Touching base

Work has been proceeding on finishing the e-Storybook. Sometime ago I decided that I needed to redesign the layout to work on HDTV. It became clear that the product needed to be presentable on people's televisions. So that has been the objective. There are other reasons why that needs to be done as well. It's a long process, but I'm up to scene 12 (out of 20). So I do believe things will pick up, in terms of production and distribution, once I finish this layout. The good thing is that, when the HDTV layout is finished, the entire series will be set up for publishing and I will be free to concentrate on finishing the artwork. That also means that books two and three are ready for press, giving us an advance on the release schedule. Book four is almost done, being short on about fifteen illustrations. As it turns out, scene ten is very much divergent from Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure, because it reveals the major portions of "Zachary the Great" (another Gnomic Tale).

It all looks great! But this is a real marathon trying to get this done.

Well that's all for now. AG

Slogging along

Scene One... Scene Two... Scene Three... Well, that's done. I should be saying Book One... Book Two... Book Three...

The Illustrated Storybook is considerably more extensive than the Libretto. Not so much in terms of the writing, but more in terms of the layout. The Libretto is more of a technical manual, while the Storybook is more artistic in it's layout, which means the design must fit into the page in a balanced fashion. With the Libretto, it was just a matter of shrinking the page to fit into the space provided by the overlay. With the Storybook, it is both a reduction and a readjustment of the page components. Resizing of the art and repositioning of the text. The reason for this is that I originally laid out the pages for 8.5"x11" and have since created a design for HDTV (16:9). So that ratio requires adjusting everything. 800 pages! No wonder this thing is taking so long. I'm closing in on page 200 and I can generally do around 35 pages a day, mostly because I have to do each page (essentially) twice, right and left gutters. Because the outer page design (created as an overlay) changes the shape of the perimeter from right to left, the inner content needs to be adjusted so it doesn't hit the edge of the page and is balanced in the space. You can see what I mean by searching down in this blog to see some page samples.

The really nice thing is that once this layout process is done, it's done... Done. The only changes that will occur after that are adding new elements, such as animations, music and other links. But those elements will only take place in the context of a subscription page.

Once this is done done, we can start setting it up to distribute the finished product to the public. Gadzooks!

I'm at the point where I just want to finish putting my cars back together, putz around the shop, and not worry about anything else. I can dream can't I?

AG

The Libretto

As I've been preparing The Industry Review Package, one of the elements in the PowerPoint aspects of it has been to include some of the music. I've inserted a few songs along with the sheet music. One if those songs is the recorded duet titled "Completely" It is a love song. I've included the video animation of "Never Been So Near", which you can find further down on this blog and a few other songs.

The instrumental version of "You're The One" is used as a backdrop for my narration of portions of the presentation. That is one of my favorites. I can't wait to hear it with vocals. It's a choral/dance number. But then I have also included "The Stone of Wisdom" and "The Gnomen of The Yard" (a homage to Gilbert & Sullivan)

Those songs, like "Completely" are presented along with the Lead Sheets, so one can follow along and see how the lyrics fit in with the music. All the songs presented are orchestrated, even though the sheet music is simply the Lead Sheet with a piano adaptation. I did piano adaptations of the orchestrations after the music was orchestrated, which is rather backwards. I'll explain that later. But that required that I reconstitute the melody lines out of the orchestrations and isolate the lyrics by assigning a vocal instrument predominance for the purpose of identifying the vocal line. This was a result of the way the music was arranged.

An example being the trumpet in "The Stone of Wisdom", which is the finale of Scene 9, leading into the intermission. That song is well orchestrated and stands up nicely as an instrumental.

So, in making the presentation, as a whole, I am inserting Scene 9 of both the Libretto and the Illustrated Storybook by way of providing a comparison of how the material is presented both literally and on the stage.

So, I realized that both the entire collection of the Storybooks and the Libretto need to be converted over to PowerPoint, for various reasons. I will go into that later, but this is my current effort. I do believe that once that is done, we will be in a very good position to advance into production on numerous advanced levels. The advantages of having that as a production tool are cause for hope... The Gnomes of New Hope ! AG

Current activities

Well, if you've read my last few posts, you might have sensed my frustration. I have to say, I think there are VERY FEW people who really have any idea of the sheer volume of work that goes into this. It's hard to keep looking forward with a positive attitude when you feel your resources are running very thin.

