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Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek

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Fresh powder beckoned 16 expert skiers and snowboarders into the backcountry. Then the snow gave way.

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The project has also developed an online alternate reality game that immerses players in the modern-day Laboratory for Innovation and Fantastic Explorations (or L.I.F.E.). This interactive fictional story imagines what might happen if a character named Dr. Tori Frankenstein picked up where her ancestor Victor left off.

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Transmedia storytelling is the practice of designing, sharing, and participating in a cohesive story experience across multiple traditional and digital delivery platforms - for entertainment, advertising and marketing, or social change.

Have you ever read a book, seen a movie, watched a television show, or played a game that centred around different aspects of a larger story or universe? You may be familiar with popular examples of such universes like Star Wars, Marvel, and The Walking Dead (to name a few). How do the professionals develop such expansive narratives? How do they ensure that each element stays true to the original story? How do they innovatively use different technologies to share the stories, grow audiences and create an active and involved community of fans? More and more, we are also engaging with elements or franchises of larger and more complex stories across a much more diverse range of platforms like interactive web experiences, social media communities, mobile devices, theme parks, and even augmented and virtual reality. A major challenge that current and future storytellers face is being able to engage different audiences in a story that is seamlessly told across all of these different platforms. WHAT WILL I LEARN? This course will help you to design a strategy for developing and telling your own transmedia story. You will learn about what it takes to: * Shape your ideas into compelling and well structured narratives and complex story worlds * Identify, understand, and engage different audiences in your stories * Create cohesive user experiences across different platforms * Evaluate existing and emerging technologies to share your story with the world, and help your audience participate in the larger storyworld you create The course provides you with a unique, authentic, and industry relevant learning opportunity. You will have access to current theory, industry examples and advice and undertake learning activities that will equip you with the tools you need to start developing your own ideas. WHO WILL MY INSTRUCTORS BE? You will learn effective transmedia design strategies from leading UNSW Australia Art & Design academics. You will also examine case studies that demonstrate how amazing ideas, technology and audience contributions can be brought together to create dynamic storyworlds. You'll see examples of major, successful transmedia storytelling projects involving movies, digital entertainment, gaming, virtual reality and more. In collaboration with our industry partner X Media Lab, the course will give you inside access to the personal stories, insight and advice of the following innovative transmedia storytelling professionals from Hollywood USA, Canada and Australia. * Susan Bonds, 42 Entertainment, Los Angeles, USA * Flint Dille, Screenwriter, Game Designer and Novelist, Los Angeles, USA * Cindi Drennan, Illuminart, Australia * Tom Ellard, UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia * Catherine Fargher, Dr Egg Digital, Sydney, Australia * Hal Hefner, 3AM Creative, USA * Brian Seth Hurst, StoryTech, Los Angeles, USA * Henry Jenkins, School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, USA * Mikey Leung, Digital Storytellers, Sydney, Australia * Alex Lieu, 42 Entertainment, Los Angeles, USA * Geoffrey Long, Annenberg Innovation Lab, University of Southern California, USA * John McGhee, UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia * Joseph Narai, Transmedia Entertainment, Sydney, Australia * Jeff Nicholas, The Uprising Creative, Los Angeles, USA * Sergio Paez, Graphic Artist working in animation, TV, video games, and film. Co Founder, StoryboardArt, California, USA * Steve Peters, No Mimes Media, Los Angeles, USA * Stuart Samuels, Stuart Samuels Productions, Toronto, Canada * Charles Santoso, Concept Artist, Sydney, Australia * Seth Shapiro, New Amsterdam Media, Los Angeles, USA * Scott Snibbe, Eyegroove, San Francisco, USA * Tracey Taylor, The Pulse, Sydney, Australia * Robert Tercek, Public Speaker, Digital Media Strategist, and Executive Leader for Creative Ventures and Business Innovation, * University of Southern California, USA * Kevin Williams, Founder & Director of KWP Ltd and DNA Association, UK * Brent Young, Super 78, Los Angeles, USA * Maya Zuckerman, Transmedia SF, San Francisco, USA COURSE CONTENT DEVELOPMENT Karin Watson, Iman Irannejad, and Dr. Simon McIntyre.

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Transmedia Storytelling: Narrative worlds, emerging technologies, and global audiences

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Transmedia storytelling is the practice of designing, sharing, and participating in a cohesive story experience across multiple traditional and digital delivery platforms - for entertainment, advertising and marketing, or social change. Have you ever read a book, seen a movie, watched a television show, or played a game that centred around different aspects of a larger story or universe?

