Introduction

Welcome to the IMS Virtual Studio

Copyright Announcement- The Copyright of all material posted in this blog, is owned by Image of the Mind Studios and it is posted here for your review only. Text or images may not be copied or reprinted without permission in writing. This is the case for all creative materials, including what has been posted on this and other blogs managed by IMS and myself. Arthur Greisiger.

Friday, December 28, 2018

IMS Publishing

Here is a link to the IMS Publishing page.

This page is within the Gnomes of New Hope blog.

The IMS Publishing page is the only page (in these blogs) that is set up so that discussions can occur, mostly for the purpose of answering directly relative questions on the subjects posted.

I rather prefer private email to; image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

AG

Saturday, December 01, 2018

A Christmas Song

I thought I'd write a Christmas Song. Here are the lyrics:

"A Christmas Song"

Christmas is a time,
   When people come together.

Christmas is a time,
   Of changes, like the weather.

Christmas is a time,
   We work on our behavior.

Cause Christmas is a time,
    We sing praises to our Savior.

It's a special time indeed,
   For all people who are in need.

People we know,
   And people we don't.

People we see,
   And people we won't.

The ones who laugh,
   And the ones who cry.

The ones who live,
   And the ones who die.

At Christmas we bring,
   New life to our world.

We see joy,
   In every boy & every girl.

Special days and special ways,
   We look past our struggles
      to find.

We walk the path together,
  And so, we are no longer blind.

We reach out to each other,
   With happiness & joy we greet.

Wishing well with peace,
   To all we meet.

Yes we reach out at Christmas,
   We reach out to each other.

Trying to Love, each of us,
   As a sister and a brother.

For Christmas is a time,
   When people come together.

Yes Christmas is a time,
   To renew our life,
     A life of Love for our Savior.

AG

If anyone wants to write a melody line, let me know. I may do it in the future, but maybe not.

Friday, November 23, 2018

Parade Float and other production thoughts

Here's a link to thoughts posted on Facebook...

... and further thoughts on the subject.

I was originally thinking, primarily, in terms of the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, but now I realize that the Macy's Parade is also a major factor. So since the objective is to take "The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" to Broadway, then the New York Parade needs to be one step down from a Broadway Premeire, meaning the Philadelphia parade would be one step up from the local parades, but one step down from New York.

I'm thinking that the basic presentation format will remain essentially the same for all levels, only the technology will improve as we move up the ladder.

I'm looking at basically three levels, almost parallel to a community model; local, county, state.

There are local parades in the surrounding communities, surrounding Regional Theatres. Possibly LORT D, but that would probably be a Second Class troupe, if it was a Road Show, as opposed to a Licensed show. In terms of a Licensed Show, my plan is to assemble the show into one semi-trailer and then rent that out, leaving casting etc to the producer. But those rentals will only take place in second or third-run (ie; Regional & Community). By that time the show will have it's audience by virtue of the published & merchandizing goods and the first & second class runs and the parade float may or may not be effective. By then I think parade activity will be fun (and advantageous) but not critical to building the audience.

I think the first stage of parade operations, addressing the local level will need to expand rapidly if it is followed (almost simultaneously) by the Premeire at The Bucks County Playhouse. No arrangements to use the playhouse have been made, using that space for the World Premeire is purely speculative. But the stage design is being altered fro 3D to 2D to accommodate the size of that stage. That's not to say there are not any 3D stage props, but the primary settings are being converted to flats and drops. Transporting large stage props is prohibitive at this stage of operations and I don't want 3D props to be part of the rental package, we can leave that up to the production company renting the materials. I'm not sure yet about costumes. They could be part of the package, maybe an option, although I want the show that goes out to be consistent, so costumes will probably be included.

But I diverge from the subject of parade activities.

Look for discussions on the Rental Packages. For now I'm setting up the trucking scenario, so Rental Packages are quite a ways off. I can only say that the set construction for the parade activity will cross over to preparations for the World Premiere and those materials, being non-union will be used in-house for cinema and ultimately converted over for use in the rental package, since those sets need to be reconstructed by union personal for Broadway.

