IMS Cimena

IMS Film Projects:

Also refer to the index under the heading Cinema Projects for Progress Reports & Summaries.

IMS Films on YouTube:

Now that I've managed to post a film on YouTube and I have finally gotten my editing systems functioning I am in a position to edit some films I have laying around unfinished. I especial hope to get "You're Not Getting The Point" posted, because I know a number of people have wanted to see this film finished.

Just so you know, I've started making films when I was seven years old. Writing takes up a lot of time.

I'm still learning how to integrate the films into this blog in an aesthetic fashion. I do know that if you view the films on YouTube then there is a count of view, which I don't have here.

Equipment & Formats:

I've concluded that I will be striving to acquire one or more Canon XL H1 . It seems to be a Digital HD Camera that will meet my needs. That being said, I'd also like to connect with other filmmakers who are using that camera for input and or crew in the Philadelphia area.

Archive:

I have numerous formats, 8mm, Super 8, 16mm, VHS, Beta, S-VHS & Mini DV and I've never really had them all working in symphony with each other. My experience was chiefly in the middle of the format wars between 16mm & video, et al. In those days everything was intentionally proprietory and it became too difficult for me to deal with, so I have been loath to attempt it. My solution to the struggles and costs involved with film/video was to focus on theatre instead of film-making. Thank God for the advancements that have brought the field together!

I tend to acquire my equipment when everyone else dumps it for the latest and the greatest, although I'm getting tired of that approach. I've managed to fill in the gaps with some equipment that I had a hard time finding and now the bridge between film and video is almost complete. By complete I mean easily passable in both directions.

Since we are writing a musical, the equipment and programs for studio operation in audio was a priority. This translates into film and I expect to adapt some of what I have for location work. Digital Performer is our principle composing software and it was very difficult to get it up & running properly and to learn it , and the adjacent programs & hardware. That caused me to forestall addressing Final Cut Pro, but now that I have, I'm almost addicted to it. Rendering is a bummer though, because I'm using an older version. But I'm very thankful that I can at least begin to edit the numerous films I have laying around unfinished.

I still have to work on getting all the equipment synchronized properly with SMPTE, but I'm on that path and for now I don't need that. I have been planning on using an Alesis BRC or the MOTU 2408 for the location Master Clock because I anticipate using the XT for the location sound, the BRC would work. Of course it's all rather bulky, but hey, I'm working on low budget. I may get an mixer/interface with XLR imputs to work with the XT instead of the BRC. It may be that an HD 24 or a laptop would be better, but I haven't determined that yet. I have a Uher 1000 Pilot that has served me very well, and with repairs that will still capture great mono sound.

I'm interested in finding ways to encode the film I shoot thru my Beaulieus, so if anyone has a solution to that, please let me know. In addition to an assortment of other cameras, I've got a 5008s, a few R-16s and I am looking to acquire a 4008 & a News 16. And of course my goal is an Aaton, possibly an Arri & a Mitchell for 35mm. If I shift away from the Beaulieus, which I ultimately have to do, then I need a whole array of gender-specific (and expensive) accessories.

HD is another issue. It's convenient, but it's not the same as film. I expect to experiment with that soon. I remember being at the Show Bus Expo in NY when HD was first proposed. That was back in the 80's, when things were really changing around... well enough of that.

Keep watch here for further discussions on film production activity. AG

Freedom- Crossing the Delaware

" Freedom "


Years ago, when I was doing Colonial Re-enactments, I began a film project based on this subject matter. Quite a bit of footage was shot on mini-DV and was put away with the intention to edit at some point. Now that I have finally gotten my DV editing programs to function properly with the other equipment on my bench, I hope to spend time editing this film.

It is ironic that this year Washington's Crossing State Park will be closed due to funding issues at the state level. Of the many things that are paid for by the state, this seems like one of the last items that ought to be bumped off the list. How many moments in the history of this nation are there which have this level of significance to help the people understand why this country exists?

Well, I'm beginning to work on this film again and I will post updates here as it progresses. I am hoping to figure out how to post the footage so you can see Washington and his men crossing the Delaware.

Here's my character Jean Pierre, a scout for General Washington. Unfortunately, it started to get where I needed to become fluent in French, because so many people were getting into the character and carrying on conversations with me. Since I can only fake it so much, and not when I need to converse with people, I stopped portraying the character. Hopefully I can spend some time learning French and then get back into the character.

It would be kind of neat to come up with a storyline that takes place around the Crossing of the Delaware, but from a different angle. I guess we'll worry about that after I get this other film finished. The plan for "Freedom" is to take the footage and do a rough cut, then move into hand painting the images so that they appear with a watercolor effect. I know that this can be done electronically, my mixing board has a digital painting effect. That may be worth doing as a test, but I think that the individual frames will need to be addressed, shot to shot, in order to achieve the effect I envision. I don't think doing it electronically will be aesthetically sound, not if I am to achieve a period feel to the work. I'd like for the images to have a sense of reality, yet still be color. Black & white brings a sense of antiquity, because of the period that represents in film, but it is still married to film. I believe that if the work has a painted feel that the newness of the medium can be transcended. Well. time will tell. Also I need to 'paint out" undesirable compositional elements.