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About this course: Do you have a desire to write a novel, write a screenplay, design a video game? In this project-centered course you will develop your own, original, intellectual property (IP) into a transmedia project containing written versions of your IP on various platforms. You will begin your novel, adapt the first chapters of your novel into the opening scenes of a film or TV show and create a game design concept of your IP. This is a course is based in "Active Learning" so that most of the actual learning takes place within your own activities - that is, writing! You will learn by doing. I am a proponent of experiential learning (also known as active learning). My lectures are short and succinct, designed in a step-by-step process essential to your success as a writer. I will guide you, I will show you how to get there, hopefully I will inspire you, but I won't show you how to write or what to write. That is up to you, you are the only one who can illustrate your creative thoughts, by writing them! I firmly believe that the only way to become a writer is to write, write, write. You need to unleash your creativity and my plan is to help you to do exactly that! All of the assignments on this course are peer review. At each stage of the process, whether creating your novel, your screenplay or your video game, you will post your written work and review the works of your peers. Peer review is an extremely important element of this course. Giving feedback and getting feedback is essential to the development of your critical thinking and your growth as a writer. It is as important as the writing itself. This course is designed to tap into your creativity and help you to develop your skills in expressing that creativity through written words. Writing is a truly beautiful, amazing, satisfying thing. Imagine, putting your own words on a page to tell a story which enters your readers minds and allows them to share the thoughts, emotions and lives of your characters. It is a very rewarding experience.

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About this course: Do you have a desire to write a novel, write a screenplay, design a video game? In this project-centered course you will develop your own, original, intellectual property (IP) into a transmedia project containing written versions of your IP on various platforms. You will begin your novel, adapt the first chapters of your novel into the opening scenes of a film or TV show and create a game design concept of your IP.

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Myths and misconceptions surrounding transmedia

Harnessing the strengths of every platform

How to measure success in transmedia

The interesting parallels between multimedia projects and real life

Having started as a writer in traditional media - radio, theatre, film, advertising - David Varela has increasingly specialized in transmedia projects, both as a writer and producer. He's a specialist in telling stories that embrace old media and new media. He was the writer and narrative designer of an interactive adventure for the TV show Sherlock, working with Steven Moffat, Mark Gatiss and Sue Vertue to bring their characters to iOS. He has also been heavily involved in three of the world's biggest Alternate Reality Games (ARGs): Perplex City, Xi, and 'L ewis Hamilton: Secret Life.

David also speaks about transmedia storytelling at events such as The Media Festival, Power to the Pixel, Develop, StoryWorld and the Immersive Writing Lab. He speaks regularly in the UK, US, Australia, Switzerland and Singapore, and lectures at a number of universities and film schools.

Learn more about David Varela:

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David Varela: The Power of Transmedia Storytelling - Up Next

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Today we're talking to transmedia pioneer David Varela about one of his biggest and coolest success stories - his groundbreaking work with the hit show Sherlock. During our conversation, David also takes us behind the scenes at his other multimedia projects, and reveals how anyone can leverage this...

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Library media specialist showcases Inanimate Alice, a transmedia story and numerous free resources.

As a School Library Media Specialist, storytelling is at the core of what I do each and every day. Over the years, I have seen many children who struggle with reading because of a lack of engagement with traditional books and stories. The new media that surrounds educators and learners forced me to rethink the concept of storytelling for our 21st-century learners. After some experimenting within my classes, I found a way to successfully engage and capture the attention of all of my students. As a result of this, a new model of storytelling emerged for me: Transmedia.

What Is Transmedia?

There are two components that must be present in transmedia storytelling. 1) Critical parts of the story must be told across multiple story spaces, and 2) there must be active participation on the part of the readers. The roots of transmedia lie in pop culture and in the creation of media franchises. In education, these same techniques can be used to create a powerful connection with curricular content. Transmedia storytelling speaks to learners in a way that they inherently understand, and when purposefully designed, it can be an effective tool for all age groups and in all learning environments.

An Example of Transmedia

The leading example of this transmedia in education phenomenon is the born-digital story Inanimate Alice. Written by award-winning author Kate Pullinger, directed by digital artist Chris Joseph, and produced by Ian Harper, this transmedia story introduces us to Alice, a young girl growing up in the first half of the 21st century, and her digital imaginary friend, Brad. "Born digitally," Inanimate Alice was conceived, written and created entirely within the digital domain. The multimedia episodes are interactive and use a combination of text, sound, images, and games to tell the story of her life. The media itself becomes a part of the story when Alice herself becomes a video game animator, and the reader is immersed into the story by playing games and solving puzzles to progress the story.

Free Resources for Educators

Through a free downloadable iTeach education resource pack, Inanimate Alice is supported by lessons, which include making connections with the story and the medium. Their vibrant Facebook community allows for educators to share their success stories as well as to find opportunities for collaboration globally. In addition, teachers now have available to them interactive whiteboard lessons that are hands-on and address the needs of all learners. Because of their immersion into a storyworld, participants in transmedia narratives are inspired to repurpose the content and generate their own; thus encouraging creativity and innovation. With Inanimate Alice, it is the inspiration of her story that motivates students to want to create next episodes of the series.

