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| It looks messy, but this is my workstation. Four computers, each with a different function. |
The work of preparing the Seven Book Collection is far more complex than I expected. But I am moving forward none-the-less. We had been advancing with the artwork by creating the sketches, which are the first stage for creating the finished panels. I know Jency has been frustrated with being limited to sketches, but I need to have all the sketches finished before we move into the more refined line drawings and watercolors. Even after the watercolors are done I still need to scan and process those paintings to conform to the layout requirements. I have the procedures all down, but implementing it is time consuming, in a far greater degree than I expected.
I'm in the throws of reorganizing numerous aspects of the studio, including setting up another art workstation in the back offices and changing the function of the front offices. I'm in the process of owning the entire 20K sq ft building and will be setting up various aspects of the Gnomes of New Hope in the front buildings, including renovating and adding office space as needed. For instance, I will be moving the Animatronics and Puppetry up to Building One along with setting up a machine shop to do the prototype work for that and for exploring other work in robotics. The machine shop will be a reduced version of RCKletzing Inc.; the company that my grandfather started and that my father built up. I will be reducing it down to the size that I need for IMS and focusing strictly on limited production for IMS purposes and prototype work for clients. I cannot compete with shops that offer production, so I am loosing all the CNC equipment. I'll discuss this further on the Image of the Mind Studios blog.
In regard to the expansion just mentioned; I have for some time been desirous of constructing The Theatrical Development Centre. Well, being that I am pushing 70, I'm seeing the likelihood of constructing a remote studio compound as becoming increasingly slim (based solely on my declining physical abilities and concerns about dying before I can finish it) but I expect to continue to work toward that goal, none-the-less. I have concluded that; since I am about to own the building at 1325 Industrial Boulevard in Southampton, it is best that I implement the TDC at this location. Interestingly, I conceived that even with a facility "in town" there is no reason why the other remote studio compound could not also happen. So, again, I'll discuss this on the other blog. I only wanted to add that as things are developing, I expect to install a sound studio in Building Two. We will need this anyway to record the music for The Gnomes of New Hope. Since I am installing a stage in Building Four, and I have a developing Scene Shop in Building Three, I am making the staging area in the scene shop match the size of the stage in Building Four, and will make the sound studio match the size of the stage also. Conveniently (or planned) the stage in Building Four matched the size of the Parade Float we are going to build, but also, that stage is approximately the size of the space in an orchestra pit and a little theatre space. So the sound stage will accommodate our pit orchestra for the music of The Gnomes. I might mention that the Parade Float will also serve as a mobile stage and be able to match the Meadow Amphitheatre that I built in Tamanend Park.
You might wonder why we might need to record the orchestra music, since we have pretty good renditions using MIDI? The funny thing is that: when we were discussing having The Bryn Athyn Orchestra play some of our music, the President of the Board of Director's of Bob Zecher, said "Why would you want to wreck it by having an orchestra play it?" I thought that was funny. But the truth is that one Venue of presentation is an orchestral concert, separate from the Musical Theatre presentation.
The point being that: the sound studio can also serve as a rehearsal space if the size of it matches the stage. Understand that the size of the stage is a bit smaller than one would like, but there are a number of factors involved here. On factor that comes into play is that I would like to see The Gnomes of New Hope premiere at The Bucks County Playhouse. There are a number of reasons for this, besides the fact that I worked there, that I was the Technical Director for The New Hope Arts Commission for nine years, that it is convenient to my Southampton studio, and that the theatre has been recognized for a almost a century as a premiere Summer Stock and Tryout theatre, it just seems to make sense, since the title is The Gnomes of New Hope. But also, I can emulate the stage of the Bucks County Playhouse in my studio.
The Playhouse has a turntable. When I worked there it was not functional. I tried to pitch the idea that we get it working again, but at the time, that did not go over well. However, since then there has been a new management group and they got the turn table going again. Yahoo! So in that regard, the turn table is 25" in diameter. The proscenium is 29". the upstage space from the turntable is no more than 15" and the wings are about the same. Not much room for set storage. So my plan is to play the show on the apron and add a thrust if necessary. The plan is to cut the stage in half as to depth, across the centre line of the turntable. That way the upstage space can be used for set storage and positioning on the turntable. Boom, we have the play set down front on the turn table, with the next scene being staged backstage on the upstage side of the turntable, with a drop or a traveler dividing the two scenes. The beauty here is that I can match that working scenario in my scene shop. My stage space (being matched in size with the other staging and rehearsal areas, will all match the presentation space at the Bucks County Playhouse. The advantage here ia also that numerous other theatres are configured in the same way across the country.
You might wonder about the state of the theatre in today's social climate. It's true that depending solely on the theatre going audience is no longer possible, but the beauty of the studio setup that I am building, is that it takes the other markets into account. Take for example the puppetry aspect of the show. Not only does the stage in Building Four match all the staging scenarios as to size, but it also can become a green screen for film and video production. I will discuss more of this on the IMS Blog.
So overall things are moving forward, but I am clearly swamped and other matters are crying for attention, which is why I am anxious to finish the layout aspects of this, get busy on the watercolor degree of the artwork and cut any number of deals that will kick this into a higher gear and I might add, doing so without the onus being on me to make it happen. Frankly I'm getting old and tired, if truth be told.
Oh well, onward and upward. AG
