company during the quarantine period, organized a cycle of projections of this type. Every day, for free, there will be films of different genres to discover through these virtual rooms. We will also have a chat where you can comment on the vision together with thousands of other people connected at the same time. For more information, you can visit the dedicated page.
In short, the possibilities for dive into the world of cinema even at a distance they are many and varied. And you, have you already put on the popcorn?
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