21st Century Literature = Engagement

Developing a narrative over multiple platforms while interweaving learning outcomes creates transformational learning experiences. Participants engage, inform, inspire, connect and collaborate over content. It is this interconnectedness that fosters a dialogue which connects learners around the world. This global interconnectivity allow for the collaborative sharing and proliferation of knowledge. Transmedia storytelling exemplifies learning in the 21st century.

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A New Model of Storytelling: Transmedia | Edutopia

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Library media specialist showcases Inanimate Alice, a transmedia story and numerous free resources. As a School Library Media Specialist, storytelling is at the core of what I do each and every day. Over the years, I have seen many children who struggle with reading because of a lack of engagement with traditional books and stories.

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Robert Wong never imagined he would be influencing the future of scientific development-and yet he does just that, breaking down the boundary between art and science by creating stories that inspire engineers and the technology they build.

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Some classes are ever-green: the core texts change only a little bit from year to year. My transmedia entertainment class, on the other hand, has to be dramatically updated each time I teach it because there are so many rich developments both in terms of creative projects and scholarship that I want to bring to student attention. You can watch my approach to transmedia evolve from my first version in 2009 to this 2013 version to the one outlined below. I hope this syllabus will prove useful to others doing research and teaching in this space.

4 units

Contact Information:

Henry Jenkins

Office: ASC 101C

hjenkins@usc.edu

TA: Laurel Rogers. Office hours on Wednesday from 1:30-3:30pm in SCA 221, or by appointment. Contact at lprogers@usc.edu

Please send all inquires regarding office hour appointments to Jocelyn Kelvin and questions

regarding the course to Professor Jenkins or Laurel Rogers.

TRANSMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT

We now live in a moment where every story, image, brand, and relationship plays itself out across the maximum number of media platforms, shaped top down by decisions made in corporate boardrooms and bottom up by decisions made in teenagers' bedrooms. The concentrated ownership of media conglomerates increases the desirability of properties that can exploit "synergies" among different parts of the medium system and "maximize touchpoints" with different niches of audiences. The result has been a push toward franchise-building in general and transmedia entertainment in particular.

A transmedia story represents the integration of entertainment experiences across a range of media platforms. A story like Heroes or Lost might spread from television into comics, the web, alternate reality or video games, toys, and other commodities, etc., picking up new audiences as it goes and allowing the most dedicated fans to drill deeper. The fans, in turn, may translate their interests in the franchise into concordances and Wikipedia entries, fan fiction, vids, fan films, cosplay, game mods, and a range of other participatory practices that further extend the story world in new directions. Both the commercial and grassroots expansion of narrative universes contribute to a new mode of storytelling, one which is based on an encyclopedic expanse of information which gets put together differently by each individual, as well as processed collectively by social networks and online knowledge communities.

Each class session will introduce a concept central to our understanding of transmedia entertainment that we will explore through a combination of lectures, screenings, and conversations with industry insiders who are applying these concepts through their own creative practices.

In order to fully understand how transmedia entertainment works, students will be expected to immerse themselves in at least one major media franchise for the duration of the term. You

should experience as many different instantiations (official and unofficial) of this franchise as you can and try to get an understanding of what each part contributes to the series as a whole.

REQUIRED BOOKS

Andrea Phillips, A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012)

Benjamin W.L. Derhy Kurtz and Mélanie Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016) [Please feel free to use the Kindle version of this text, as the print version may be quite pricey.]

Mark J. P. Wolf, Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation (New York: Routledge, 2012).

All additional readings will be provided through the Blackboard site for the class.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL RESPONSE

For the first assignment, you are asked to write a 5-7 page autobiographical essay describing your relationship to a media franchise that you have found to be personally meaningful. You should use this essay to identify the cultural attractors that drew you to this franchise, to discuss which variants of the franchise you experienced, and to describe any cultural activators that encouraged you to more actively contribute to the fan community surrounding this franchise. Be as specific as possible in discussing moments in the transmedia story that were especially important in shaping your engagement with the property. Where possible, make explicit reference to ideas about transmedia and engagement from the readings. This assignment is partially about getting to know you as a transmedia participant and partially about getting you to experiment with the critical vocabulary we've introduced so far for talking about transmedia experiences. (Due September 5) (10 Percent)

EXTENSION PAPER

Write a 5-7-page essay examining one commercially produced story (comic, website, game, mobisode, amusement park attraction, etc.) that acts as an extension of a "core" text (for instance, a television series, film, etc.). You should try to address such issues as its relationship to the story world, its strategies for expanding the narrative, its deployment of the distinctive properties of its platform, its targeted audience, and its cultural attractors/activators. The paper will be evaluated on its demonstrated grasp of core concepts from the class, its original research, and its analysis of how the artifact relates to specific trends impacting the entertainment industry. Where possible, link your analysis to the course materials, including readings, lecture notes, and speaker comments. Students will be scheduled to do a short presentation of their case studies across the semester. (30 Percent)

