Time to offer an Option

For those Industry Professionals who may like to become involved by investing, I suggest reading this post on IMS Management.

The Stage Musical

I found this post saved as a draft, so I'm going to post it and update these thoughts.

I thought I'd address the subject of the Musical. Shawn and I have been discussing the music, on and off for years. We stopped just shy of having  completed it for a few reasons; the stress of our debates over scoring was one reason, scheduling our work sessions was difficult, but on my end, the realization that an Illustrated Storybook needed to be finished and be put in a position to be sold, before any stage musical could go into production. All these reasons are critical elements that must be addressed  Little did I know that it would take over ten years, closer to fifteen (maybe even more) to complete that task. 

Update 4/12/23

The Illustrated Storybooks really do stand on their own, they just happen to be based on the Stage Musical. I am certain that once the publishing layout is finally locked in and finished, completely ready for mass publication (meaning no correction, additions, or modifications) and the printer's files are totally locked in, then, and only then, will I be completely free to do the same with the music compositions and scoring.

I spent six months working on the music. I was doing time signatures and modifying the beats to accommodate vocal delivery, while also crafting divisi, only to have been stalled by having hard disc failure steal my material. I put everything on hold after that. I will need to seek out and implement disc recovery. If I am lucky I can get those files back. But I'm not going to get involved in any of that, until after the publishing files are completely finished. 

Once that has happened and my mind is free to focus on those music issues, then I will build a new music workstation, which will incorporate both the older systems we were using, along with a new processor to run the upgraded programs. I think in that way, we will have the best of both world; the old established methodology running adjacent to the new systems that will tie more effectively into our use of video, but also into the stage control systems. I will address those control systems elsewhere. Suffice it to say, I'm looking into a lighting control panel, but one system I'm very interested in will run off my Mac laptop. I do think we need a hard board that will sync with that as well. I'm looking into that.

So we (Shawn & I) have discussed getting back to the music and it's almost time to do that. However, I am building a sound studio and sound stage stage in the studio with "a green screen".  The stage will be a normal 16' deep by 20' working area. The wings and upstage area are 6'-10'. I think this size stage is sufficient for our in-house development work. I have a few other dramas in addition to the Gnomes musical. Right now, I am upgrading the video capabilities to a three-camera shoot and concentrating on making sure the editing suite is functioning properly.  So, working on the music is not quite happening yet. 

All the computer systems are older, although not too old. I do have work stations that go all the way back to OS9 and I would like to review all the work stations to make sure they work properly and are networked properly. The workstation we originally used to compose the music was OS10.4 and that worked really well. It did develop a problem, so I switched over to OS10.5 and I maintain a 10.5 workstation, even though I'm now up to 10.15. I am working on networking my storage space through numerous systems. It's not an easy task, but it needs to be done so that an array of workstations can service both old and new systems. This is important because I use programs that require different operating systems, but I need to be able to upgrade the files into newer systems where that is required. It's very tricky trying to figure this out.

Basically, in terms of the music, I'm working on setting up a new set of upgraded programs, which will also need to tie into the video editing suite. My problem is that, I am afraid to disturb my current workstation to upgrade, or even open the music and video programs, because I simply cannot afford to have anything infract my publishing layout (ie: hard disc failures). 

I do have other machines available, but frankly, the shift in thinking that is required to set up these other functions (music and video) cannot happen yet. I'm almost finished with the publishing end of things and I need to hang in there until that is all finalized.

But I am endeavoring to upgrade the video equipment (done) and move forward with staging preparations, because doing that will not interject itself into the publishing workstation.

I'll continue with this at another time.

AG

Sculpting Garden Gnomes

    As it turns out, Jency's granddaughter is a very talented young person. She is sculpting Ferny Reading. I don't have a copy of what she is sculpting for us right now, so here is the Constable Warren Garden Gnome. The Garden Gnome line will begin with seven characters being released, one with each book. The initial release will be signed and numbered, although the format is yet to be determined.

   You see below the mold that was made from the original Constable Warren, made by Elsa Acton. That mold is a number of years old now, and it's condition leads me to believe that I need to make new molds, out of different materials. I'm thinking that we should create the mold in a digital 3D environment and then we can print out new molds as needed if and when the working molds get destroyed. So I will be working to scan Ferny Reading and go from there for this, the second Garden Gnome.

  Ferny Reading is mainly intended as a display sculpture used to market the books in book stores. But I am thinking along the lines of resin sculptures instead of concrete. We can certainly make concrete, but the distribution of concrete will either have to be pick-up at the studio or delivered to garden centers. Direct mail order of concrete is out, due to the weight and the risk of damage. With resin, my design will include a plug on the bottom, whereby the purchaser can fill the Gnome with sand to give it weight.

Elsa and her little buddy Constable Warren

   As we proceed with this end of the project we will be sculpting at least two collections; The Garden Gnomes (designed for, well, gardens) and Figurines (designed as smaller souvenir items).  I will be updating this post and adding to it as things proceed.

Here is "Ferny Reading" a sculpture by Serena King. It's a work in progress, but it looks great so far!

UPDATE 7/26/23:

   We have acquired the supplies to set up a casting operation. The puppet shop has been used for casting faces (for the puppets) and the first "Constable Warren" Garden Gnome. Having advanced to this next Garden Gnome "Ferny Reading",  it is appropriate to focus on improved mold making, since we will be creating numerous Garden Gnomes and figurines from "The Gnomes of New Hope".  Besides the fact that IMS is principally a prototype shop, setting up for manufacturing, with a kiln, is a good idea, to give us latitude. Clearly, unless we find a supplier to produce the figurines and such at a workable price, our best bet is to set up to do this in-house.  I certainly am willing to discuss these sculpture with an outside agency, so if you do this kind of work, you are welcome to contact me via email. In the meanwhile, we are setting up the sculpture studio to include mold making and casting these figurines in various mediums. 

LINKS to previous posts;

Garden Gnomes, Articulating Figurines & Puppets