Author: Anna Ravenelle
Inspired by a recent movie night with my roommate – spent huddled around a 15 inch laptop screen trying to enjoy the classic that is Jurassic Park – this week I embarked on a project I thought would be a bit more useful: a homemade smartphone projector.
According to the people at Photojojo, you can easily make this smartphone movie projector for a measly dollar, as long as you have a few supplies already at your disposal. Mine cost me $4.53, and while it did project images from my phone to the wall, I wouldn’t say we’ll be giving up the laptop for our next movie night. Why, you ask? Personally, when I watch a movie, I really enjoy being able to actually see what’s going on. If I didn’t, I’d just take out my contacts. Perhaps the materials I used were sub-par (or maybe it’s just that I am), but the DIY in this projector definitely did not stand for “do-it-yourself.” More like just plain, “don’t.”
I’m exaggerating. Mostly. It works alright for some still images, so if you’re dying to show off your Insta-feed, this might still be the project(or) for you. Supplies:
- Cardboard box (long, skinny shoebox works best)
- Black paint, paintbrush
- Strong, dark tape (electrical tape, duct tape, etc)
- Magnifying glass
- X-Acto knife
- Smartphone stand (I already had one, but they recommend this helpful tutorial
The first thing you want to do is trace your magnifying glass lens onto the short side of the box, and then cut it out with your x-acto knife. I cut mine slightly smaller than the circle, as it is extremely important for the box to be as light-tight as possible.
Once the hole is cut, paint the entire inside of the box black. (I wasn’t thinking when I did this, so the photos show a slightly skewed order – but painting first definitely makes it easier.)
When the paint is dry, tape the magnifying glass to the hole on the inside of the box. There should be no gaps between the lens and the cardboard; if there are, fill them with tape. If the cardboard covers up some of the lens on the outside, that’s okay.
Once you’ve completely taped in the lens, the “projector” itself is complete!
This next step gets tricky. First, clear a white space on your wall for your “screen.” Both my roommate and I have an excessive amount of wall art (read: movie posters), so I taped up some computer paper to our door, which worked well enough. After that, you’ll want to make sure that your projector is far enough from the “screen” (to ensure a big enough image) but close enough that the image is roughly in focus.
This is the part I just could not get. My trouble with focusing, it seems, extends beyond my schoolwork. According to the people at Photojojo, there is some magic combination of projector distance from the wall and iPhone distance in the box (adjusting it closer and farther in the box does, in fact, affect the focus of the picture on the wall). There’s a reason, however, that I’m an English major and not an engineer: for me, it just did not compute. I think my box was too wide and fat, but with no others at my disposal, that’s a hypothesis for a different day. If you do find that sweet spot, you’ll notice the picture is upside down. Just lock the portrait orientation on your phone, put it upside-down in your stand, and turn on the Netflix. Hypothetically, you’re good to go. Meanwhile, I’ll stick to my measly laptop screen, thank you very much.
Each week on “The Crafting Diaries” Anna Ravenelle scours Pinterest looking for exciting projects that claim the average crafter (and/or college student) should be able to accomplish and then sets out to prove them wrong. Usually failing in her crafting efforts, Anna works to flesh out the instructions of complicated projects so that you (yes, you!) can avoid failure where she did not.