FINAL PROJECT - FRANCHISE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Students will be organized into teams, which-for the purpose of this exercise-will function as transmedia companies. You should select a media property (a film, television series, comic book, novel, etc.) that you feel has the potential to become a successful transmedia franchise. In most cases, you will be looking for a property that has not yet added media extensions, though you could also look at a property that you feel has been mishandled in the past. You should have identified and agreed on a property no later than Sept. 12th. By the end of the term, your team will be "pitching" this property. The pitch should include a briefing book that describes:

1. the defining properties of the media property

2. a description of the intended audience(s) and what we know of its potential interests

3. a discussion of the specific plans for each media platform you are going to deploy

4. an overall description for how you will seek to integrate the different media platforms to

create a coherent world

5. parallel examples of other properties which have deployed the strategies being described

For a potential model for what such a book might look like, see the transmedia bible template from Screen Australia, available here: http://videoturundus.ee/bible.pdf

Or visit: http://zenfilms.typepad.com/zen_films/2010/06/transmedia-workflow.html. If you use either as a model, include only those segments of their bible templates that make sense for your particular property and approach. You can also get insights on what a bible format might look like from the Andrea Phillips book.

The pitch itself will be a group presentation, followed by questions from our panel of judges (who will be drawn from across the entertainment industry). The length and format of the presentation will be announced as the term progresses to reflect the number of students actually involved in the process and thus the number of participating teams. The presentation should give us a "taste" of what the property is like, as well as lay out some of the key elements that are identified in the briefing book. Each team will need to determine what the most salient features to cover in their pitches are, as well as what information they want to hold in reserve to address the judge's questions. Each member of the team will be expected to develop expertise around a specific media platform, as well as to contribute to the overall strategies for spreading the property across media systems.

The group will select its own team leader, who will be responsible for contact with the instructor/TA and who will coordinate the presentation. The team leader will be asked to provide feedback on what each team member contributed to the effort, while team members will be asked to provide an evaluation of how the team leader performed. Team members will check in on Week Six, Week Ten and Week Thirteen to review their progress on the assignment. The instructor may request short written updates throughout the term to insure that the team is moving in the right direction.

Students will pitch their ideas to the panel of judges on November 28. They should expect to receive feedback from the instructor over the following few days, and then turn in the final version of their written documentation on the exam date scheduled for the class. (40 percent)

CLASS FORUM/PARTICIPATION

For each class session, students will be asked to contribute a substantive question or comment via the class forum on Blackboard. Comments should reflect an understanding of the readings for that day, as well as an attempt to formulate an issue that we can explore with visiting speakers. Students will also be evaluated based on regular attendance and class participation. (20 Percent)
WEEK ONE:
Tuesday, August 22 Transmedia Storytelling 101
Henry Jenkins, "Searching for the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling," in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (New York: New York University Press, 2006), pp. 93-130.

If you have already read Convergence Culture, review my concepts at:

Henry Jenkins, "Transmedia Storytelling 202: Further Reflections, "Confessions of an Aca- Fan, August 1, 2011, http://henryjenkins.org/2011/08/defining_transmedia_further_re.html

Then dig deeper with some other scholars:

Colin Harvey, "A Taxonomy of Transmedia Storytelling," in Marie-Laure Ryan and Jan- Noel Thon (eds.) Storyworlds Across Media; Toward a Media-Conscious Narratology (Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 2014), pp. 278-294.

OR

Elizabeth Evans, "Transmedia Texts: Defining Transmedia Storytelling," in Transmedia Television: Audiences, New Media, and Daily Life (London: Routledge, 2011), pp. 19-39.

All students should read:

Andrea Phillips, "What's Happened to Transmedia?", Immerse https://immerse.news/whats- happened-to-transmedia-855f180980e3

Henry Jenkins, "Transmedia What?" Immerse https://immerse.news/transmedia-what- 15edf6b61daa

Christy Dena, "Transmedia Performing Badly," Immerse https://immerse.news/transmedias- transitions-9c28ef2c5835

Caitlin Burn, "Transmedia: Art Forms Created in Real Time," Immerse https://immerse.news/transmedia-art-forms-created-in-real-time-4943648389a4

Michael Saler, "Living in the Imagination," "Delight Without Delusion: The New Romance, Spectacular Texts, and Public Spheres," in As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 25-104.

Justin Wyatt, "Critical Redefinition: The Concept of High Concept," in High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1994), pp. 1- 22.

Jonathan Gray, "Learning to Use the Force: Star Wars Toys and Their Films," in Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts (New York: NYU Press, 2010), pp. 177-187.

Matthew Freeman, "Up, Up and Across: Superman, the Second World War and the Historical Development of Transmedia Storytelling." in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 35. 2 (2015): 215 - 239.

