Producing Partners

From the booth at
The Mitchell Performing Arts Centre
Bryn Athyn Orchestra Rehearsal
( I'm a Board Member and the Technical Director )

    The time is coming for more activity on the Producing Partners aspect of this project. With the Publishing Layout nearing completion and production of the Illustrated Storybooks moving forward, we have a viable product that needs managing. The whole point of the Storybooks has been to build an audience for the stage show and now that those tools are about to be used, it is appropriate to build the management team and to seriously address the Ancillary Markets.

As I have mentioned, the primary mechanism for managing this project is The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture, which consists of a Board of Directors, which has yet to be built. Without the completed books, it has not been either practical or possible to build a management team. Even now there is more to be done to lock in the Illustrated Storybooks, but the business structure for the larger project can start to be properly and legally established.

As you may know, Licensing plays a role in financing operations and establishing those markets can begin to take place, with the publishing and active production line of the Storybooks. 

The Libretto and Score For the Stage Musical

As it stands now, we are nearing the end of the Illustration process and I still need to install quite a few paintings into books five, six and seven. Sometimes ago, I concluded upon a different path of creating the artwork, that of sketch, line drawing, watercolor printout, and then painting. This, of course has been the process, but I focused on that, without inserting the finished work into the books, until all the paintings were finished and ready to be inserted. In this way the energy could be more pointedly focused on completion of the paintings, because that process was dragging on and this was my method of rectifying that problem. 

   So now the watercolor components are largely finished, with a few of the more complex illustration panels needing to be refined. Meaning that we decided to approach the panels by breaking them into components, which allows my to compose the panels as I see fit; sizing and placing the characters into a background that can be trimmed, enlarged or reduced as needed. I discovered early on that having complete control over the final illustration also gave me greater control over the composition of the page. This will be quite apparent to those who buy the books, which, by the way, will be made to order. Details of selling the books will be discussed elsewhere.

Suffice it to say that; the management mechanisms are being put into place for our Producing Partners using The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture, The Gnomes of New Hope Productions and The Gnomes of New Hope Limited Partnership.

An Early Design for the e-Storybook Packaging

   Once these business organizations are established, that is the direction this project must follow through on. If any other scenario may be lingering outside of Image of the Mind Studios, that needs to be revealed, before we lock in our modus operandi in this regard. AG

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Zachary the Great

    We are beginning to see the end of the Art Creation process (relatively speaking). I have a binder of many paintings, which need to be inserted in the book layout. But we also have many binders of Completed Artwork, drawings and watercolors.  All told, we have over two thousand finished paintings (that is my guess, it may be more).  As I said, the full collection consists of 786 Pages. Many of those pages have Illustrations that are composed of multiple paintings, hence increasing the number of paintings required to complete this work.

   My focus of attention now, is on printing the watercolor drawings out so that they can be painted.  After that, I need to process the scanned watercolors so they fit into the page layout. Some Illustration panels are composed of numerous watercolors like the one above. This is what takes so long to prepare. But thankfully, we are close enough to the end of the process, that I can begin building inventory of the books.

   I have determined to separate the drawing from the painting, so all the artwork is both B&W line drawings and full color watercolors. This will allow us to create coloring books for kids (big & small). After the Illustrated Storybooks are finished, we will consider doing a collection of Coloring Books.

Music

Here is the upcoming Bryn Athyn Orchestra Concert.  

I sit on the Board of Directors of the Orchestra

and the design/publishing of these materials and the Playbill is one of my jobs.

Feel free to print this out and distribute it to your friends.

This is linked to the Orchestra's Home page, but it can be printed out.

This is linked to the Ticket Sales page, but you can also print it to order tickets

Regarding The Gnomes of New Hope Music;

    Some time ago, years actually, I was working on scoring the music, which by-the-way was diverted in lieu of publishing the Illustrated Storybooks, and the hard disc in the Mac I was using completely failed. Talk about utter anxiety ! 

   Well, at the time I was working on Time & Key signatures, and the SATB Divisi for the singers, as this is absolutely needed for a workable score.  When the hard disc failed I lost six months worth of work, work that cannot be reproduced. Yes I can do it again, but it won't be the same as what I had done.