That's all for now. I'm still engaged in publishing. The first book in the series is about to be released. AG

Wednesday, November 07, 2018

MOTU Mach Five

https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/motu-machfive-3?amp

Here is a lengthy (older) review of the program I am getting ready to install for our work on the recording of the Gnomes of New Hope music. Until this time we had been using Reason, but I'm looking to switch to Mach Five. It's all very complicated, but I hope to be able to set up a dedicated work station.

I recently attempted to access Digital Performer on the Publisher thing workstation and realized rather quickly that the publishing requirements, for which the workstation has been set up to fullfill, are quite different than those for the music production. Changing the settings around leads to confusion and added difficulties, so separate work stations for audio, film,  publishing, and management is clearly the best approach.

I thought I'd post this review of Mach Five for the benefit of the audio technicians who are watching the blog for clarity about how things are proceeding and the tools we are using at the studio. I know we have had discussions about Pro Tools, but I made the decision to go with MOTU products, even though we do have Avid, Logic, and some others programs, like Reason, which are available to us. The learning curve is steep on all these programs, but the music for The Gnomes has been done using Digital Performer, and now I'm looking to switch the sampler to Mach Five. Part of the reason for sticking with DP is the potential application to animatronics. I've got enough of a grip on DP to use it for that purpose in addition to the music composition.

That's all for now. AG

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Parade Float

I'm very interested in moving forward to configure the chassis for the parade float. I have a 1985 Dodge Ram 4WD pick-up truck, which I intend to strip down to the chassis. My thinking is to set the chassis up to operate via RC. For years I have been thinking about the design of a portable stage, for numerous purposes, but now I see those designs being applicable to the parade float. Although the primary intent is for The Gnomes of New Hope, the mobile stage can also serve other parade float customers on a rental basis. So that is the direction I'm planning on in that regard.

I have difficulty posting photos, when using my smartphone to make posts, but if I can, I'll post some photos as the work progresses.

Some music from "The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure"

I found this post that I made on Facebook last year. It's worth checking out. We're getting closer to recording more vocal music. I expect to be doing "The Stone of Wisdom" soon. It's first on the list, after Book One is in distribution.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10210723867273526&id=1254627788

Saturday, October 27, 2018

IMS Studio, work in general

Recent events have led me to work on refining the work environment at (what I call) Studio 1325.

With the impending approach of winter there is much preparation to the building and grounds.

I'm in the process of becoming the owner of the property, meaning my expenses will increase substantially.

That means that "The Gnomes of New Hope" needs to produce commensurate capital influx to support both the work environment and the expenditures required for general operations and the specifics of producing the assortment of end products we intend to create, a number of which are already "in-process".

One pending event is the relocation of my 1944 Star Trailerized Home. I acquired that years ago, thinking I might use it for location film work. I lived in it for nearly four years, before circumstances turned me into a condo dweller. During that time, I also began building my 1962 International CO1600 as a mobile workshop and to pull the trailer, while bringing the workshop to the location as well.

In fact, I had (and may still have) the opportunity to purchase up to four small RVs which were used as classrooms. I imagined renovating and equipping them into work vehicles (ie: camera truck, costume, props, production ofc) as rental units for location film work. But practically speaking, trailers are more efficient in terms of registrations and insurance.

In regard to the Star, I have intentions of doing a "ground up restoration". So I am preparing a space in the back lot for it, since I can no longer keep it where it is, and I need it in close proximity in order to work on it.

These preparations have led me to work on the CO1600. The truck needs a transmission (a Borg Warner T98-1P) which I have been trying to locate for years to no avail. So my approach it repairing the CO1600 will be to upgrade the engine to a 392 and use the T-34 that I do have. There will be a lot of work and adapting required, but the improvements will be well worth it. However, if I can find another T-98 1-P transmission that will make life easier for the time being.

So, working on the truck has led me to getting the snow plow painted and rigged up for it.

Last year I bought a 1985 Dodge Ram pick-up with a plow. The truck had been butched for parts and plow was too big for it, but it is exactly the right size for the CO1600. It'll be great, once I get it all working. I'll be looking to partner with someone who may want to use the plow truck during the winter months to develop a plowing business.

