Transmedia Storytelling: Ghosts, Witches, and Reality

Transmedia Storytelling has changed the face of multimedia forever. Without multimedia there would not be transmedia. The concept of what transmedia in relation to multimedia is explained thoroughly in several books and articles. John V. Pavlik author of the book Convergence Media explains that multimedia is the, “combining [of] various media types into one package.” (Palvik p. 60)  Simply a moving picture with sound is an example of what he speaks of.  Transmedia takes multimedia to a new complex state.

The Blair Witch project is the perfect place to begin explaining the beauty of Transmedia. According to Henry Jenkins in his book, Convergence Culture, in which Asian distributors took the American media marketing tactics to assist in their globalization process. The globalization process and the power of its influence is the same as the art to a successful transmedia project. Their are, ”three distinctive kinds of economic interest [that] are at play in promoting these new cultural exchanges: national or regional producers who see the global circulation of their products,” (Jenkins p. 112) Transmedia allows for, “multinational conglomerates who no longer define their production or distribution decisions in national terms but seek to identify potentially valuable content and push it into as many markets as possible; and niche distributors who search for distinctive content as a means of attracting upscale consumers and differentiating themselves from stuff already on the market.” (Jenkins p. 112)

The Blair Witch project did just that by initially creating an independent film that created a web fan base, “more than a year before it hit any theaters.” (Jenkins p.103)  The company created a website geared towards the theme of the movies missing producers in which web users could go to the realistic site. The site provided, “documentation of numerous witch sightings over the past centuries, most which are not directly referenced in the film, but form the backdrop for it actions.” This film soon gained enough attention to create room for a similar sci-fi show that generated even more interests to a larger audience. When the major film was released it was a hit. Many still question the validity of the original documentary and the “facts” behind the story, but that is the beauty of transmedia. Creating an interactive world that is easily accessible to a mass audience across a multiplatform.

Through further research there are so many transmedia projects that are seeking success throughout the world. One that is extremely intriguing out of Toronto Canada. Created by Sam Blackman, “Murder Passing,” is a project in which commuters and online users in Toronto Subway stations and at home is able to solve a murder mystery of a bike courier.

According to Simon Staffans, a transmedia specialist, new episodes appear weekly on the subway platform screens and online, encouraging commuters to solve the mysteries and win prizes. He states, “it’s like elevators, where the best spot to place an ad would probably be in the upper corners of the elevator since everyone is looking there to avoid eye contact. The same here – everyone is at least glancing at the screens, and chances are the same people are in the same place at the same time at least five times a week.” This idea is truly ingenious. Upon further discovery “Murder Passing,” has a twitter account, a 4 out of 5 rating on the website ‘good reads’ and much more. Interviews with the directors John Greyson and Chase Joint trigger a national conversation about the project.

Transmedia storytelling is indeed a process that is thoroughly thought out. The thrill enters the process when the chance portion takes place: will the consumers by into all or just one of our programs. This is an evolving process derived from something that we already know, the globalization process.

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The Hunger Games and Transmedia Storytelling

photo by Tom Perlmutter 

The Hunger Games lives on in the pantheon of novels-turned movie. Their marketing campaign isn't just multimedia - it's transmedia. 

One main difference between transmedia and multimedia is the participatory element. Where multimedia exists on several platforms, it does not neceissarily give way to a producer consumer relationship. In the past, consumers had limited abilities to give feedback, if any at all. Now, the consumer becomes more important than ever, expressing their thoughts and opinions on several media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Not only does Transmedia emphasize audience participation, transmedia marketers also try to create unique brands for a product. 

Take The Hunger Games trilogy was first written as a novel by Suzanne Collins. Afterwards, it became a movie. But the transmedia storytelling doesn't end there. According to The Rocking Chair, a transmedia storytelling marketing company, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire movie is at work with their campaign. The Hunger Games also has a tumblr about "Capitol Couture", which was advertised on billboards. The blog showcased the fashion that would be in the movie. Moreover, Georgio Armani signed off as a benefactor, skyrocketing the campaign to popularity. 