Derek Johnson, "An Industrial Way of Life," "Imagining the Franchise: Structures, Social Relations, and Cultural Work," "From Ownership to Partnership: The Institutionalization of Franchise Relations," in Media Franchises: Creative Licensing and Collaboration in the Creative Industries (New York: New York University Press, 2013), pp. 1-106.

Brian Clark, "Transmedia Business Models," Confessions of an Aca-Fan, November 7, 2011 http://henryjenkins.org/2011/11/installment_1_transmedia_busin.html, http://henryjenkins.org/2011/11/brian_clarke_on_transmedia_bus.html, http://henryjenkins.org/2011/11/brian_clarke_on_transmedia_bus_1.html
http://henryjenkins.org/2011/11/brian_clark_on_transmedia_busi_1.html

Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green, "Courting Supporters for Independent Media," in Spreadable Media: Creating Meaning and Value in a Networked Culture (New York: New York University Press, 2013), pp. 229-258.

Andrea Phillips, "How to Fund Production Costs," "And Maybe Make Some Profit, Too," in A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 223- 239.

Senior Manager, Digital Strategy, Disney Junior, Kids Digital Media, Disney ABC Television Group. He is an interactive produer and digital strategist with over 15 years experience developin innovative kids content and products for new media. Working at the cross-section of new media, kids, and storytelling, his passion is to create new ways for kids to engage with the characters and stories they love deeply. His specialities are digital strategy, product development, business development, interactive television, game design, and music & sound design.

Guest Speaker:

Otsuka Eiji, "World and Variation: The Reproduction and Consumption of Narrative," in Mechademia 5, 2010, pp. 99-116.

Marc Steinberg, "Media Mixes, Media Transformations," in Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2012).

Ian Condry, "Characters and Worlds as Creative Platforms," in The Soul of Anime: Collaborative Creativity and Japan's Media Success Story (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013).

Mizuko Ito, "Gender Dynamics of the Japanese Media Mix," in Yasmin B. Kafai, Carrie Heeter, Jill Denner, and Jennifer Y. Sun (eds.), Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008), pp. 97-110.

Mia Consalvo, "Convergence and Globalization in the Japanese Videogame Industry," in Cinema Journal, Spring 2009, pp.135-141.

Maureen McHugh's most recent collection of short stories, After the Apocalypse, was one of Publishers Weekly's Ten Best Books of 2011. She has been working in interactive storytelling since 2003 when she was a writer and managing editor for the ARG ilovebees. She worked on several major interactive projects including Year Zero for Nine Inch Nails. She's written interactive narrative for second screen and VR. She teaches screenwriting and interactive writing at USC.

Guest Speakers:

Flint Dille is an American screenwriter, game designer, and novelist, best known for his animated work on Transformers, G.I. Joe, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, and his game-writing, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, and Dead to Rights. Dille was the creative lead of alternate reality, geomobile game Ingress to change our relation to the city and "move us outside of our bubbles."and Transportopia, which he describes as turning the entire city of Los Angeles into a massively-multiplayer online game as an attempt
WEEK FIVE:

Meryl Alper and Becky Herr-Stephenson, "T is for Transmedia," Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Annenberg Innovation Lab white paper. http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/wp- content/uploads/2013/03/t_is_for_transmedia.pdf

Fleming, Laura. "Expanding Learning Opportunities with Transmedia Practices: Inanimate Alice as an Exemplar," in The National Association for Media Literacy Education's Journal of Media Literacy Education. 5.2 (2013): 370-377.

Henry Jenkins, "Transmedia Logics and Locations," in Benjamin W. L. Derhy Kurtz and Melanie Bourdaa (eds.) The Rise of Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp.220-240.

Henry Jenkins, Sangita Shresthova, Liana Gamber-Thompson, and Neta Kligler-Vilenchik, "Superpowers to the People!: How Young Activists Are Tapping the Civic Imagination," in Eric Gordon and Paul Mihailidis (eds.) Civic Media: Technology/Design/Practice (Cambridge: MIT Press), pp. 295-320.

Julia Sonnevend, "Global Iconic Events: The Five Dimensions," in Stories Without Borders: The Berlin Wall and the Making of an Iconic Event (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp.20-34.

Gunther Kress, "Reading Images: Multimodality, Representation and New Media," http://www.knowledgepresentation.org/BuildingTheFuture/Kress2/Kress2.html

Victor Kaptelinin, "Affordances," The Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer- interaction-2nd-ed/affordances

Dena, Christy. "Beyond Multimedia, Narrative and Game: The Contributions of Multimodality and Polymorphic Fictions." New Perspectives on Narrative and Multimodality. Ruth Page (ed.). London: Routledge, 2009. 181-201.