The '85 Dodge Ram is going to be stripped. If anyone needs body parts let me know, before I sell it for scrap. The chassis and power train are not for sale. I'm turning the chassis into the parade float/mobile stage. I'm going to see if I can rig the steering, braking and accelerator for RC (remote control). That only makes sense, if we use RC to control the animatronic puppets on the parade float. The parade float/mobile stage will be a rental unit.

So that's the direction things are taking, but for now the major efforts remain in publishing the Illustrated Storybooks.

The absolutely final revision of book one is "inches away" from being ready for press and subsequently distribution into the (international) marketplace. Here's hoping for the best.

That's all for now.

AG

RCK

A new approach to the ownership of the shop is being crafted, keeping it in the family. It is not clear yet how that will pan out, but thanks to the new economic environment, business is up. More later.

As it stands from my point of view, and my vote in that regard, I would like to see a greater focus on robotics. I am intending to move into animatronics with the puppet studio, so that may play a role. In any event, RCK is a manufacturing/CNC/fabricating shop on-site. Heavy fabrication (welding, large objects) is jobbed out, while the lighter work is done in-house. RCK has historically been a Swiss house working in 10ths. I think the very close tolerance work (2-10ths) burnishing and such, is less desirable but still possible.

So, anyone interested in robotics, with money to spend, get in touch with me.

AG

Monday, September 17, 2018

RC Kletzing Inc. (circa 1959)

Selling the Machine Shop

Above is a photo taken around 1959.

After over 60 years in operation, we no longer have any family members who are capable of running this business. So we are offering the family business for sale. (circumstances have changed somewhat, so urgent action is no longer needed, but we are open to possibilities)

Established in 1952 and still intact and operating, the decision to sell the business has been made, since there is no one in the family who wants to continue to manage the business, now that my father has moved to the Spiritual World.

Please pass this around. It must be sold as an ongoing business by the end of the year or it will go to auction.

Look for more photos to be posted, or I can send them via email.

Contact me by email;
Arthur Greisiger
image.of.the.mind.studios@gmail.com

Or call the shop directly at (215)357-1788 and ask for John Greisiger

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6447548403890032640

Saturday, August 11, 2018

IMS Management

Here is a link. I'm going to start addressing the Management Structure that I am working to implement. There is a business plan that addresses these subject in more detail and establishes some of the contract parameters for finance and management. I expect that as I find the time, I will transfer that information to IMS Producing Partners. Once again, I point out that blog is a member's only site, as it is designed to address issues that are if concern to our vested partners. All of this is developing and much of it takes place outside of the internet environment. Clearly, those vested partners who are serious have made the effort to communicate directly with me and have visited the studio. Some have contributed resources solely on my word, and for that I am thankful. To those of you who have been watching the progress and who have contributed, I want to assure you that we will not give up until we have made a decent profit and have paid you back for your contribution. Once again, you are welcome to visit the studio and see first hand how things are proceeding. I do hope to manage IMS Producing Partners, so that I can post a tour of the shop, but that needs to remain private , for obvious reasons.

So expect more discussions about management to be posted on the IMS Management blog.

The Elder Gnomes Joint Venture

The Alpha & Omega Society

At some point in time, I will make The A&O Soc. official as a registered foundation. But in the meanwhile, I continue to plan for the establishment of a Retreat Community to be run by the A&O Soc..

My game plan is to acquire between 25 & 100 acres of land and to set up an Artist/Spiritual Retreat. The slogan I have started to attach to the A&O Soc. Is " supporting creative influx".

The goal is to create a living/working environment that combines some residential structures (to maintain the operation) and mostly temporary housing in the form of cabins, campsites, and RV hook-ups.

I am currently interested in this facility being in upper Bucks County, because that location is close enough to the current location of IMS that we can use the shop to construct a number of things and it is less than an hour away. Originally, I had thought somewhere in central Pennsylvania might be good and I was looking for land in Sullivan County. That thinking was determined by locating the retreat in a remote location with access off of Route 80, central to major routes and somewhat equidistant to New York, Chicago and Washington. But further evaluation of those locations brought the conclusion that access to supplies and an increase in travel & heating costs (among other considerations) made that concept less practical. After a change in thinking, I began looking at the Poconos, which I still like. We looked at more than one campground already in existence and that remains a possibility. But my current thinking is to locate in Nockimixon Township, preferably within eyeshot of the lake.