The participatory element exists on tumblr. Users like and reblog posts. This engages audiences as well as spreads the word about Catching Fire. Tumblr users do most of the work. In Henry Jenkins' book Convergence Culture, he says, "...you must actively seek out information and new products and, engage with others in doing so" (133). 

Henry Jenkins talks about transmedia storytelling  uniqueness in his chapter "The Oragami Unicorn". By the title alone, Jenkin's suggests the importance of uniqueness - a unicorn does not yet exist. 

The Hunger Games and many other transmedia storytelling examples are not entirely unique. Rather, have a new spin on their stories. Harry Potter isn't the first wizard. Likewise, the Hunger Games was not the first dystopian series. But it doesn't mean that it is not special in it's own way. The story differs. 

Jenkins ends the novel saying, "One can also imagine that kids who grew up in this media-mix culture would produce new kinds of media as transmedia storytelling becomes more intuitive" (134).  As we progress, transmedia storytelling will become more widespread - perhaps a permenent part of the future. 

Check out the Hunger Games Capitol Couture Commercial 

Jenkins, Henry Convergence Culture New York University Press 2006. 

Star Wars!

Transmedia Storytelling allows for brands to become larger and tell their stories through multiple platforms. I'm going to talk about Star Wars and how as feature film can turn into a cult classic and then have so many entertaining project project off of it. The story unfolds "across multiple media platforms, with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole."

Jenkins talks about how Umberto Eco argues that a work must be a, "completely furnished world so that its fans can quote characters and episodes as if they were aspects of the private sectarian world." He also states that the work must be, "encyclopedic, containing a rich array of information that can be drilled, practiced, and mastered by devoted consumers." These films can provide resources that consumers can construct their own fantasies.

Star Wars was first released in 1977 and as can be expected, many big names and companies immediately wanted to be a part of the phenomenon. This is where the transmedia part kicks in. "A year later, the novel Splinter of the Mind’s eye was written by long time sci-fi writer Alan Dean Foster. Brian Daley would go on to write the Han Solo Adventures in 1979, and the radio drama adaptations of the films in 1981. Marvel comics decided they wanted a cut and created a line of comic books based on the characters, and taking place between the films. Those comics ran from the opening of Star Wars to 1987." All of these media tie-ins were there own separate stories and helped support the big core project films. The franchise made its biggest transmedia jump when the films prequel trilogy was coming out.  "With the build-up to Episode 1, the expanded universe as it came to be called, went into overdrive. The film had more tie-ins than any other film before it. And since 1999, hundreds of books, comic books, dozens of video games, and even a television show have been produced in the Star Wars universe"

With the new Star Wars film expect to see tons of video games, and side projects to come out before the new movie hits the screens. They are already announcing open cast auditions which is insane for such a big project. And with so many fans making there own trailers and movie posters it is interesting that people can really develop into this world of Star Wars because the franchise made this fictional world so big that people just go into it and make it a reality.

Master Chief Rules the World

Transmedia storytelling allows for a unique story to be told across multiple media platforms, usually expanding upon the story and allowing for a more interactive experience. Media companies use his as well as synergistic storytelling as an economic ploy that ensures ownership of the specific intellectual property across the multiple platforms. The Matrix movie trilogy is a great example of transmedia story telling because, with great success, the story is told through the video game, a number of animated features, and comic book short stories. A story does not necessarily have o be  old through transmedia as unique experiences are offered o audience. The nationwide scavenger hunt launched prior to Batman: The Dark Knight generated record breaking buzz even before the
 movie was released.



The Viral Campaign seen around the world



They most certainly are


 

Multimedia is a technique that allows content to be displayed over a variety of media platforms. The difference between this and transmedia storytelling is that multimedia does not necessary have to tell a story or experience. It does no necessarily have to remain coherent in that sense. It, more than anything, offers the audience options o interact with the specific product/service. For example, ESPN broadcasts the SportsCenter on television, but viewers can also stay up to date through their ESPN SportsCenter app on he phones, ESPN Magazine, ESPN Radio, and they also have Watch ESPN online for those on computer.



Where it all began



 

The Halo video game franchise is one of he most successful franchises across multiple platforms. The bread and butter, of course, is from it's award -wining video game series. The games expanded into best-selling novels, comic books, anime, live-action short-films, online parodies, and possibly film.