AG

Notice

Please refer to the specific index headings for information about

Image of the Mind Studios Projects

and if you need a very current update on anything,

do not hesitate to write.

AG

Nunc Licet Archive

Archive;  (items are moved here when their relevance to the current activities is less pertinent)


12/16/10 The Third Session, in the AV Room;

There were a few folks in the AV room when I arrived and we got into a discussion about the play and some other New Church thoughts, however they were not there to read the play, so I settled in to focus on the budget structure.  I thought I'd stay focused on logistical matters, since there will need to be a definitive plan already worked out for those who have expressed interest in being involved in those aspects. 

I discovered the Electronic White Board in the AV Room and attempted to get my laptop to work with that. I suddenly realized that we could use that White Board to post the budget spreadsheet and other materials, like a PowerPoint presentation or even the CD version of the script for us to read from.  So I will be working on getting a grip on that tool. 

The budget that I had produced for past production work needs to be adapted to the present circumstances and I realize that I need to rethink the formulas in that layout. I can't believe that I ever understood that document, it is very complicated, so I will be working on redesigning the budget layout.   It is more than simply a budget, it is a management tool that is also an analysis and reporting devise as well.  I expect to link that layout to other databases for management purposes, but that all needs to be redesigned.  It would be nice to have a Business Manager involved at this point, so if anybody is into that aspect of things, please do let me know.  We will be needing to start raising capital for this project and the budget and modus operandi needs to be confirmed.I am looking beyond presentations in Bryn Athyn with this aspect of things, but it needs to be founded in the effort here. 
 
Also, I determined not to bother with the video until we have a significant momentum going. I am seriously looking at buying another camera, one that will link more readily with my editing systems. I am still dealing with major interface difficulties for the composite equipment I have and I'm just about ready to give up on it. Although another camera with Fire-wire which can also service composite may solve those problems. This equipment is pretty much used for documentary purposes and is not suitable for the Feature Film that I do anticipate pursuing. For that I will be striving to acquire at least one Aaton or possibly an Arri, depending on what resources are available.  I'm seeking to acquire one and rent one or two more when the time comes.


12/8/10 The Second session, in Swedenborgania;

This session focused on cross referencing the CD-ROM edition with the retail spiral bound Edition and implementing the updates into that edition format so that the working scripts can become 1) smaller and 2) the most recent edition and 3) so that the changes that occur during the readings can be integrated easily in this format.  Unfortunately when I produced the CD edition I altered the format for easy reading on the computer screen but failed to make those changes in the Spiral Bound format at the same time, so I have go back and make those changes (effectively that is a months worth of work) 
 
The weekly work sessions may or may not be readings, as there is much to be done logistically as well, so this session, being devoid of attendees was clearly one which also determined the modus operandi for advancing the production.  I have come to the conclusion that this time slot will be the ongoing hub to the work on Nunc Licet, meaning the stabliizing centre of all the work that is occurring. No matter who is working on whatever aspect of the show, this time-slot at the Swedenborg Library is the gathering time to report in or to participate in further refinement of the script. 

12/1/10 The Workshop begins;

This first report is thanks to an inquiry from my friend and fellow filmmaker Steven Zimish who lives in Kentucky. I wrote him back with this report and so I thought that posting it here was a good idea.

We had a light showing of people checking in, but we moved forward anyway. A few folks came over, looked in the windows and then left. I figure it will take time to get enough people involved.  We read the lines alternately, not really worrying about assigning characters and I tried to skip over the descriptions (as best we could) so we could get a feel for the actual timing. For the most part we got thru the first half of the play. 

Basically, that took about an hour and a half with about 15 or 20 minutes worth of stopping or stalling in between. So that means that the timing on the first half is pretty good. A few months ago we were reading the play at the park and we did the second half. The timing on that went really well and the dialogue flowed much better than I had expected it to.  I think there were  some sections of dialogue which seemed to me to be obscure, but I was alone in that opinion.  We won't really know how well it flows until we have people who are portraying the individual characters and speaking the lines like they mean them.  Personality is a very big factor in comprehending the thoughts that a character is trying to convey. 

There are some pretty big sections in the script that depend on blocking and movement to make sense of it. I have characters interjecting themselves into other peoples conversations, not interrupting but interjecting, and so when that happens and you don't see the blocking (meaning the physical presence of the characters on the stage) then it doesn't make sense why there is a sudden (apparently) unrelated comment out of the blue.  Overall I think we are on the way to developing something.  I've experienced the process to the point where I understand that it takes time for people to adjust themselves and to actually get involved. Unfortunately it just doesn't happen right away, the way you want it to.  People often say one thing and do another, so I'm trying very hard to say what I mean and mean what I say.  These workshops will be taking place every Wednesday from now until June, hopefully over that time period we will develop a group of devotees who will be consistent in their participation.  We are looking forward to next week, when we will be approaching Act II.

