Parade Float

As I've mentioned elsewhere, the parade float will be the first stage scenario for public presentation. I've been working to acquire the mechanical components I need to build the stage chassis. Beyong that, I am working to set the scene shop up in preparation of building the show. As it turns out, the woodworking area is coming together nicely (at least in terms of planning and supplies) and it will serve other woodworking needs as well as those for the set construction. I'm also planning out the metalworking area for other fabricating needs. 

The parade float is starting to look a bit different than originally thought. I'm more inclined to make the stage to be more a backdrop than a performance stage. Of course, it is being designed and built to be as flexible as possible (for various applications), but in terms of the "Gnomes of New Hope", I see it more as a presentation of animatronic puppets with the live performance taking place in front of or around the stage area. In the event that the parade ends in a festival or craft fair, then the float will serve as part of a public performance, but mostly as a backdrop. The reason is primarily size. The sets on the parade float will be sized for the puppets and not live performers, making the play area down in front (so-to-speak).

Initially I had, thought that the sets for the parade float would be shared by the puppet show, but I'm not so certain of that now. That's a possibility, but there are set-up issues with that if it is tied to a parade. I think leaving the animatronic float as a separate "cyclorama" on exhibition in a festival environment simplifies matters and would be just as, if not more, effective. The other issue there is the complexity of wiring and mechanics for the float to be animatronic. In all likelihood, I will design the float with the ability for the chassis to be removed from the upper stage. That way we can build multiple floats that can be serviced by the one chassis. That would also allow the "float" to be used as a fixed stage for any given period if time.

More on this later.  AG

Reviewing this blog via the Archive files

I was just looking this blog over, trying to extract images to put in the sidebar, and I was using the Archive folders that are located in the left-hand sidebar. That is a very good way to explore the subjects that have been addressed here, but I have to say - take it with a grain of salt. I stated expectations in such a way as I believed the progression was going to occur. But I have to say; I know nothing! I feel like Sargent Schultz on Hogan's Hero's. Every time I think the road goes right, it goes left. It's impossible to know what is on the other side of the hill, even if you've been there before, the landscape changes over time. So take it with a grain of salt and accept it for what it is - hopes and expectations.

I try to outline the progress of The Gnomes of New Hope and to paint a picture of the scope involved in producing this show, publishing the books, and developing assorted product lines... and I hope that the picture is clear enough and enjoyable enough to look at. More than that, I know that many people need to be involved in this for it to reach out on an international scale, the scale it is designed for. But I also know that certain foundational components must be locked into place before that degree of involvement can occur.

The most recent effort to complete the e-Storybook designs covers a wide berth, and putting it up on a subscription page will make that information available to, not only the consuming public, but also the professionals who need to be involved. All editions of the Illustrated Storybook serve the dual purpose of telling the story in an enjoyable way and presenting is as Storyboards for cinema production, be it live action, animation, or puppetry.

Once again, I invite professionals and investors to contact me if any of this so perks your interest. I've put thirty years of work into this and frankly, handing the ball off doesn't sound like a bad idea to this old guy.

AG

Selling Books

I realized that I need to address this issue for those of you wondering what's going on.

Althought Volume One is set up for manufacturing and some degree of distribution and sales have been set up. The release of the books is restricted to Signed and Numbered Limited Editions. I will take orders and have been working on setting up a "shopping cart" scenario. That's not done yet so inquire via email.

One reason is that I am working on developing a server for the e-Storybook. I don't know yet whether to job it out or maintain a server in house. If anyone is savoy to this and would like to discuss it with me, please let me know.

As it turns out, the design adjustments made for the e-Storybook need to be transferred back into the Volume One publishing files. It is, I think, very important that the release versions of the hard copies match the design across the board. I've only done a few sections of that layout and don't expect to address that until the full series (to the end) have been converted. I'm up to scene eighteen of twenty, so within a week or two I will be going back to Volume One to rebuild those printing files.