Mathias Stork, "Transmedia Synergies - Remediating Films and Video Games," Mediascape, Fall 2015, http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/Winter2013_TransmediaSynergies.html

Matt Hills, "Sherlock's Epistemological Economy and the Value of 'Fan' Knowledge: How Producer-Fans Play the (Great) Game of Fandom," in Louisa Ellen Stein and Kristina Busse (eds.) Sherlock and Transmedia Fandom (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012), pp.27-40.

Tuesday, September 19
Transmedia Logics: Learning, Activism, and Play

Christy Dena, "Emerging Participatory Culture Practices: Player-Created Tiers in Alternate Reality Games," Convergence, February 2008, pp. 41-58.

Ivan Askwith, "Five Logics of Engagement," Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV as an Engagement Medium, Master's thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007, pp. 51- 150. http://cmsw.mit.edu/television-2-0-tv-as-an-engagement-medium/

Andrea Phillips, "The Four Creative Purposes for Transmedia Storytelling," "Interactivity Creates Deeper Engagement," "Uses and Misuses for User-Generated Content," "Challenging the Audience to Act," and "Make Your Audience a Character, Too," in A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 41-54, 110-126, 137-148, 149-182..

Alice Marwick, Mary L. Gray and Mike Ananny, "Dolphins are Just Gay Sharks": Glee and the Queer Case of Transmedia as Text and Object." in Television and New Media. 15.7 (2014): 627-647.

Louisa Ellen Stein, "Fandom and the Transtext," in Benjamin W.L. Derhy
Kurtz and Mélanie Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp.71-89.

WEEK EIGHT:

Goodman, Nelson. "Words, Works, Worlds." in Erkenntnis 9. (1975): 57-73.

Derek Johnson, "Sharing Worlds: Difference, Deference, and the Creative Context of Franchising," in Media Franchises: Creative Licensing and Collaboration in the Creative Industries (New York: New York University Press, 2013), pp. 107-152.

Mark J. P. Wolf, "World Structures and Systems of Relationships," in Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation (London: Routledge, 2013), pp.153-197.

Henry Jenkins, "The Pleasure of Pirates and What It Tells Us about World Building in Branded Entertainment", Confessions of an Aca-Fan, June 13, 2007 http://henryjenkins.org/2007/06/forced_simplicity_and_the_crit.html

William Proctor and Matthew Freeman, "The First Step Into a Smaller World': The Transmedia Economy of Star Wars," in Mark J. P. Wolf (ed.) Revisiting Imaginary Worlds: A Subcreation Studies Anthology (New York: Routledge, 2017), pp.221-243.

Tuesday, October 10
World Building Part 1
Dr. Larry Kubata was a Chaired Visiting Professor at Hitotsubashi University's Graduate School of International Strategy, and then as a Visiting Professor at Hitotsubashi's Institute of Innovation Research. During that time he was also a personal consultant to the President of Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, as well as President and founder of a digital production company in Japan in partnership with one of the original team members at George Lucas' ILM. Now, as a tenured professor in Global Media Studies at Komazawa University in Tokyo, Dr. Kubota's interests have focused on global "transvergence" - how cultures are encountering one another and forming entirely new species through digital media technologies.

Geoffrey Long, "Creating Worlds into Which to Play: Using Transmedia Aesthetics to Grow Stories into Storyworlds," in Benjamin W.L. Derhy Kurtz and Mélanie
Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp.139-152.

Henry Jenkins, "'All Over the Map': Building (and Rebuilding) Oz," Film and Media Studies: Scientific Journal of Sapientia University, 9, 2014, 7-29.

Dan Hassler-Forest, "Game of Thrones: Quality Television and the Cultural Logic of Gentrification," https://tvseries.revues.org/323

William Proctor, "Schrodinger's Cape: The Quantum Seriality of the Marvel Multiverse" in Matt Yockey (ed.) Make Ours Marvel: Media Convergence and A Comics Universe (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2017), pp.219-348.

With a career spanning graphic novels, screenwriting, video games and augmented-reality, Dan Goldman is the creator of critically acclaimed works such as Shooting War, Red Light Properties, and the Priya's Shakti series. As founder of the narrative lab, he produces "stories galvanized for social change": research-driven fictions to be used as tools/weapons by their activist partners in the field to have maximum impact.

Guest speaker: Geoffrey Long is a storyteller, scholar, designer, worldbuilder and consultant, as well as a doctoral student in the Media Arts & Practice program at USC's School of Cinematic Arts. Geoffrey was most recently the Creative Director for the University of Southern California's World Building Institute and World Building Media Lab. Prior to that, Geoffrey served as the Creative Director and a Research Fellow for USC's Annenberg Innovation Lab and the Lead Narrative Producer for Microsoft Studios and cofounder of its Narrative Design Team (where his projects included the HoloLens, the Xbox One, SmartGlass, Quantum Break, Adera, Ruse and Halo).
WEEK TEN:
Tuesday, October 24

Henry Jenkins, "He-Man and Masters of Transmedia," Confessions of an Aca-Fan, May 21, 2010, http://henryjenkins.org/2010/05/he-man_and_the_masters_of_tran.html

Henry Jenkins, "Harry Potter: The Exhibition, or What Location Entertainment Adds to a Transmedia Franchise," Confessions of an Aca-Fan, December 14 2009. http://henryjenkins.org/2009/12/harry_potter_the_exhibition_or.html

Mark J. P. Wolf, "Immersion, Absorption and Saturation," in Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp.48-51.