Regarding video;

I'm using the Panasonic AG456 S-VHS camera that I have. I have two of them, but for now I'm just using one. Without an operator I'm just pointing it at the round table we are using to read at. That will give us some material we can use in a future edit,  assuming I can get my composite interface working. If things work out I expect that we will produce a documentary of the process.  Of course, we don't actually need that to edit in FCP,  we can do it linearly, which I'm not looking forward to doing.  I have a Panasonic MX30 Digital Video Mixing board.  It's a great board for linear work.  I've got four decks if you include the cameras into the editing system and all the decks, including the cameras are controlled by two editing consoles that feed the mixer.  If I get the composite interface working, we can do a linear rough-cut with effects- if we want to, but why since we can do that in FCP,  once I get the raw stock into the hard disk. But then we also can send the project over to Digital Performer to do the sound track, including original music if need be.  I have other audio programs, but I don't know how to use them yet.  So that's the video system I'm using which will be available to whoever comes on-board as the video-documantarian.  It is all 720 lines and according to some specification that's supposed to be HD.   Personally,  I think anything less than 1060 is not HD. My editing systems are not set up for HD, so getting an HD camera like the Canon XLHD would require upgrading my system. I'd love to do it, but not on my budget, not yet.

8/10- A Staged Reading & Script materials

 Publication of the latest version of the script is moving forward in preparation of a reading.  The previously thought: summer reading, did not manifest for a few reasons.  I was advised (vehemently) that the reading should take place after the students returned to classes at the college.  The argument being that the town comes back to life when that happens and some of the student might like to participate.  It seemed like a good idea.  There are also production issues with lighting and video which need to be resolved before we can advance.  In addition, I also realize that there is no point in doing a reading using an old version of the script, so I need to publish the new script in hard copy before we move forward. The work at Tamanend Park and developing programs there has also required my attention, as that is predominately a summer program of films & theatre.

5/10- Submission to Princeton University's McCarter Theatre - As a  result of a general inquiry I sent out informing organizations of the availability of the script on CD ROM the Dramaturg requested a copy for review. After such a review they opted not to include the play in their current season. No specific reason was given, nor any commentary provided regarding the content.

4/10- Submission to The Swedenborg Foundation- after a lengthy review process the decision was made not to publish the play, citing their desire not to engage in publishing drama, nor did they offer to assist in distributing the CD ROM. No comment was made regarding the content.

3/10 New Church Assembly in 2011- revelation that the Assembly for the New Church will be taking place in 2011 has sparked motivation to move forward with this play to present it at the world gathering of New Church people in Bryn Athyn. Discussions have taken place in regard to presenting the material in Glencairn Museum.

2/10 Paypal purchase of script has been set up - scripts are now available for purchase over the internet. The materials are published on demand. Refer to the page on the subject.

1/10- Ground work for the film version has begun- Discussions have taken place in regard to location, costumes, production management and a few individuals have been approached regarding their participation.  I have decided on the digital camera I intend to acquire for other film projects and this camera may also work for this production as well. That depends on whether or not I can achieve the look I need for this period piece with digital as opposed to film. Scripting for the film will gradually begin to take place and if another local writer would care to be involved in that process, don't hesitate to broach the subject with me. I will be looking for an Assistant Director, another Producer, as well as other staff positions. We still need to raise the budget and concern ourselves with distribution as well, so persons interested in these arenas are invited to participate. It is inevitable that when the ball starts rolling, it will roll rather quickly so...


Older Posts (edited, dates excluded)

The material in these archives is from postings that are not in the current year,
but will continue to be edited to remain pertinent. 

One should view this material
in the light of it's position in history
and so determine it's relevancy
therefrom.

Archive information for the year of 2009 was lost. 


The Swedenborg Foundation decided against publishing the play citing their decision not to delve into drama.

Since the play is listed with Amazon.com, I think I better make it available. I've not published it via Amazon or LULU because I do not agree with their terms.   Firstly, at this point I will not distribute the play via digital medium or give anyone free reign to do so; secondly, I will not allow anybody to edit my material or dictate the content of the work; and thirdly the percentage cut and the fees are too high to my liking.

The terms I will enter into with The Swedenborg Foundation are quite different than those of a commercial operation that is not concerned with the subject matter. I post this statement for those to whom it applies.

Thankfully, in February of 2009 New Church Life published a small portion of Nunc Licet. Selections from Act II containing dialogue with Emanuel Swedenborg were presented.

I hope to sell copies the play thru the New Church Book room, so you may inquire there, put an order in with them, or order it directly from me. The script will also be available on CD at some point in the near future. If you prefer that format, you should let me know. All publishing is on demand.

I've had a number of inquiries about putting this play up in a few locations across America and mention has been made of cities in Europe as well. It is my position that the play must be mounted in Bryn Athyn first. Thus, my current objective is to pull together a reading of the play "script-in-hand" and videotaping that. BACT: The Bryn Athyn Community Theatre is currently considering participating and assisting with this objective.

One of my goals is to build a production management team for this show. That team can be comprised of individual producing and management partners implementing IMS policies and management of the Limited Partnership, or corporate entities who have bought certain ancillary or distribution rights or entered into a Joint Venture. In all events, any profit sharing require a vested interest. Previous investment has established the Front Money Agreement and it's link to the Limited Partnership, so any future agreements must take this into account.