   Recently I sent that hard disc out to have the data recovered. This week I got my answer; "No data can be recovered". it only cost me $500 to find that out. But there is good news here, not about the disc, but about the fact that I found my backup files of all the music and I duplicated them again to another backup disc. It's still a bummer that I lost all that work, but at least we didn't loose all our music.

   There are 33 songs in Act One and 29 songs in Act Two for a total of 62 songs in the show. Whew !

   So I will be setting up a few workstations for music. One for Scoring/Publishing,  a Second for Digital Performer Five with Reason for the voices on a G4 (which we used to compose the music) and a Third for Digital Performer Nine, with Mach Five on a Mac Pro for updated arranging (which may be upgraded),  and a Fourth on my Laptop for remote work with scoring.

   As you can see, the advancement with Publishing the Illustrated Storybooks has allowed me to begin focusing somewhat on moving the music forward. As it is, I am working  toward recording "The Stone of Wisdom" and I have a few people reviewing the scores, piano and orchestra, so that we can have a viable piano reduction. Although, Graeme Bier, who has consented to singing that song for us, has indicated that we should do it using the MIDI orchestrations. I hesitate to use my main workstation to do any work on the music until the Illustrated Storybook is finished being published. The last thing I need is to have a failure of my main disc again. so for safeties sake I am not engaging with music on that computer. I do have three other machines I could use. So now that I am relieved to have found ALL the music, I think I can wrap my head around setting up the G5 Quad to serve as an interim machine and record the music with that. 

    I could also set up my linear A/V workstation again if I had to, but that is connected to the construction of the Recording Studio that I am beginning to plan out. I do not expect that to manifest for a few years, as I need to clear out the space for that construction and that is also tied to reducing the machine shop down in size to free up floor space. Just to give you an idea of other factors that come into play.

   Enough for now.  AG

Story-Telling Sessions

A sample of the Trading Card Design.

I've moved this post up, because today I decided to publish 

every one of our characters 

as a trading card, in this format.

We have over two thousand pieces of artwork,

because our illustrations are broken into many different paintings.

The back of the cards will be different, because 

I intend on using them as Two-fers & Free Passes to the stage shows,

but there will be other applications for publicity

and collectability, of which I am not certain at this time.

I expect that I will include a packet of these cards with every book purchase 

that is made directly with IMS via our Shopping cart, once that is set up.

ARCHIVE;

Here's a link to a post on Story-Telling Sessions on

  IMS Publishing

The Gnomes of New Hope was designed as a Read-Out-Loud Book and as we work to release the Book One of the Series "The Gnomes of New Hope; an Introduction" part of the plan includes reading sessions at local libraries and bookstores. This link discusses some of the work needed for that program and suggests us bringing sponsors into the process. I will be pursuing that by crafting a budget and Production Approach Summary (outline) for that aspect of the project. If you would like to be involved, as a sponsor, reader or manager, let me know; 

image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com 

If you have ideas about this program, I'm happy to discuss it via email, in person, or over the phone. AG

Just to make it interesting:

Some of the Collectible Trading Cards

Printing

Ferny Reading to the young'ns

   We have this Gnomette (Ferny) sculpted as a Garden Gnome (below). We haven't made the molds for the casting, but we did scan her into a 3D image, which we will use for a 3d Printing test.

We used Sculpty. This image was taken when she was under construction.
The sculpture needs to be fired before we can make molds.
I bought a kiln, which is being set-up to do that.

As you can see, she is not yet holding a book.
That book will be made separately.
She is intended for use as a display in bookstores.

Regarding Printing;

    As we progress to completing the Illustrations for the book series, publishing methods come into play. Bringing the wholesale cost down to the lowest possible amount, allows for discounting the MSRP. this gives the retailers and distributors more latitude on the selling price.  But for the sake of registrations, the MSRP is set based on jobbing the components out, which basically means there is a mark-up at every step along the way. If I keep the publishing in-house I can eliminate that markup, or at least reduce it. In-house that markup is not an immediate outlay and I have more control over that expenditure.