The original Halo video game trilogy began in 2001 on PC and Microsoft's Xbox video game console. The game itself pushed the sales of Microsoft's hardware. In between the sequels, novels were with and released they told he stories of other characters in the games. While not canon, each book old a story ta helped expand he Halo universe. Transmedia has made MasterChief, the poster child of the franchise, a world icon.
 And because the franchise is still such a world phenomenon, fans have he ability to produce their own web-shorts fueling the Halo fire even more.

Transmedia: Prometheus

Transmedia and multimedia are similar in that they both revolve around some form of media production. However the slight difference is that multimedia is a piece of content that uses a variety of media forms (audio, text, video, etc) in itself, as a single piece of content, and transmedia refers to a story or experience that is distributed via a variety of different media channels, meaning you have multiple pieces of content out of one story. A very interesting example of transmedia storytelling is the movie, Prometheus. 

Prometheus is a is a 2012 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron. It is set in the late 21st century and centers on the crew of the spaceship Prometheus as it follows a star map discovered among the artifacts of several ancient Earth cultures. Seeking the origins of humanity, the crew arrives on a distant world and discovers a threat that could cause the extinction of the human race. This film exists in a pre-existing universe that was created in 1979 by the movie Alien. 

The lead up to this film was huge. Since the film had a budget of about $120 million the advertising and promotion was incredible. In the words of Ignition Creative Director Chris Eyerman, the first goal of the campaign was to “blur the boundaries between content and marketing, fiction and reality, story and game. It can be blurred to the point of invisibility, creating a holistic narrative experience that entertains and engages regardless of platform.” The campaign kicked off with a TEDTalk from the future, given by Weyland Industries founder Sir Peter Weyland. 

At the end of this video there was a URL leading viewers to the Weyland Industries site, where they could register as an investor in the company's secretive Prometheus project.

https://www.weylandindustries.com/

After this video, at Wondercon, Weyland employees handed out business cards with a phone number (**Weyland). When fans called that number they were then texted an unboxing video of the company's newest innovation.

There were videos online and on TV for Verizon FIOS subscribers, as well as a series of print ads. Access codes were distributed to select media and fans. Each unlocked an image of David (Michael Fassbender) expressing a particular emotion. All the codes together led to a full reveal of the David 8 page. This was the high point of the campaign, says Eyerman: “It resulted in more social traffic than any other single date during the campaign, including the trailer’s release.”

As the campaign progressed, the website started to include more and more information about the project that Weyland industries was working on. Soon enough the website included dozens of projects and products.

Later on, Weyland industries reached out to people via LinkedIn asking them for apply for a job in space exploration. They were all asked to pass some basic tests to see if they were fit for space travel.

The campaign splits off into many more aspects and grows to include more characters and even helps provide some backstory to the film. When the film released, viewers had a strong idea of world in which the film takes place. After the credits rolled in the movie there was another URL leading people to a cryptic video and a new set of questions.

In result, Prometheus became one of top box office grosses of 2012, Ridley Scott's second biggest opening ever, 3 billion media impressions, tens of millions of video views, and one of the most talked about digital campaigns of all-time.

Behind the social campaign of Prometheus
Prometheus Wiki
Weyland Industries Website

                                                Transmedia
                                Cutting a Slice out of Media Pie

Multimedia gives us a platform to make transmedia. It gives us a plethora of media outlets to create from and share; transmedia takes the product of multimedia and enhances it. With multimedia you get out a piece of information at a mass productive rate through many devices. From my perspective transmedia keeps a product created by multimedia alive and running through its way of gaining attention from telling a new story from formats that were created already.

There are many different facets in the media world we are able to pull new ideas from. One of my favorite forms of Transmedia is Parody making. Parodies have become very popular over the years; but its main source of success is taking something well known and iconic and making it into a fun loving joke. Parody making allows a person to dig down deep in their creative minds, and think of skits that will become viral, in like a couple of hours.  