The stage and the film efforts must take place simultaneously. For various reasons, it is very difficult to pull together a cast & crew to mount a production, particularly one of this nature. Not only because it is a challenge to find dependable and talented thespians, but many people are very occupied and unable to make a commitment of this nature.

I believe this will also be a challenging show for the actor. Although I have tried to simplify the action & the dialogue and to divide it up into small segments, the volume & complexity of the dialogue still concerns me.

It may be difficult to achieve the diversity in the casting. Unless we hand this off to a casting director, in which event we will likely be dealing with Equity and consequently IA. I have been striving to produce this non-union only because, so far I have not (personally) been able to deal with the unions. If I have another producer or organization on board who can, then I don't have a problem with that.

Because of these factors, when the correct components are in fact pulled together for a successful production on the stage, it is most advisable, indeed critical, to access those people, costumes, and other resources to carry on the effort for the cinema.

The goal then, in that regard, would be to use Cairnwood Mansion as the primary shooting location and the surrounding area for other shots.

The stage production will be videotaped and I would very much like to find a video producer who would like to take charge of doing a documentary "The Making of Nunc Licet", which would culminate in a "theatre on film" piece. That would be different than the narrative film.

My objective then, is to bring together a number of persons who wish to partner in the effort to mount the stage production, the video documentary, and the cinematic production.

I will serve as the Executive Producer, unless someones else steps up to the plate. We will need one or more producers, which include associate producers, line producers, and supervising producers. Obviously the money needs to be raised and that will be part of the duty of all the producers as it pertains to their respective areas of management.

The management will be appropriately divided and delegated accordingly. I will also be serving as the Director for both the stage & the film versions, (unless somebody else can prove to me that they would be better at doing that). I am looking for assistant directors as well as all levels of personnel needed to fulfill the production goals.

This can be achieved either internally (as in employees) or externally (as in service vendors), so any persons with the knowledge of production, interest in being involved, resourcefulness and willingness to commit for the long haul, are invited to speak up.

I have spent time working on developing an Academic Program for producing theatre which may come into play with this, but it will be implemented by the management team and not myself individually. My role in that regard is conceptualization.

Keep watching here as I continue to refine this new site for information about Nunc Licet.

AG

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Relevant Management Information

Since the publishing of "Nunc Licet" in New Church Life, I've been inclined to work on this play again. Although I'm quite busy with The Gnomes of New Hope and The Shakespeareans of Tamanend Park, I do think that a staged reading of the script would be appropriate at this point and so I am initiating more activity in this direction.

Recent Publication News- A special thanks to Erik Sandstrom, editor of New Church Life, for publishing four pages from the script in the February 2009 issue. New Church Life reaches over 1,300 subscribers around the world. He has helped me to kick start my goal of getting this play around the world and to gain some degree of credibility for the play. Quite naturally he selected portions of the script which include Swedenborg in the dialogue, but for me personally, I'm particularly fond of the opening portions of the script that get the characters to that point. Because I needed to prepare the script for his use as a digital file, I am now very close to being able to offer the script on CD Rom. Keep an eye out for that if you are interested.


Other Web Pages;

Nunc Licet: a stage play As you may have noted by now, the AOL web pages are no longer posted on the web. I did copy them and at some point will translate them into documents that I can either post here (or elsewhere) or use as an attachment to an e-mail. In one way this is good, because it forces me to update my thinking on all of that material.

Management Notes;

This BLOG has become the primary web site for IMS and thus this page will be reformulated to provide the most current and direct source for information about all production efforts.

It has always been a primary goal to build an international management effort for " Nunc Licet". So I am beginning to do that and I Invite competent vested partners.

In the future, IMS will be establishing a secure server for specific management documents & files. But as a means to develop our network, we will use this site to engage in conversations about the developments in our specific regions. I am working to devise a management structure that allows for a full array of exposure to all the possible scenarios by which Nunc Licet may be presented and exploited. 

The play still requires further development but it is nonetheless presentable in it's current form. I absolutely want changes made before a full production premieres, but they will only happen in production. No more writing is taking place on this script.

The CD ROM of the script will be made available as soon as possible, but in the mean while, I will build this site and the other management systems assuming that core groups will manifest on a world wide basis.

What this means is that, with the assistance of this web page, we will be able to collectively implement productions of this show in any location around the world. The design of the show will stem outward from here, both in terms of the management of individual productions and the refinement of the production in creative terms.

Basic Terms;

We will be moving forward to produce this show at this central location, Byrn Athyn Pennsylvania, but also I will be open to traveling to anywhere in the world to assist in other productions which might manifest. 

The terms of the Production Contracts relevant to this show are very simple, 20% of all income produced by any means including, but not limited to the box office, is divided between The Alpha & Omega Society, (a charitable Foundation) and Image of the Mind Studios payable to Arthur Greisiger/Image of the Mind Studios.