   If I receive orders for large quantities, it might be practical to explore a printer who uses a web press. but that would only come after some distribution contracts are in place and demand is increasing, along with income..

   The biggest issue, other than cost is quality. I have found that different printing presses produce different results. And those result are not always acceptable.  This leads me to believe that we need a printing press in house, so that we can maintain consistent results. But beyond that consistency, an in-house press will allow us to print only the quantities that match the orders for product.  Jobbing the product out means printing quantities that give us the best price on the job.  That also means excessive inventory on the shelves. If we have the press in-house, those costs remain consistent and we can print on-demand. The only variable there being that if the press sits idle for too long, that is costing us money.

   So I am up-in-the-air in regard to outlay on one against the other.  Jobbing it out, the outlay sits on the shelf, while setting up a print shop gives us a much more extensive and wide range of capabilities for other product lines and services.  It seems pretty clear what the correct route is to take.  But that won't happen right away.  

   There are other issues at hand; production line practicalities, wholesale distribution, On-line Sales, shipping/receiving, supply inventories, ancillary markets, retail display... it goes on... and on.  So we are approaching it cautiously, but there are "things" in the works that will allow a shift of resources toward crafting the operation to produce these products in-house. In large part it will be an issue of personnel, because certainly, we have the product lines and equipment to do the job. We only need competent and experienced people to implement the plan as fully as possible and proper management and acquisition of the resources, both available and needed.

   That could happen through a partnership with an organization already in place, so long as IMS profit margin remains set on a per item basis and a reasonable percentage is pre-paid, but  that's a discussion for another time within contract negotiations.

   I think a Print Shop is in the cards, as they say.  AG

Recovery

An older CD Label Design

    I sent out the main hard disc that was in use when we were writing the music, to recover the data. That disc crashed when I was in the middle of working on the book and I was forced to re-craft the publishing designs (multiple times).  But the music was also on that disc and when it crashed I lost six months of arranging work that was being done, along with the scoring. So I am hoping to recover that work, because as soon as the publishing work is finished I will be addressing the music. It's likely that Shawn will jump back in once the books are finished.

   We are working on one of the songs titled;

  "The Stone of Wisdom"  

Here is the link to that and another song a few on SoundCloud. 

IMS Technologies

 

  

    My focus of attention has been completing the Illustrated Storybooks, and in that regard, I am expecting to install a Digital Press into the production line.

   But another significant aspect of this project is Animatronics. I am looking at expanding Image of the Mind Studios to include IMS Technologies, a mechanical design and manufacturing operation, focusing on prototype development of Animatronics and Robotics, for The Gnomes and beyond.

   That being said, I will be looking for personnel familiar with electronics, nuematics, hydraulics, CNC setup & operation and computer programming. We have discussed methods of implementation, but in my mind MIDI is the most practical, because that syncs with the control tracks of the music for "The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure".  I'm also looking at DMX to sync with staging controls and other protocols that are connected to 3D CGI.

    These are the directions we need to go into and we will need personnel who are familiar with this kind of knowledge.

   Above and beyond the hands-on personnel we are going to build the management team for this as well. That means, by and large, more than one Board of Directors.

   My approach is to encourage these arenas to grow in a natural flow as we complete our tasks in other arenas, but it is important and indeed, essential, that a larger organization begin to grow out of the foundation that has been established. That larger organization is already defined in the Business Plan. But, of course, will need to be refined as we progress.

  Truth be told, I have maybe ten to fifteen years left in me, so we need to shake a leg on this.

AG

Artwork, Illustrations & Animation

 

As you may have read, we are closing in on finishing the Illustrations.

But that puts us in another situation 

because we are moving toward Animation. 

The demand on creating drawings increases substantially 

with this new level of activity.

That being said, I am looking for 

as many as three additional artists and sculptors,

to emulate the existing artwork and to create new artwork.

As it seems to me, we need a Line Drawing Artist 

who can reproduce our existing characters 

in an array of body positions (as above). 

We also need a Colorist, who can work with watercolors, 

to do finishing work.