There are so many different avenues one can take to create a Parody; for example you can take a famous saying and do a parody on that, you can take a movie, commercial, talk shows, video game, and you could even do a parody on how a celebrity acts. This is an engaging strategy, because  viewers are already familiar with a piece of work or storyline, they want to know more about it so they would actually click on a parody for an extension of the original product.

The successes of Parody’s today are so pronounced that even mega companies like Pepsi use them in their commercials. One of Pepsi’s most famous commercials is a Parody from the iconic Francis Ford Coppola movie “The God Father”.  The Movie was originally written as a book by author Mario Puzo. The commercial consist of a little girl channeling the voice of the Godfather himself, Marlon Brando as she orders a Pepsi from what looks to be an Italian Restaurant. The layout of the scene in the commercial was also a scene in The Godfather Movie, where the character Michael shoots up an Italian restaurant. This commercial was premiered at the 1999 Academy Awards, and people absolutely soaked it in and loved it.

This Pepsi commercial has definitely changed the story and the audience, because it made a serious mob flick into something humorous and lighthearted. The little girl’s innocence in the commercial makes it lighthearted, along with the humor of her voice as Brando. This then created a larger audience for the bad boy gangster mob film. The audience changed from strictly adults watching it, to children and families viewing something cute and humorous.  

Today the Movie “The God Father” has a huge following; and a plethora of transmedia still being produced. There are several Parodies, books, action figures, fan fiction pages, blogs, and etc.  This Godfather Transmedia movement is acting much like what Henry Jenkin’s book Converegence culture was explaining about the movie the matrix, in his chapter Searching for the Origami Unicorn. Jenkins explains that “This is entertainment for the age of media convergence, integrating multiple texts to create a narrative so large that it cannot be contained within a single medium”(Jenkins 97). This quote is so factual in the sense that we have taken The Godfather movie and adopted it into our cultural facets.

I can only see the transmedia world for The Godfather movie only growing as the movie gets older. People will not let this movement die off; I’m sure in years to come they will be discoveries of a new media trend that has something to do with our famous iconic movie.

                         

Photo Credits: www.cinemablend.com - 480 × 200 - Search by image Sean Oconnel 

Bibliography:

Citations:

Henry Jenkins, 2007, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide

Pepsi Commercial- The Godfather Parody

 Research and information – On the actual movie The Godfather

Premier of Pepsi Parody commercial- Academy Awards

Youtube-   Parodies of The Godfather

 Google Book search – Plethora of Godfather Novels

 Research on the action figures/ Ebay – Godfather action figures

 FanFiction – Godfather

Multimedia & Transmedia/Storytelling-Reality TV Shows (Jersey Shore)

(Google Images)

The difference between multimedia and transmedia from what I understood is in the way each one is used in the media industry and the way it connects with the audience. Multimedia is more of a general way to pass on information or content using various kinds media platforms. It depicts the message it's trying to portray amongst various platforms. It uses a less emotional connection with the public. People use technical roots to get their point or message across. For example, videos, radio, and photos. However, transmedia, I find to be a one on one connection with the audience. It is done in a narrative storytelling form which I find to connect quicker and create a emotional attachment with the public. Like multimedia, transmedia also uses digital roots to connect with the audience. However, transmedia uses different media platforms to tell a story. I find this kind of technique to be helpful with trying to connect with an audience. I think a narrative alternative is always an effective way to connect better with an audience because it's a lot more relatable then just trying to get a point across in a general manner. Most people prefer that one on one connection because it tends to create   that emotional connection with the message or story.

(Google Images)

(Google Images)

(Google Images)