A proposal containing the budget (identifying all sources of income) and outlining the production values must be submitted to Image of the Mind Studios prior to the production for approval.

For all productions- a deposit is required in the amount of 10% of the gross receipts, based on 40% attendance of the full capacity of the house.

Payment - A weekly report outlining attendance & income and payment of monies due shall be provided no later than five days after the close of each weeks run.

At no time shall complementary tickets exceed 10% of the paid attendees and any comps given which exceed that percentage shall be counted as paid and the appropriate compensation shall be paid to the author.

Participation in remote productions- My travel & living expenses must be paid, in order for me to participate in a remote production. An additional per Diem is required to cover my home-base expenses and the duration of my participation is open to discussion.

Contracts outlining the specifics of the production must be signed, prior to any public offering of the show or the production of any ancillary product (including publications) devised as a result.

Other terms may apply.

Production Assistance;

There are numerous marketplaces where this play can be presented and the method of operation in those marketplaces vary widely. With this in mind, I am working to design a method of supporting the growth of the show, while helping to make it easier to present the show, within those various markets. An example would be the difference between the educational, community, and professional presentation venues.
 

I expect to prepare a rental package of core materials that can be made available to any group wanting to present the play. This will include set designs (or possible the sets themselves) costumes, audio materials, playbill layout, video tape support materials, text for resale, etc.

It seems appropriate too that any group producing the show might consider selling their supplies to the next group who may be considering producing the show. So I encourage this kind of interaction.

Although a First Class Production has not gone up, when it does, there will be a documentary film produced about the process and this will be available to consequent productions as a resource to assist in their efforts. 

I am expecting to produce this show as a feature film as well. This film will be shot in Bryn Athyn and other appropriate locations as needed. Personnel need to be gathered for this project, so I invite inquiry.
 
Hobbyists;

I am striving to produce this show as a professional endeavor and I expect persons who show interest or wish to participate in the project to conduct themselves in a professional manner. I am willing to entertain dialogue with hobbyists, only to the degree that such discussion does not impede the forward momentum of the project.

I am adamant that persons who stand up to be counted on this project must be counted on for the full nine yards. If you can't do the job, don't offer yourself for the position, whether you're being paid or not. It is critical that once someone has been delegated a job, they can be counted on to either complete the job at hand or find someone else who can take their place. This is an absolute requirement. The progress of this show has been greatly impaired by hobbyists in the past and I will not allow that to occur again.

I am working to devise a management system that allows for hobbyist and apprenticeship activities which will involve understudies for each of the roles, both in management and performing. This is linked to discussions on an Academic Apprenticeship Program which I have begun to design. I am considering open up a new discussion here for this subject, if I find others who would like to discuss or participate in this program.

Associate Production Companies;

Although IMS is continuing to move toward production of "Nunc Licet", I have no objections to anyone else wanting to take a stronger role in pushing the project forward. If another producer wants to be involved or a production company chooses to push forward faster than IMS, accommodations will be made and implemented in the contracts, most probably in the Joint Venture Contract or possibly in the Front Money & Limited Partnership , or General Production Contracts. In any event, the existing contract and management perimeters must be maintained. I don't see any reason for there to be a problem with that, so it's not an issue.

The Developmental Production;

The next stage of operations is the Developmental Production, after which is the Premiere , which I feel must take place in Bryn Athyn. If we conduct the Developmental Production else-where, which leads into a Premiere event, so long as that same show then moves to Bryn Athyn for an opening there, we can have the World Premiere anywhere. It's the only fair way to proceed.

That means that- part of the professional management design includes, where-ever the show goes up, that show must pay for moving the production to the next venue. This is the only way in which the show will continue to gain world-wide momentum and an ongoing professional presentation. If the Developmental Production is unwilling to move the show to Bryn Athyn, then the World Premiere cannot happen there. It's as simple as that. The details of this budgetary element will be discussed later.

I expect to continue to work toward the Developmental Production and Premiere taking place in Bryn Athyn.

Touring;

The cost of mounting AND touring the show must be written into the Premiere Event. The objective is not to mount the show and say YIPPIE... it is to move the show around. So at the very least, the show must be amortized over a specific number of performances. It is unlikely that there will be a performance space available for a period of time that is long enough to recoup, so touring is the only option in that regard. That means that set-up costs will represent a fixed percentage of the box office and that touring costs will likewise represent a fixed percentage. These elements have to be analyzed in the budget to determine the number of performances verses the ticket price and the other means of support available.

Once the show moves into a touring scenario, we are looking at Union rules & costs, so whoever the Touring Production Manager is will need to have a grip on these aspects of the production. It's possible that the General Manager will over-see the touring companies, in which event the Production Manager will answer to him or her. This will be determined when we locate a General Manager (which has not been done yet).



History of "Nunc Licet" a stage play

1. The current production script, revision G-VII is printed but awaits binding however, the current CD ROM Edition (Revision H-VIII) contains important changes and will need to be refered to in production. In the revision numbers, letter refers to the text modifications (design, dialogue, story) and the roman numerals refers to changes in the publishing format. The CD will be available on request and will be available thru the New Church Book room at the Bryn Athyn Cathedral. A bound edition will be published on demand. Look for information on that elsewhere.

