• Previous
• Next

More Galleries

• The Lunch Room does vegan food in a way that even non-vegans can enjoy
• Images from Dawn Farm's 40th Anniversary Jamboree
• See photos from Kerrytown BookFest
• Images from Michigan's 41-30 win over Notre Dame under the lights

Enlarge

University of Michigan students gathered at 418 Thompson Street in Ann Arbor Saturday night to watch the Wolverines play Notre Dame on their two big screen projectors. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com

Buy AnnArbor.com Photo Prints

• University of Michigan students gathered at 418 Thompson Street in Ann Arbor Saturday night to watch the Wolverines play Notre Dame on their two big screen projectors. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/use/cache/092212_sports_UOFM_projector_screen_CM_11____fullsize.JPG
• University of Michigan students gathered at 418 Thompson Street in Ann Arbor Saturday night to watch the Wolverines play Notre Dame on their two big screen projectors. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/use/cache/092212_sports_UOFM_projector_screen_CM_21__fullsize.JPG
• University of Michigan sophomore Liam Choi sets up a projector in his room at 418 Thompson Street in Ann Arbor. Liam and his roommates projected Saturdays nights Wolverines game against Notre Dame on the side of the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research building located cross the street. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/use/cache/092212_sports_UOFM_projector_screen_CM_31__fullsize.JPG
• University of Michigan students yell at the screen as the Wolverines quarterback Denard Robinson throws his first interception of the game during the first quarter against Notre Dame. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/use/cache/092212_sports_UOFM_projector_screen_CM_51__fullsize.JPG
• One Wolverines fan looks on in disbelief as quarterback Denard Robinson throws yet another interception during the first half of Saturday nights game against Notre Dame. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/use/cache/092212_sports_UOFM_projector_screen_CM_61__fullsize.JPG
• Stunned fans watch one of 418 Thompson Street's big screen projections of Saturday nights game against Notre Dame. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/use/cache/092212_sports_UOFM_projector_screen_CM_71__fullsize.JPG
• University of Michigan freshmen Joe Paone (left) and Courtney Uselton High School senior in Rockford MI (right) sit out side of 418 Thompson Street watching the projection of Saturday nights game against Notre Dame. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/use/cache/092212_sports_UOFM_projector_screen_CM_81__fullsize.JPG
• University of Michigan students gathered at 418 Thompson Street in Ann Arbor Saturday night to watch the Wolverines play Notre Dame projected on to the on the side of the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research building located cross the street. Courtney Sacco I AnnArbor.com /calendar/photologue/photos/use/cache/092212_sports_UOFM_projector_screen_CM_91__fullsize.JPG

Michigan students Cody Blakeman and Kazim Tosayev stood outside their house on Thompson Street early Saturday evening, welcoming people to one of many Michigan-Notre Dame viewing parties going on across campus.

But this was about to become a viewing party unlike any other.

“Is this the place where you’ve got the big projection screen going?” a partygoer asked as he approached the front porch.

“Yep, come on in,” Blakeman said.

The house, at 418 Thompson, is quickly building a reputation as the “Projection House.” It sits just north of the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, the North wall of which provides a large, white, windowless surface.

Soon after the eight roommates moved into the house this fall, they started projecting video games, movies and sporting events onto the wall.

The 40-foot projection is visible to pedestrians and to southbound traffic on Thompson, and has earned them plenty of notice.

“People really enjoy it,” said Tosayev, a sophomore naval architecture and marine engineering major said.

Saturday marked their biggest event yet. The housemates put an open event on Facebook and drew dozens of students, both friends and strangers.

Two plays into Michigan’s opening drive, the outdoor projection was up and running. As the daylight faded, the picture drew sharper, and more people found their way to the small backyard to watch the game.

It was soon after the residents moved into the house that one of them had the idea to start experimenting with a projector. Tosayev, who uses a university projector for one of his classes, rented one out to give it a shot.

“The second that we put it on and realized that it was like a 40-foot screen and it actually worked, that was then the light bulb hit,” Blakeman, a sophomore movement science major said.

The group decided to expand the operation, and bought a $600 projector of their own. During Saturday’s game, they operated both an outside projector, from the one they bought, and a 10-foot projection inside their living room, from a university-rented projector.

The first images to go onto the ISR building came from the house’s Xbox, as the housemates played FIFA Soccer and Call of Duty.

People noticed quickly. Pedestrians stopped to watch and take pictures. A group of 20 students stopped by and offered $25 to play a tournament (the housemates declined, they were on their way out.)

From there, they expanded to movie nights, starting with Goodfellas. By then, students started bringing their own lawn chairs to sit and watch.

The only hangup came when construction recently started around the ISR building, and a fence made the small strip of land between the house and the building -- prime viewing space -- inaccessible.

But the backyard still holds plenty of viewing space. So the housemates expanded their viewing lineup to include Saturday's football game, Michigan's first night game since its season opener.

And by the time they started planning, they found out plenty of people were familiar with them.

“When we were talking about this party thing, we were talking to some people, and they’re like ‘Wait, you’re the house that projects things?’” Tosayev said.

“We get a lot of that,” Blakeman said.

The projection can't be seen clearly during day games, but the housemates say they will likely host another viewing party for the Wolverines' other scheduled night game of the season: Oct. 27 at Nebraska.

Kyle Austin covers sports for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kyleaustin@annarbor.com or 734-623-2535. Follow him on Twitter @KAustin_AA.