An example of this I think is the ex- MTV show "Jersey Shore," which stirred up plenty of controversy. The show itself was a self-branding idea for all the cast members. The show lasted a couple of seasons and the idea and people in the show were very controversial. The idea of the show was for viewers to see cast members get wasted and partying all the time. It also started the this stereotypical Italian-Amereican lifestyle that not all Italian-Americans could relate to. It branded sex, like a positive thing and a competition. The appearance of the each cast member also stirred up controversy and it opened up to this whole new world of guidos and guidettes. Before the show, not many people knew the meaning of those terms or what those people looked like. Once the show aired society was introduced to that kind of lifestyle that many weren't accustomed to. Everything about the cast members was obnoxiously different. It was like they were trying so hard to be different. The way they dressed, the music they listened to and the way they acted. Jenkins wrote, "Fandom, after all, is born of a balance between fascination and frustration: if media content didn't fascinate us, there would be no desire to engage with it; but if it didn't frustrate us on some level, there would be no drive to rewrite or remake it."(Jenkins,pg. 258) This coincides with the fact that, for example, some people hated the jersey shore because it was degrading, immature, and a bad influence. Yet, those same people watched it because it was disturbingly entertaining. People enjoy seeing others fail at something, embarrass themselves, fight and argue, while they sit and watch. Entertainment TV works that way and society loves it. Also, it's true we're fascinated by entertainment shows and we engage with them by talking about them and participating with them. However, we become frustrated at some of the things that happen in them and that's where some of us come into the picture to try and fix it or change it.

(Google Images)

After so many long seasons and a trip abroad the cast members were becoming these ultimate socialite phenomenons. They began to get paid a lot of money for being part of the show to the point that they all became celebrities some more recognized and wanted than others. Their actions on the show became so accepted in our society that many people wanted to be a part of it and participate in the action or create their own experiences. The story or message that the show had on society was like no other. Year after year, the show became more famous and all the cast members began to brand their names in different ways. Each person had an individual branding technique that favored them as their character and persona. Snooki, Jwoww, Sami sweetheart, Dj Pauly D, Mike the Situation, and Ronnie all embarked on this self-branding journey together and later went separate ways after the show. Their audience were so into the show they started to feel an emotional and relatable connection with each and every one of the cast members. It carried on to the point that the "Jersey Shore" message/storytelling idea was selling. It went from a TV show to books, to perfumes, self-tanners, nail polish, muscle protein shakes, clothes, shoes, workout gear and videos, to even more TV shows. Social media played an important role as well in all of this branding. Each cast member had their own social media outlet where people could follow them, communicate, and in a way feel closer to them and in a way be their friends.

"Storytellers now think about storytelling in terms of creating openings for consumer participation," said Jenkins. (pg. 175) I think this statement is very realistic and true because MTV created reality TV shows like the Jersey Shore because they knew that in the end the "storytelling" or message, ideas, and experiences that the show was going to stir up was definitely going to start consumer participation. This is a factor that most if not all "storytellers" are thinking about and doing because it will enhance their productions.

(Google Images)

(Google Images)

The cast members used multiple social media platforms such as; Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Foursquare, Myspace to brand themselves and put themselves out there. This strategy engages participation because most, if not all, society have these media outlets and because the show was such a success people like to feel involved and part of the crowd by following them. The use of various platforms benefits the show and cast members because it helped get the name of the show out there and help the cast members brand themselves through various platforms. The message and concept of the show did evolve over the years and seasons. It improved for the better for the the cast members. Many of them went onto better things like starting a family, becoming engaged, losing weight, and going to rehab. In the end, although the show ended, many of them have moved on and become better people. The targeted audience for this show were young people that follow popular mainstream entertainment. This was the community that MTV as a young oriented channel was trying to target and, so, they did. The show has also transformed audiences members into fist pumping guidos and guidettes. The message of drinking and partying hard had turned young people into trying to emulate famous people. However, the evolution of the cast members also impacted many people and now they're understanding the idea of people growing up and maturing.

Pavlik and McIntosh wrote, "Reality shows have been criticized, even as they remain popular."(pg.314) Society feeds off from shows like the "Jersey Shore"for good or bad. Reality shows send messages, stories, experiences, products, branding, all to the public. For instance, the fact that Rutgers University paid Nicole Polizzi aka "Snooki"a whole bunch of money to talk to students was something that many students did not agree with, yet many went to watch her either way. We are driven to follow different media platforms that tell the same content and storytelling that we as a society can relate to or want to connect with.


Citations:

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture, Why Heather Can Write (Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars), New York, 2006, pg.175
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture, Conclusion Democratizing Television? The Politics of Participation, New York, 2006, pg. 258
Pavlik V John and McIntosh Shawn. Converging Media, Chapter 10 Entertainment. pg. 314
LA Times Jersey Shore Articles