I began writing Nunc Licet in 1985. The play has been work-shopped three times, once in California and twice in Pennsylvania, each time bringing refinements to both the text & the technical structure. Thus far, the play has gone through a total of 14 revisions. Some minor adjustments, some major. It has been presented to people in the fields of Literature, Academia, Theology, and Theatre for their review of the content, structure, and viability. It has been proof-read countless times, always returning with something that needed to be corrected. ( Probably due to one of the Gnomes of New Hope.) The revisions have included: moving from a single act in another play (titled I am Alpha& Omega) to a three act play of a very elemental style- from being enthralled with the word processing possibilities of the Macintosh, to realizing that assorted text styles interferes with the material.

As the play progressed, I was encouraged to expand upon the details of the subject matter. This necessitated the expansion of the character structure, which led to the addition of events and subtext. At one point it became necessary to re-distribute the subject matter amongst the characters, leading therefore to a re-evaluation of the depth of the characters to accommodate their new interests (particularly the women) And so it goes... For the most current production notes refer to the Production Approach Summary (I expect to reformulate this for this new web site)

Discussions; Admittedly, at first glance, "Nunc Licet" appears to be a long play. This is mostly because of the production notes that are included in the script and that the publication has been spread out for ease of use in production. My recent return to work on this script has surprised me with how easy it was to read compared with how I felt about it when I put it down and stopped working on it in 1997.

The script includes technical notes for both the primary & secondary actor's performance, blocking instructions, as well as other pertinent notes for backstage operations as well as design references. It is currently designed as a "realistic" theatre piece, something that I hope to change, by adding abstract elements of space & time to the piece. Because of it's philsophical nature, other aspects less heady of the production need to counter-balance what, in one reviewers opinion, was the didactic nature in the drama. This review is certianly a remnant of earlier versions of the script, but it also is a result of lack of theatrical vision.

It has been my intention to first produce the play in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, the Ecclesiastical seat of The General Church of the New Jerusalem. This fact shaped the form of the play during the rewrites. My goal has been to have this creative effort become a unifying tool, which can go forth to key locations around the world as a means of bringing awareness of Swedenborg in an entertainment environment, as opposed to that of a church environment. The next level required is a developmental production. This involves a staged reading , in black, with an open house for observers. This reading and all the activities leading up to it will be documented for both promotional and analysis purposes. A developmental production is a non-union effort, with the expectation that the show will be going into a union house at some point in the future. The developmental production may lead to a management structure that accommodates moving the production through the academic circles before it moves into any professional arenas.

Summary of IMS Long Term Goals

The Theatrical Development Centre- is a concept that has been developing for a number of years. It is a primary goal of Image of the Mind Studios and The Alpha & Omega Society. Basically, the TDC is a Studio Compound, yet to be constructed, where the facilities & equipment are in place for servicing the development and production of new works in theatre. All of the know crafts which are utilized in the theatre are to be included in this compound. The overall concept is much like a camp, where the producers can bring their crew to work on the new piece. The point is that the TDC is remote from the city and far enough away from the distractions of daily city life that the crew has nothing else to do but to work on the piece, finish it and then move it to the city.

IMS Materials Recycling Facility- for use in supplying the theatrical requirements of member production companies. Having had a recycling facility in the past, it was clear that this is the best way to assure the supplies will be available for use in the theatre. Many industries dispose of very usable supplies or have the need for removal services. Very often, productions cannot store the supplies they have used and must dispose of very usable supplies. The Recycling Facility, as part of the TDC, will be able to provide this service to member producing groups and have standard sets available for rental, as well as additional materials that can be so applied to their productions.

The Creative Archive- is a facility that is attached to the TDC and is intended to serve the artist by providing a secure storage space for his or her creative portfolio. The Creative Archive is essentially a climate controlled storage unit, which is purchased by the artist. This unit is attached to a gallery where the work can be exhibited and where the work of the artist can be managed by the Archive staff, both now and in the future. The intention is to preserve the artist's life work, so the artist can be secure in knowing that his/her work will be available to future generations. Often an the bulk of the artists work is unrealized because of complexities in today's society and the distractions that can come into play. With the Creative Archive, the work can be stored safely, with instructions given by the artist about the work and what he/she intended. The Archive Staff will then have this information and be able to apply this to the future use of the work, whether it be exhibition in the Archive Gallery or other galleries or exhibition opportunities around the world. The details of the management of this facility will be discussed elsewhere.

Introduction, Updated 10/12

 

Welcome to the

IMS Virtual Studio

 Thank you for visiting the IMS Virtual Studio. As you can see this blog has been created using Blogspot and is hosted by Google.  If you are familiar with the way this blog works, please bear with me as I post a few guidelines here.

I have created an Index of Subjects which addresses a few subjects.  Some of them are not up to date or even linked yet, but eventually I will manage to get it all updated. 

The Blog Archive contains a listing of posts that have been made to this blog and you may care to review them for  subjects of interest. 