I do expect to be printing the whole collection sometime soon and developing the publishing parameters for the entire collection in hard copy. The e-Storybook has some other very profound advantages when it comes to integrating animation and gifs into the storybook, so that will be a selling point to becoming a member of the subscription page. None-the-less, the hard copy books will also be available, although the release of the hard copy will be delayed because of the artwork needing to be finished. Whereas, the collection can be released as scenes on the subscription page as the work is completed, which differs from needing it all to be completed for publication in hard copy. That is the direction this is moving, so keep watch.

Gotta go. More later. AG

Adjustments

Well, as you can see from previous posts, minor adjustments to the color balance and composition have been taking place. What a HUGE difference. The layout is greatly improved by only minor adjustments which have been made to accommodate the resolution and color differences between the workstation and the final HDTV. More than that, there is a distinct difference between electronic and press presentation. The printing press responds differently to the file than does the television screen, so that requires two separate files. 

So thereby goes the delay in the release of the final product, for those of you who wonder about that.

AG

Conforming the HDTV

What a nightmare! Slow and difficult in numerous ways. The color shift between programs is causing me to make multiple files. Clarity on the text becomes an issue with that color shift. I have multiple versions, but any mistake must be corrected and some of the divergences are founded in the way the original files are processed by different programs. The multiple programs are necessary to craft the pages, as different components must be assembled in certain programs, as opposed to others, and the final product is a composite, each component being effected differently. I wish I could say it was simpler and that it was my fault, but I think not. The parameters are set by the programs being used and the diversity of the components responds differently... in layers. Gadzooks! I keep thinking I'm almost done. I'm afraid I may need to craft another set of files. It depends on how the final pptw file ends up looking. Yeow!

Hard Copy Books, a change of plans

As you may have seen, Volume One is published (in limited release) in both the Gnome-sized and Big People Books. Those books are available for purchase on-demand via an e-mail inquiry or directly from the studio in Southampton.

Volume One of  The Big-People has 109 pages and an MSRP of $29.95,
     it is the same as Book One of the Gnome-sized Book
Volumes Two & Three have approximately 275 pages each and will be more.

All of the Gnome-sized books have an MSRP of $8.95

 Book One is Published, but the remaining books in the series are being published differently than previously planned. Those changes are described below.

Current Status

The layout and mechanicals for Volumes Two and Three are now almost finished (sans a number of illustrations) and able to be published as prototype books. As I've mentioned elsewhere, there are still in excess of three hundred illustrations required to complete the series and those illustrations need to be funded. However, all the other work of writing, proof-reading, design, and layout for the entire Storybook series is completed and almost ready for press.

All that is needed for completion of the Illustrated Storybook Series is the insertion of missing illustrations, a still significant effort and cost, but a relatively minor amount of work, comparatively speaking when looking at what it has taken to get this far with the project and set it up publication.

The layout for the HDTV e-Storybook is still being completed, which also involves narrating the books. I've discussed that product elsewhere. Adding animations to the e-Storybook will take place after the remaining illustrations for the book series are complete. This, of course, also requires significant funding, so that will be the focus of attention after all layout work, including HDTV is completed.

I expect to shortly publish Volumes Two and Three as prototype hard copy books, as this is required to budget out the final release version of the books and determine the MSRP.

The plan was to release a seven book collection. Those seven books are based on the number of pages that can be contained in the smaller Gnome-sized books (100 pages +/-). But the Big People books are not limited in the same way. Each of the Gnome-sized books has an MSRP of $8.95 and  Book One can be purchased directly from IMS in any quantity at any time. The books are published on demand. There is a discount schedule, but to secure a full keystone requires a purchase of quantities in excess of 5k units. Inquire for details.

The Publishing changes are as follows;

The Gnome-sized Books
     are published as a seven book series;

Book One; 
(available for purchase)

An Introduction to 

The Gnomes of New Hope 

The remaining books consist of scenes from 

Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure

(pending release)

 Book Two; Act I, Scenes 1, 2, 3

Book Three; Act I, Scenes 4, 5, 6

  Book Four; Act I, Scenes 7, 8, 9

Book Five; Act II, Scenes 10,11,12

Book Six: Act II, Scenes 13, 14, 15, 16

Book Seven; Act II Scenes 17, 18, 19, 20

The Big People Books 

        are published in three Volumes; 

Volume One 

An Introduction 
to 
The Gnomes of New Hope 
MSRP = $29.95
(available for purchase) 

Volume Two 

Act One 
of 
Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure
MSRP = to be determined
(pending release)

Volume Three 

Act Two 
of  
Zach & Zebby's Grand Adventure
MSRP = to be determined
(pending release)

I'll Continue this post later.

