Why Tom Barker is in the news
Concerned about the world’s steadily decreasing supply of oil, Tom Barker made a short film, “The Last Drop of Oil,” that debuted this week during Rochester’s annual Greentopia Festival. “It (oil) is a serious problem ... I tried to get across that there isn’t going to be oil forever in the world,” Barker said.
His motivation
Barker says he was unaware of the Greentopia Festival, which premiered in 2011, but received an email about it in March, “and I started thinking about what kind of film I would do.” He said he had his idea when he read a cover story about oil in Time magazine in April.
He says he wants people who view his film “to realize there is going to be no oil in 100 years ... It’s not a renewable resource, and we’re just sucking it up ... It’s used for more than just gasoline. It turns the gears on machines, too ... We need to be finding sources of alternative energy.”
Hobbies and interests
Barker says he has been making films for more than 50 years, and recalls that when he was in college, he made a stop-motion animated film that came in second in a competition. The contest winner was Martin Scorcese.
Today, Barker runs a camp for his two grandsons and 10 of their friends each summer in Amherst, Mass., where they reside on a farm. During the camp, he teaches the participants how to make movies, from script-writing to story-boarding, and they make a movie. This summer’s project was a film adaptation of Daniel Pinkwater’s story, “The Neddiad.”
He explains that he also sends out a Movie Magic newsletter four times a year, and this year’s theme was adaptation.
Besides movie-making, he is a model trail enthusiast and says he has a train layout in the basement of his Webster home “that’s a magnet for little kids.”
In his own words
“I make movies as I see them, but also for the pure love and fun of it ... I just feel the movie is a natural extension of communication and media ... Everybody does this (makes movies) today. I think the motion picture is the communication tool of the 21st century.”
He adds that he’d like “The Last Drop of Oil” to be “an awareness-raiser.”
Why Tom Barker is in the news
Concerned about the world’s steadily decreasing supply of oil, Tom Barker made a short film, “The Last Drop of Oil,” that debuted this week during Rochester’s annual Greentopia Festival. “It (oil) is a serious problem ... I tried to get across that there isn’t going to be oil forever in the world,” Barker said.
His motivation
Barker says he was unaware of the Greentopia Festival, which premiered in 2011, but received an email about it in March, “and I started thinking about what kind of film I would do.” He said he had his idea when he read a cover story about oil in Time magazine in April.
He says he wants people who view his film “to realize there is going to be no oil in 100 years ... It’s not a renewable resource, and we’re just sucking it up ... It’s used for more than just gasoline. It turns the gears on machines, too ... We need to be finding sources of alternative energy.”
Hobbies and interests
Barker says he has been making films for more than 50 years, and recalls that when he was in college, he made a stop-motion animated film that came in second in a competition. The contest winner was Martin Scorcese.
Today, Barker runs a camp for his two grandsons and 10 of their friends each summer in Amherst, Mass., where they reside on a farm. During the camp, he teaches the participants how to make movies, from script-writing to story-boarding, and they make a movie. This summer’s project was a film adaptation of Daniel Pinkwater’s story, “The Neddiad.”
He explains that he also sends out a Movie Magic newsletter four times a year, and this year’s theme was adaptation.
Besides movie-making, he is a model trail enthusiast and says he has a train layout in the basement of his Webster home “that’s a magnet for little kids.”
In his own words
“I make movies as I see them, but also for the pure love and fun of it ... I just feel the movie is a natural extension of communication and media ... Everybody does this (makes movies) today. I think the motion picture is the communication tool of the 21st century.”
He adds that he’d like “The Last Drop of Oil” to be “an awareness-raiser.”