 I have have not had much time to label these postings, but there is a listing of  Blog Subject Labels.

These items are all located in the column to the left. 

 If you click on the title Image of the Mind Studios it will take you to the front page which contains the most recent postings or the subject of primary interest.

Various pages, including this one, are updated periodically, but are not posted according to the date and will need to be located by way of either a link I send you, or one in my email signature, or in the headings listed in the subject or archive. 

The search function will also assist in locating a particular subject or posting.

I do try to post here on a regular basis, but it is difficult to keep everything up to date. Gradually, the subjects will be addressed and the links will be installed. 

If an subject has not been discussed, or addressed in awhile and you would like to do so, please send me an email.

I use this site as the primary posting location on the web and I have chosen to use this site essentially as a newsletter.  I do not invite comments on this blog, because I am using it as a forum to provide information and not discussion. 

If you need to discuss an item I am happy to do so in a private conversation, which may in fact spur a posting herein if it is appropriate. I also use Facebook and you are welcome to friend me there is you want to.

You will find that some of the dialogue is rather lengthy and tiresome to read in one sitting. I tend to be rather verbose, but this is unavoidable, since the information provided is two-fold. 

These postings are intended to clarify & refine production development and implementation, while providing a comprehensive overview of the essential facts in both a general sense and, in some instances, a quite specific way for both the projects and the operation of IMS. 

It is my intention to review and edit the material as production moves forward, but also to create an archive of a projects progression. So even though the material will change over time, I hope to also maintain an archive as a log book. My objective is to educate the people who may someday associate themselves with one or more of the IMS Projects that are here presented.

For those of you who are in a position to review the proposals and make decisions regarding involvement at the various levels, I provide this information for the purpose of supporting the projects we are discussing. By being specific of the facts I am striving to provide you with an overview of Image of the Mind Studios, my background and other projects that are part of the IMS repertoire.

 

I will include links for partners in our projects only on request or if it is appropriately relative to what we are doing. I also do not use this blog for advertising anything other than IMS Projects.

I do invite your comments & discussion, but I ask that you do so via e-mail, so that we can have private conversations. 

Please be specific in your Subject heading or the email may be discarded without being read.  As I said, I do attempt to keep this site somewhat up to date, but as you can see from the volume of postings and the inferences within, that this is no small task . I do have to sleep and eat, occasionally.

 

So I hope you enjoy reading the information I have posted here and, even more, I hope you may like to become involved in one or more of our projects. Because after all, as you will see, everything seems to be a humongous task requiring a lot of people and significant resources to succeed.

And in case you wonder about the magnitude & practicality of some of the projects posted here, remember that:

 

I am a Conceptual Artist and my medium is the canvas of the Mind.  

AG

Further dialogue to the Musicians

a link to Home page for
"The Gnomes of New Hope"

NOTE: selections from email communications are posted below under Archive in descending order of date.

Current Status:

1. we have decided to move the performance to February and take more time to prepare
2. 15 musicians have taken parts and signed on to be kept informed.
3. efforts are under way to gather budget funds to assist with this aspect of the production

Here's the letter presented to the musicians of the Bryn Athyn Orchestra and a brief explanation of the parts:

Hello all,

We appreciate having the opportunity to attend your last rehearsal and to get a sense of your group dynamics. Shawn expressed to me his delight in having been there and I had the feeling that our months and months of work at composing became more real with the prospect of having our music performed by people instead of a machine.

We do hope that enough of you will decide to give this song a try and help us to perform it before the community. I know that quite a few people in Bryn Athyn and other communities are anxious to hear what we have been working on and even though this song is only about four minutes long (134 measures) it is a wonderfully intriguing song. When looked at in parts- it is very simple, but when it is assembled, it collectively it is intricate and quite amazing.

As you may have seen from the booklet/playbill (request one if you did not get one), we have taken the approach that it is being performed, even though it will not be able to happen if there are not enough musicians to make it happen. All of the parts in this song are critical and there is not one that it can do without. So we need to fill out the parts.

Here is a list of the required instruments; Piccolo (has what started out to be the primary solo expression in the piece and still stands out to that effect), 1st & 2nd Second Flutes (I prefer Soprano and Alto,which is the way it started out, but we altered it to be two sopranos. There were originally two piccolos, but we also switched it around to fit into a three flute scenario), Oboe (has some very nice riffs and is very important in setting the tone of the piece as an excellent counterpoint to the flute and a bridge to the clarinet/bassoon parts), Bassoon (also used for the melody line & vocal support and has a major role in the piece), Clarinet (also has some very interesting lines of expression and provides an essential bonding element), Trumpet (provides the piece with it's clarion highlights and redirects some of the support phrases back to the melody line), French Horn (had a very smoothing effect and we discovered a few excellent expressions and tonal qualities when it was used in combination, so it is very expressionistic) Trombone (we didn't install pitch bends because it was not all that easy to do, but we wanted to in a few spots which might be appropriate to experiment with), Tuba (became very important and we gave the part a very significant presence at a few points especially when it dances with the Contrabass) Violin (we tried not to lean too heavily on the violin because the piece is really based on the woodwinds more than any other part, but we really did discover how important the strings were to support the message we were trying to convey and the pizzicato & tremolo moments are essential) Viola (we added the viola after seeing the role it played in this orchestra and thus discovered how well it works in combination) Cello (the cello plays a major part in representing the string voice, mainly because of it's tonal range) Contra-bass (was initially the sole bass line until the tuba and the percussion joined in, so there are some very intriguing expressions in the part) Percussion (gradually came into play with an array of smaller percussive parts which are very significant highlights, but the primary instrument is the tympani with a few others coming from a symphony set) Marimba (came into play early and has a very significant and important role, providing a number of trills & flourishes and a sparkle that no other instrument could provide)