Andrea Phillips, "Bringing Your Story Into the Real World," in A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 209-222.

Matt Hills, "The Enchantment of Visiting Imaginary Worlds and 'Being There': Brand Fandom and the Teritiary World of Media Tourism," in Mark J. P. Wolf (ed.) Revisiting Imaginary Worlds: A Subcreation Studies Anthology (New York: Routledge, 2017), pp.244- 263.

Jason Mittell, "Transmedia Storytelling," Complex Television http://mcpress.media- commons.org/complextelevision/transmedia-storytelling/h

Neil Perryman, "Doctor Who and the Convergence of Media: A Case Study in Transmedia Storytelling," in Convergence, February 2008, pp. 21-40.

Mark J. P. Wolf, "More Than a Story: Narrative Threads and Narrative Fabric," in Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation (London: Routledge, 2013) pp. 198-225.

Elena Levine, "'What the Hell Does TIIC Mean?': Online Content and the Struggle to Save Soaps," in Sam Ford, Abigail De Kosnik, and C. Lee Harrington (eds.) The Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2012), pp. 201-218.

Andrea Phillips, "Conveying Action Across Multiple Media," in A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 93-102.

Frank Kelleter, "Five Ways of Looking at Popular Seriality," in Media of Serial Narrative (Ohio State University Press, 2017), pp.7-36.

Immersion and Extractability

William Uricchio and Roberta E. Pearson, "I'm Not Fooled by That Cheap Disguise," in Roberta E. Pearson and William Uricchio (eds.), The Many Lives of the Batman: Critical Approaches to A Superhero and His Media (New York: Routledge, 1991), pp. 182-213.

Sam Ford and Henry Jenkins, "Managing Multiplicity in Superhero Comics," in Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin (eds.), Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009), pp. 303-313.

Shawna Kidman, "Five Lessons For New Media From the History of Comics Culture," in International Journal of Learning and Media 3.4 (2012): 41-54.

Benjamin Kurtz , "Set in Stone: Issues of Cannocity of Transtexts," in Benjamin W.L. Derhy Kurtz and Mélanie Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), 104-118.

Henry Jenkins, "'We Had So Many Stories to Tell': The Heroes Comics as Transmedia Storytelling," Confessions of an Aca-Fan, Dec. 3, 2007 http://henryjenkins.org/2007/12/we_had_so_many_stories_to_tell.html

Andrea Phillips, "Online, Everything is Characterization," in A Creator's Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 83-92.

Sam Ford, "WWE's Storyworld and the Immersive Potentials of Transmedia Storytelling," in Benjamin W.L. Derhy Kurtz and Mélanie Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp.169-186.

Matthew Weise and Henry Jenkins, "Short Controlled Bursts: Affect and Aliens," in Cinema Journal, Spring 2009, pp.111-116.

Guest Speaker: Jay Bushman is a producer and writer, known for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012), Welcome to Sanditon (2013) and The Lydia Bennet!! (2012).

Guest Speakers:

Jeff Gomez, as CEO of Starlight Runner, has worked with The Walt Disney Company ( Pirates of the Caribbean, Fairies, Tron Legacy), 20th Century Fox (James Cameron's Avatar), Sony Pictures Entertainment ( Men in Black 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Coca-Cola (Happiness Factory), Mattel (Hot Wheels animation universe), Showtime (TV network) ( Dexter), Microsoft (Halo), Hasbro (Transformers), Nickelodeon (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Ubisoft (Splinter Cell), Pepperidge Farm (Goldfish), and others as a Transmedia Producer. Jeff Gomez is a writer and Transmedia Producer for the super heroic universe of Lucha Libre, an innovation of Mexico's AAA wrestling league for Mark Burnett's OneThree Media, in association with Robert Rodriguez and Factory Made Ventures for the Comcast El Rey television network.

Diana Williams is a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, the team charged with developing narrative cohesion and connectivity within the Star Wars universe. She is also the creative development executive for ILMxLAB (http://www.ilmxlab.com/), a laboratory for immersive augmented and virtual entertainment. The recently launched division that combines the talent of Lucasfilm, ILM and Skywalker Sound, ILMxLAB focuses on compelling storytelling, technological innovation and world-class production that will reinvent the way stories are told and experienced.