But then, since we are moving to animate this story, 

we need an DigitalArtist 

who can create 3D renderings of our artwork and or skins.

We are working with Poser 11 right now. 

 We will need to create skins for the chassis 

and move to setup the scenes, as per the Libretto.

We intend on inserting GIFs into the e-storybook

 for the Subscription Service.

At the very least, we need to recreate this style 

and have more people who can do it.

So if you are an artist 

capable of reproducing the drawings you see here, 

 or sculpting them in clay...

please contact Arthur Greisiger at;

image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

Animation

A Proposed Lithograph

    We are now working to get a grip on Poser Pro and to create scenes from the Libretto using Animation. We expect to do this in conjunction with the Green Screen Sound Stage (which is under construction),  possibly using puppetry and other theatrical techniques.  

   If there is anyone who has worked with Poser and knows how to create skins from two dimensional artwork, we would like to hear from you. We are seeking to convert our watercolor artwork into workable Poser 3D characters.  This is our next mission, after the publishing work of the Storybooks is finished. Of course we will be using this primarily to pitch the project to Industry Professionals, but if it turns out well enough, that might be another product line, which we would market directly.

   Certainly, we will be using these animations in the e-Storybook. The expanded concept for the e-Storybook, which will be a Subscription, uses animations and GIFs in the Illustration panels, in conjunction with an Audio book to create a new concept for storytelling.

Arthur Greisiger

image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

Discussions

 Here is a Video discussion regarding The Gnomes of New Hope.

I expect that I will start discussing what is going on with the process via video.

This as a way of experimenting with uploading videos, 

so when we start making animations

we can post some of them here.

I ended up doing four of these videos as part of one conversation

so if you want to see the other ones you will need to do so from:

 Arthur Greisiger on YouTube

Here is #2 of four;

 (#1 was a test)

https://youtu.be/2OAsEm4Rlf8?si=ZTN_qmtmxb5Hs-dY

I also posted them on my Facebook Home page. I expect to expand on these video conversations, when it is appropriate to do so.

Eventually I will post more films there, on my YouTube channel.

"You're Not Getting The Point"

an expressionistic documentary film about the Point Pleasant Pumping Station

 (I need to add some audio to the intro first)

I have a few music videos, 

other documentaries and short films 

to add as well, whenever I get around to making them presentable.

Beginning to Design

 

   The Illustrated Storybooks represent the foundational design of the piece. Since I am in the process of building the Studio, I believe that designing the show to fit on the 20' x 18' green screen stage that I am installing is the best approach. This was always the plan, but I wavered a bit, wishing to be working with an actual theatre. That being said, I am looking to buy a theatre and transfer my studio into a building that has a stage which can handle a real audience when the time is right. I'm not sure how that would happen, but it's good dream.

   Although I'd like to see the show presented for a live audience, we will have to settle for producing it for the cameras as part of the development process. That means it may be a blending of puppetry, animation and live performance, designed primarily as a proposal tool, but maybe also part of the e-Storybook.  I'm almost set up for HDV, having the cameras and editing suite, but needing to isolate and set up a separate processor for FCP and another one for a rack mount booth setup. I also need to rig the stage and install the electrics, battens and tormentors & teasers. I have sufficient conventional quartz instruments, but I expect that I will have to upgrade to LED.

   I am examining the situation with frequency interference from the lighting, so that needs to be resolved. 

   For the most part, I expect to stay focused on The Gnomes of New Hope and continue with other projects as secondary goals. Once the published Storybooks get into gear, I will be taking a break and work on other "shop" projects, until returning to the Gnomes becomes clear due to demand.

AG

Set Design

 Check out this link as a possibility for 

Set Design

An early model of "The Squirrel's Nest"

This design is implemented by Peter Yordanov ... 

you can find him on Facebook & LinkedIn.

I'm liking these designs for the stage musical, maybe even the film.

The only thing about it is the scene changes.

Using a 3D stage props poses difficulties, 

if there are numerous set changes, on a stage.

Unless of course, you have The Met available to you!

It could work if properly planned.

We'll probably end up with drops & flats.

AG