Collectively, the piece is amazing. Individually the piece is surprisingly simple. The prospect of performing this live is very exciting.

Our goal is to present this piece in a concert environment. I do intend on marketing this piece to other orchestras as an instrumental as time goes on. We both feel that it is of sufficient quality to succeed at gaining an audience in this regard. Certainly whichever Orchestra is the organization to play this, then that Orchestra will be the beneficiary of that marketing effort.

The reason for attempting to perform this piece now, is to initiate higher levels of the production process based on the nature of this piece and on the expectation that the other numbers in the show (although different than this piece) will be of a similar orchestral caliber, not in terms of complexity or structure, but in terms of balance, uniqueness, and playability. We will proceed one number at a time to produce and present the music from this show.

Of course, another aspect of asking the Bryn Athyn Orchestra to perform this piece is that we want to access & support the talents that lie in our own backyard.

So this would be my appeal to you to join in our effort and I am certain that Shawn is in agreement with what I have said. If we are to present this in the upcoming fall performance, we will need a full complement of musicians who are willing to perform this number. The sooner we present it, the sooner we can make good things happen for everyone involved.

Arthur Greisiger

Archive;

Edited excepts from communications regarding this performance:

... the number of parts depends largely on the volume attainable by the instruments. I don't think one contra-bass would make much of a presence in the piece and therefore two seems more appropriate. We could get away with one if we were in a chamber setting, but on the stage in the Mitchell I think one would get lost. That is the primary factor in determining how many of each instrument, how it reads in the space. Maybe the final word in terms of number of instruments should be determined after we manage to get the piece going in a rehearsal setting. I think if we locate at least one of each instrument for each part to play it thru, then we can assess the number from there and develop how to present it in a concert.

I think if we stop in before your rehearsal, just to make a silent presence, then your folks will see we are serious and are making ourselves available to them. We could say hello and invite dialogue with you or I via the internet, offer the parts again, and ask anyone who did take a part to sign up, just so we know who has the parts. We can determine how we will proceed, when we actually have enough performers and until then keep everything on hold. I think it is enough that some of the musicians have the parts and work on learning them on their own. But we can assure them that we will be performing the piece and their work on it will not be in vain.

------------------------------------------

My thinking on the first piece is mostly to introduce ourselves and the project, and to initiate a process.

We do know that we need to finish the show before we really get moving on producing the music and such, even though we are very far ahead and no production effort could possibly catch up. We have over a dozen songs that are, for the most part, done.

We also seem to be refining our abilities to the point where we really are engaged in intricate refinement on the material, which is making it rather time consuming and slow.

Basically, I feel that if we present some of the material in an orchestral environment without initiating a production, then we can comfortably finish the work and the project as a whole will benefit from that.

Shawn & I have discussed getting a pit orchestra together for this, but that brings a whole new dimension to the project, which ultimately does need to happen. I was just hoping to have some of the material performed by an orchestra that is already assembled, as a means of testing it and feeling it out. If we do put a pit orchestra together we would need to have a performance objective clearly defined and basically that should only happen after the show is in production (which could happen if I get some funding together), unless we just do an instrumental concert presentation. So there are a few different scenarios to consider.

I think the most I want to achieve from performing the first piece, beyond the hearing of it and the publicity value, it to locate the musicians who could potentially be involved in the production when it does go up. We could conceivably just bring in hired musicians and expect then to step up to the plate, but I'd rather take it from a more personal level and gather a team of people who have a heart-felt interest in the project.

---------------------------------------

... I would like to extend the invitation to the members of the orchestra that they consider becoming our partners in this endeavor by helping us to perform this music.

We have proposed producing a record album which would feature whichever Orchestra chooses to become the principle performing organization and is willing to take that task on.

Because we have been working on this show for so long, we have decided to market a few of the songs to assist us with resources, publicity and advancing the production activities. It is also very good to train the audience to recognize the music before the show is offered, because recognition sells tickets.

... there are quite a few numbers that could be considered for performance...
... marketing the show successfully depends on presentation materials which need to be refined and include: not only support materials derived from succeeding at the smaller goals, but also locating and securing the personnel who want to be involved in the production.

Certainly my goal is to create an endeavor which will flourish and provide the economic support we all require and I want to assure you that I intend to keep this goal in the forefront of my mind. I am striving to gather people around me who can help this to be a reality.

Home page for
"The Gnomes of New Hope"
be sure to check out the current status