I've always, since I was 20, wanted to build and run my own theatre. I've worked managing movie theatres (3) and live theater stages during my career as a theatre artist/technician/Stage & House Manager/Technical Director/actor/writer/designer/filmmaker...

So, the idea of building a theatre up around Lake Nockimixon is feeling quite good to me. It's close enough to my shop that I don't need to pull up stakes to make that happen. That is the current thinking. With enough land to create a retreat environment that is attached to a theatre, The Theatrical Development Centre can become a larger reality.

Initially, TDC was a concept that hinged on this concept of a Retreat Community, but since I have been setting up shop in Southampton, I have decided to make The Theatrical Development Center a sub-division of Image of the Mind Studios. Eventually, IMS may come under the purview of The Alpha & Omega Society, unless IMS becomes funded and converted to a major corporate studio operation.

As it stands now there is a business structure that involves four separate business operations, which is in the Business Plan that is attached to The Gnomes of New Hope. I'll discuss that on IMS Producing Partners (which for now is a members only site). Anyone who wants to see that plan can discuss it with me. Initiate a dialogue via email.

I will post more often regarding the Retreat Community. I'm beginning to reconstitute my thinking and my notes on this subject.

Years ago, I had a pocket sized notebook that was filled with notes and designs for this community that I wanted to build. Well, let me offer some advice; don't use a pocket notebook for important information. I say this because that notebook, filed with extensive details and designs, disintegrated in the washer machine when I left it in the pocket of my shirt! When that happened I felt like I got slammed in the head with a baseball bat and has taken me over fifteen years to recover from that shock. The designs are starting to come back into my mind and I am beginning to reconstitute them. I guess part of the reason for that is that; there needs to be some degree of reality surrounding a concept before any sense if viability can come about.

With the impending release if The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure, there seems to be the possibility of sufficient resources to look again at these ideas as if they could in fact become a reality.

For my part, I need to begin to transfer my life's work and resources to someplace where they can be useful and regain intact, because, quite frankly, I could drop dead at any time and these thing need to be taken care of.

I welcome dialogue via email or Facebook.

AG


Saturday, August 04, 2018

The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure

   Although there are numerous subjects surrounding the Studio activities, which I could post here, I tend to be focused mostly on production activities for The Gnomes and thus, posting more frequently on that blog.

    One thing, however, if interest is the sculpting work that needs to be done. Elsa Acton sculpted our Constable Warren, but she has gone on to live in The Spiritual World. So now I need to set up and begin sculpting Ferny. I'm very fixed on having a Garden Gnome sculpture of Ferny reading and using that as a Point-of-Purchase Display item. I'll discuss all this more later, but for now, I'll try to post those images.

    I've found that the size and format of images needs to be specifically prepared for posting via a smartphone, so I may not have them right now, but I will begin to post more images after I set-up a file specifically designed to work with the phone.

AG

Saturday, July 28, 2018

Posting on this blog

As you might see, I have been posting less than I used to, at least here. I've been quite busy building the studio and preparing The Gnomes of New Hope. There are a few subjects which are more relevant to thus blog, which I am beginning to focus on more. So you might see more posts here than you have lately, but as you can see from the previous post, there are events which affect the frequency of posting here. As it stands now, I use my smartphone to post and placing images via that method has not been terribly successful. I have been building a server for the production office and given the appropriate security, I may begin addressing the web from my studio. I have avoided that, because I did not want the distraction if having the internet in my workspace. I guess I'll explain that in another post.

AG

The Theatrical Development Centre

I just crafted a detailed post on this subject, only to have it disappear on me. I'm angry and frustrated by that, so maybe I'll come back to it, but I doubt it.

I feel like I've just just been intellectually raped, because I won't be able to generate those thoughts again easily. It's too bad because it was an excellent essay on producing theatre, really excellent... and valuble!

Let me just add this; if you are writing something in the digital environment, don't let yourself get carried away with your thoughts and forget to save frequently. Otherwise you too may end up angry and frustrated! I think I will change my method of composing for that very reason.