I'm continuing to refine the Industry Review Package. Everytime I think it is enough, I come up with another component that should be included. I have set some pretty solid, and not so sparse, goals that I need to achieve. I have found that the work needing to be done for this project must have a secure work environment. The rather tenuous nature of the studio environment was tolerable for the development work that has taken place up to now, but that condition is unacceptable for the next stages of operations. So now I need to secure the facilities for the long term and that is part of the buy-in to the project. All of this is contained in the Industry Review Package. From now on, the only participants I will be seeking, are those who can contribute to the $5M that I need to secure. If you are such a person or organization, do contact me.

At this point, although I still seek production funds that are assigned to assorted production activities (illustrations, animation, puppetry, parade, set construction, etc) those activities will not advance until the facilities are secured as I have defined. Any production funds so assigned, will be held in escrow until the facility operating funds are in place. If I do not secure those facility funds in time, then operations will shut down and I will take another direction, which may or may not be working on The Gnomes of New Hope, depending on demand.

That being said, my effort is focused on securing the facilities funds and any communication with other producing persons needs to take this into account. Still, I am looking to fill the Board Positions of The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture. Doing so will achieve the goals I have described. AG

Libretto and other Thoughts of Insanity

As I was finalizing the DVD Package, I realized that the Libretto needed to be included. I already built an e-book version of the Libretto, but it was not configured for the HDTV format, so I set forth to do that. In the PowerPoint presentations, I've included a few songs with the score. So it makes sense that I include at least those scenes from the Libretto and possibly the e-Storybook as well. I'm moving forward to do that, however, those items may not make it into the DVD, if I run out of time (as I mentioned in my last post).

On an unprofessional, more like venting note:

I have to say, I am getting very tire of busting my ass on this thing with seeing little forward momentum as a result of  other competent participants or investment from industry professionals. I have made this very available for review and presented so many components of this to public view, if find it amazing that some more competent professional have not stepped up to the plate along the way.  It is so clear how massive the potential of this project can be given the right circumstances. I'm starting to believe that the only projects that advance are the ones created by people without a clue and people who can easily be taken advantage of because of having stars in their eyes.  It's a sad perspective, but I see real garbage being produced, sick and perverted material making money and being glorified. While I have been striving to create something of real and lasting value that is founded in goodness. I have struggled beyond all conception to build a well conceived project, to bring together all the components that could possibly be involved, on a scale that represents the fullest possible manifestation of the project across allthe possible markets involved and to set the groundwork for all that to happen. I have moved forward at all times leaving a door open for other industry professional to become involved, moving step by step forward while expecting some degree of engagement from the Industry, not based on my pushing that to happen, but based on recognition to occur from making the material available in increments. I've been crafting this for thirty years! Enough already.

I have a very viable working plan for advancement of this project in all arenas. I have a grip on all the aspects of production. After 45 years of work in the Industry, I have experience in all aspect of this work, I have built a 10K sq ft well equipped studio to do service this work. All of this work has been done on the premise that if nobody else comes into the picture, if no opportunities come to me, then I must keep going and create them for myself. I have been doing so here in jibibisville for way too long. But now it's too late I may never get out and... I'm too old.

The project is refined beyond any that I have seen in my forty plus career, yet I am under extreme financial duress and about ready to break. I just smashed my phone against the wall after an important email that I crafted got discard when my pen accidentally  tapped the screen. This is only a symptom of how volatile I am becoming  as a result of the extreme complexity, stress, and deprivation involved in crafting and mounting this project. I  have few, if any, people around me that have even a scintilla of a clue, much less an idea of what it takes to do this. I constantly have to explain it to people who are stunned and utterly unable to help other than to wish me well.  This is, in part, the source of my duress and the pressure being put on me because of how long it is taking and how many resources it takes for this project to manifest.

I can no longer jerk around. I need a minimum of 5M to stabilize my studio environment, 12M to set up the Joint Venture with Vested Board Members who will then raise the production funds, and/or 30M (under terms) plus 10% of the Gross gross, for a complete buyout. I have been pussyfooting around this fundraising for too long, taking it gently because of SEC rules. Screw all that! I need to see some real coins happening real soon or I'm shifting into something more viable for my immediate needs. I have other business endeavors that I put on hold for this for years, business endeavors that have nothing to do with The Gnomes of New Hope and unless I see some serious action that funds my operations I'm shifting gears. The fact of the matter is that if I do that, this may very well die. I say this because I've seen it happen before, but I have other significant matters to attend to and they can no longer be put off.

So if you are a business person who has been watching this and considering involvement when this reached the right level of refinement, this is it. Shit or get off the pot. I'm about fed up. I don't need any more mamby pamby crap from people who don't know and haven't put in the time to know. I'm only going to deal with professionals who do know, are serious and are capable. The rest is a waste of my time.

 I'm probably saying all this because I'm pissed that I just smashed my phone.

AG