AG

IMS Management

Refer to IMS Management for discussions regarding Operating Expenses and other financial matters relative to managing The Gnomes of New Hope and other pertinent subjects of this nature.

HDTV e-Storybook

Well, you may have seen one of my posts somewhere, in which I have written about the HDTV format.

Some time ago I realized that if people were to have any interest in the e-Storybook, they would likely be happier if they could put it up on their HDTVs. So that has been my work for the last six months; to convert the previous e-Storybook design over to the 16:9 format. 

Well, that has brought with it some other design modifications. An example of my most recent effort is to replace the font I used for the lyric sections of the book. I had used a thin line font for the songs. As it turned out, that worked fine for a printed book, but not so good for an electronic book. What a drag! What a lot of work! So that's what I am doing now. 634 pages. Ugh.

Another design thing is this; I created a page background. Here's an example if that...

As you can see, the page has a mottled green texture. That texture works pretty good on the printed page. It's borderline, in terms of being distracting, but it creates an atmosphere of "earthiness" , so I like it. But when it comes to the electronic book, it remains borderline, only in this instance, it "sort of" creates a conflict between the background and the text. I created a new background file that allows me to control the depth of that mottled effect. The problem there is that I would need to redo the entire book if I change it. I may do that in the future, but for now, I just need to get this e-Storybook finished. The background will have to do for the time being.

That is an example if why a subscription page is the best approach to giving people access to the whole book series. There are so many changes happening on a regular basis, that joining the subscription page will always give you access to the most recent changes, additions, updates and expansions to the stories. The beauty there is that once "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" is finished (for release to everyone) then I can start to add some of the other "Gnomic Tales". So using the subscription page really does create a greater value. All the stories will also be available for purchase as hard copy books, it's just that those books will be published "on-demand".

So the first book is available. Send me an e-mail. I still need to examine the PayPal page to get it set up properly, so in the mean time, just e-mail me. If you explore this blog, you will find other posts about pricing and sales and stuff. There's an order form you can print out and mail in. You can try the PayPal. If it works great, but I'm not sure, it's been awhile since I tried to set it up. Here's a photo of the "Gnome-sized" book. 

If you can't find the flyer and order form below, e-mail me and I'll send it to you. AG

 

11/19 Update, HDTV

This post is copied from a Facebook post, for those of you not using Facebook.

So I just finished the HDTV layout for the e-Storybook. Finishing that layout means that the entire collection is also ready for publishing as well.

There is one caveat to that; there are still 348 more illustration panels needed, but all other work is finished. Inserting the illustrations, once they are finished, is easy by comparison. Many of the pages use more than one illustration, so it isn't as bad as it sounds.

There are 634 pages that

comprise the entire collection;

Volume One, Book One, "An Introduction to The Gnomes of New Hope" is 80 pages.

Volume Two, Books Two thru Four = Act One, Scenes One thru Nine of the Libretto "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure"

Volume Three, Books Four thru Seven = Act Two, Scenes Ten thru Twenty of the Libretto, "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure"

The files are .PSD, which need to be converted to .PDF, then to .PPT.  After that, the entire collection needs to be narrated. Then the entire collection, along with the Business Plan gets burned to multiple DVDs for presentation to Industry Professionals.

Once all this is finished, the e-Storybook will be made available to people via an online subscription and the collection will be posted there in increments as the artwork for the illustrations is finished. As it stands now, the portions of the e-Storybook where art is missing, contains description panels, which will be replaced with the finished artwork.

The exciting thing about presenting it this way is that I will be able to replace the illustrations with animations, gradually as we finish them. Animation work will not begin until after the Illustration are completed.

It is expected at the hard copy books will be released every six months. Details on the hard books will be posted after I complete the first prototype of the full collection.