I really wish I could recover what I wrote. Oh well, I'll address this subject again after I do so independently of this blog.

AG

Wednesday, July 04, 2018

Posting activities

I have not been posting here on a regular basis. This is because I maintain a number of sites, including an Image of the Mind page on Facebook. All these sites require attention to keep them reasonably current. Another factor is that for some time now, all my postings have taken place from my smartphone rather than a workstation. I'm developing an in-house network and the complexities of doing that are, shall I say - more than I expected, but necessary.

In terms of IMS, the primary focus is refining the studio space. I have a massive amount of work in front of me, because in addition to making the space workable for the production goals, I am also engaged in restoring the building, which is a 20k sq ft industrial building. The building was a rental property, which was abused by one tenant after another, to the point where primary systems need to be replaced and structural maintenance needs to be implemented. Half of the building is used for RCKletzing, Inc., a CNC machine shop (215-357-1788), and the other half is IMS.

So in addition to production and publishing activities, I am engaged in setting up shop and restoring, refining and maintaining the property. It's a huge amount of workload. Fortunately, this project; The Gnomes of New Hope is written. The only work remaining for the package of Core Creative Materials to be complete is publishing layout & completion of the artwork for Volumes Two & Three, and scoring the music. The rest is all production work.

As you may have seen elsewhere, there is an extensive array of Ancillary Markets, but the foundational work of developing the prototypes for those markets is a separate issue. Although the overall success of the primary markets is tied to the ancillaries, they are not part of the Core Creative Materials in the context of completion of that package, rather those markets avail themselves of those materials.

That's all for this update. Check The Gnomes of New Hope blogs both here on eBlogger and on Facebook as well as Image of the Mind Studios on Facebook.

   The IMS Producing Partners page has not been updated for awhile, mainly because it is a subscription page set up for production management issues and because, for the time being, that information is best conveyed face to face, with the few partners involved in what we are doing.

AG

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Biographical Essay

Here is a link to;

Career History of Arthur Greisiger

This is an earlier draft. It is part of The Business Plan for the Gnomes of New Hope.

I willl be replacing this with a newer version in the near future and will place it on the side bar.

AG

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Posting on this site

* It was that; I would use this site, which I refer to as "The IMS Virtual Studio", for a good amount of thoughts on what has been going on, or going through my head.

* For some time now, my energy has been on The Gnomes of New Hope and assorted other blogs and forums that addressed that project.

* That does not mean I have abandoned this site, but it does mean that there has been a limited amount of time available for posting on the blogs.

* Work in the studio and setting up a production line for numerous products, as well as, a sales office and other related work has been quite consuming in terms of time.

* So if you search this blog you will find projects mentioned here that are, in all likelihood, in stasis awaiting other facilities, equipment, personnel or capital influx. It is only a delay in progress or a shift of priorities based on viability.

* If anything is of sufficient interest to you, I invite you to inquire via e-mail.

* I do expect to restructure this and other sites to refresh everything, once certain other goals are met. I am also building an internal server which   will allow more efficient information management.

* You can be certain that The Gnomes of New Hope is the priority and that anything discussed on that blog or on IMS Producing Partners is the most current thinking and/or actions being taken.

* I also post on Facebook and sometimes on Linkedin. Check the links above.

The future of Cinema Under the Stars

Visit: Cinema Under the Stars for discussion about this program. All activities in the Meadow Amphitheatre are on hiatus. This and other programs will center around a new portable stage which we are building and will be presented at various locations.

The Meadow Amphitheatre

The Meadow Amphitheatre has been dismantled due (in large part) to vandalism.

We expect to rebuild a portable version of the stage, which will be available on a rental basis. Look for further information to appear on the web pages linked below or send an email to imagemindag@verizon.net

A tour of The Meadow Amphitheatre has been moved to it's own site and there is a page on Facebook titled "The Shakespeareans of Tamanend Park".

Please refer to The Shakespearean Journal for the commentary & discussion regarding efforts to rebuild the stage."

Any information or photographs regarding this stage activity may be found at these three locations and postings will depend somewhat on the interest shown by other people.




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