Mr. No-Green Threatens Greenbelt in 75th Anniversary Year: Part Two

This is the second in a two-part series. Part one ran on Dec. 28.

Imagination Run Wild--Worlds of Gum, Bugs, and Uniponies

During a recent Friday session, some students worked on the anniversary project, both sketching characters on paper and using computers with editing and animation software, while others worked on their own individual films. The imagination-heavy pieces featured a bird that flies around the world, over snow-covered Alps, cities, and oceans; a world made of chewed bubble gum; a story about uniponies (a rival to unicorns) and a bug rock-and-roll band.

Mr. Geo, GATE’s production manager says he first has to figure out how to do all the technical things involved in the complicated anniversary project, then teach the students how to do them, and finally, get out of their way. During this class, he struggles with getting virtual figures to actually move in and around the physical set, including entering buildings like the movie theater. 

Mr. Geo started his first class in 1998 and has watched many students grow to their college years and beyond, with one former student now 36 years old. One former student, now in college, stops by the studio to give a friend a tour. Mr. Geo remembers when the student started, at 12 years old. “That’s the age most of them start taking the classes—10, 11, or 12. If they stay after age 14, I know they’re really interested,” he said.

Greenbelt Animated Films Recognized Internationally

Over the years, the films made by area young people have been shown in almost 50 festivals around the country, including the 2001 and 2003 Ottawa (Canada) International Student Animation Festival, the Kalamazoo (Michigan) Animation Festival International and the Nashville Film Festival. Class films won 2nd and 3rd place in the 2001 Ottawa Festival and the film “Big Cheese” won special mention at the 2003 Ottawa festival, with a big wheel of Gouda cheese as the prize.

Mr. Geo believes the Ottawa festival to be one of the top five such festivals in the world. 

On his first trip to the Ottawa Festival, he was introduced to what he was told were the “only other three people in the world teaching animation to children.”

Creating--and Finishing-Dreams

As a long-time illustrator of comic books and science fiction magazines, Mr. Geo used to get so much pleasure out of seeing his illustrations on newsstands that he wants his students to enjoy the same thrill of seeing their work finished and out in the world, whether in Greenbelt or a larger festival.

Twice a week, Mr. Geo teaches animation to special needs young people and says that some of them are very focused on the projects. His goal is to help them turn that effort into finishing something that they too can be proud of.

The 2012 Utopia Film Festival is scheduled to take place in October in Greenbelt.