 The collection will not be sold as "Gnomes in a Gnutshell" until certain issues are worked out with that and after we determine how to include the animations in that product line.

AG

Corvair Truck and other theatre thoughts

I'm still looking for a donor Corvair truck to use in the construction of the parade float. Constructing the show for parades is the first level of the stage show. I'm also anxious to get the sound stage together. Right now the area in the shop is filled with "stuff", but I'm emptying out one of my storage units and I realized that some of my supplies happens to be a lighting grid that I bought years ago from a little theatre and that grid is perfect for the sound/green screen stage. The plan includes doing puppetry on that stage for integration with the artwork in the e-Storybook, but, that stage is also the approximate size of both the parade and little theatre operations/ So that's the primary direction I am headed with studio operations.

My main objective, in terms of pre-production, is to fund the 100k required for the finishing artwork needed for the e-Storybook and the Hard Copy Books. I think I am going to restructure to book series to be aligned more with Acts One and Two, rather than the original seven book series.But in terms of release of the e-Storybook, the layout will be set-up (as a subscription service} in scenes. That is easier to do electronically than it is to do with printing. With the Hard Copy books the problem lies mostly in 1) the number of pages that can fit into a book and 2) the actual cost of production. The Storybook Series extends to around 638 Pages, now that is has been conformed to the HDTV format. If I release "Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" in smaller series of seven books, the page numbers are reasonable, but inconsistent, as certain scenes are larger than others. The initial plan was to release three scenes at a time and keep the divisions of Acts One and Two. That's not working out as easily as I thought. So, I need to think that through. Clearly, I can release the e-Storybook online, but there's a fair amount of planning required for that too. It all poses a dilemma. Oh well, we'll get thru it.

If anyone reading this has a source for a reasonably priced truck, let me know. My plan is to use the drive-train, suspension, steering, and possibly the floors. If I do use the floors, I will likely keep the uni-body chassis as well, although my initial thought was to construct the stage platforms to receive only the suspension, so the chassis/body is not important. I do want to use some rear body panels to construct a dump trailer that matches my existing 61 Rampside, so I do want to repurpose the body panels in addition to utilizing the floor panels to create an optional level deck in the Rampside bed. I have gotten a few prices for available trucks, but so far the prices are too high for a truck I'm going to chop up. I'd rather acquire a complete truck that is too far gone for restoration. AG

HDTV Format

As I've said, I'm preparing the Core Creative Materials in HDTV Format. The e-Storybook is now conformed to run under PowerPoint as a subscription. I posted on that subject previously. It looks utterly fantastic. I'm up to Scene 18a out of 20. Some scenes are broken up into sections. Scene 18 has four sections. But anyway you look at it, it's almost done. I say that with the caveat that there is still many illustration panels required, but all the other layout work, for the e-Storybook and the hard copy books will be finished when the entire series has been confirmed to the HDTV aspect ratio. All that will be required is insertion of the finished artwork. That leaves me free to work closely with the artists to finish the illustrations. This time around I expect to hire Jency to craft the scenes as I have described them in the layout panels, but I will be looking to hire a line artist and a colorist, so we can expedite the process. The artwork that has already been inserted in the series took five years to create and we simply cannot afford for it to take even a fraction of that time to complete this.

But I do expect to direct the artwork in such a way as to set us deep into the path of animation. That being said, I will also be looking for people with experience in 3D rendering (which likewise will set us on the path of 3D printing for figurines and merchandizing). But I will also need a manager for the online subscriptions, someone with programming knowledge. It could be a service vendor, I have someone in mind but I'm open to setting that up with an in-house server, in which event, that person would work out of the Southampton studio location. The whole subject is a bit larger than my current understanding, so that needs to be developed in partnership.

So you can see why I have been working to get the entire series finished before we initiate into the marketplace. I fully expect that once we do, it will snowball and we need to be prepared for that.

That being said, I will also be looking for Agency Representation/Management, because I have so much to do already, that the larger potential will need a team that is already in place.

I'll post those terms on IMS Producing Partners, but I believe that you need to send me your email so I can give you access to that site.

"That's All Folks"
(thank you WB)

AG

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