Guest Speaker:

Mark Warshaw is a co-creator and executive producer of the Amazon original series Lost in Oz and an executive producer of Hulu's Emmy-nominated series East Los High. Warshaw was co-founder and co-president of The Alchemists Storytelling Company from 2008 to 2014. During that time, the US and Brazilian-based company helped develop East Los High, created Coca-Cola's global storytelling policy, and consulted and produced for studios and Fortune 500 companies around the globe. Prior to that, Warshaw co-created and produced the first two seasons of the Emmy-winning transmedia experience for the NBC TV series Heroes. From 2001 to 2007, Warshaw wrote, produced and directed on the WB/CW TV series Smallville. He also co-created and produced the digital experience for the series.

Guest Speaker: Two-time Emmy Award winner Seth Shapiro is a leading advisor in business innovation, media and technology. He has worked with clients including The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, Intel, IPG, NBC, Showtime, RTL, Telstra, DIRECTV, Universal, Slamdance, Goldman Sachs, NGOs, and a range of new ventures.

Guest Speaker: Javier "Javi" Grillo-Marxuach is best known as one of the Emmy Award- winning producers of Lost, and as creator of the comic book and television series The Middleman. Javi currently co-executive produces the Jim Henson Company's upcoming ten- hour prequel to the classic film The Dark Crystal for Netflix. He is also co-host (with fellow writer/producer/Puerto Rican, Jose Molina) of the Children of Tendu podcast, an educational series which aims to teach newcomers how to navigate the entertainment industry with decency and integrity. As part of his ongoing efforts to support and encourage emerging writers, Javi is not only an avid participant of the WGA's Mentor program, but also teaches (also with Jose Molina) a monthly seminar for mid-level writers at the Writers Guild, and worked to institute the Grillo-Marxuach Family Scholarship, which provides financial aid and mentorship to students attending the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts Masters Degree in Screenwriting with a focus on the Latino experience.

WEEK FOURTEEN:
Tuesday, November 21 - Teams work on Final Presentations

WEEK FIFTEEN:
Tuesday, November 28 (LAST DAY OF CLASS) - Final Presentations

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Back to School: Transmedia Entertainment Fall 2017

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Some classes are ever-green: the core texts change only a little bit from year to year.

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World-renowned architect Bjarke Ingels refers to his projects as "promiscuous hybrids"-they combine seemingly disparate elements and turn fiction into fact.

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Several years ago, I asked a leading producer of animated features how much creative control his team exerted over the games, toys, comics, and other products that deployed their characters. I was reassured that the distribution company handled all such ancillary materials. I saw the movement of content across media as an enhancement of the creative process. He saw it as a distraction or corruption.

This past month, I attended a gathering of top creatives from Hollywood and the games industry, hosted by Electronic Arts; they were discussing how to collaboratively develop content that would play well across media. This meeting reflected a growing realization within the media industries that what is variously called transmedia, multiplatform, or enhanced storytelling represents the future of entertainment.

Let's face it: we have entered an era of media convergence that makes the flow of content across multiple media channels almost inevitable. The move toward digital effects in film and the improved quality of video game graphics means that it is becoming much more realistic to lower production costs by sharing assets across media. Everything about the structure of the modern entertainment industry was designed with this single idea in mind-the construction and enhancement of entertainment franchises.

And the push isn't just coming from the big media companies. The kids who have grown up consuming and enjoying Pokemon across media are going to expect this same kind of experience from The West Wing as they get older. By design, Pokemon unfolds across games, television programs, films, and books, with no media privileged over any other. For our generation, the hour-long, ensemble-based, serialized drama was the pinnacle of sophisticated storytelling, but for the next generation, it is going to seem, well, like less than child's play. Younger consumers have become information hunters and gatherers, taking pleasure in tracking down character backgrounds and plot points and making connections between different texts within the same franchise. And in addition, all evidence suggests that computers don't cancel out other media; instead, computer owners consume on average significantly more television, movies, CDs, and related media than the general population.

While the technological infrastructure is ready, the economic prospects sweet, and the audience primed, the media industries haven't done a very good job of collaborating to produce compelling transmedia experiences. Even within the media conglomerates, units compete aggressively rather than collaborate. Each industry sector has specialized talent, but the conglomerates lack a common language or vision to unify them. The current structure is hierarchical: film units set licensing limits on what can be done in games based on their properties. At the same time, film producers don't know the game market very well or respect those genre elements which made something like Tomb Raider successful. We need a new model for co-creation-rather than adaptation-of content that crosses media.

The current licensing system typically generates works that are redundant (allowing no new character background or plot development), watered down (asking the new media to slavishly duplicate experiences better achieved through the old), or riddled with sloppy contradictions (failing to respect the core consistency audiences expect within a franchise). These failures account for why sequels and franchises have a bad reputation. Nobody wants to consume a steady diet of second-rate novelizations!

Franchise products are governed too much by economic logic and not enough by artistic vision. Hollywood acts as if it only has to provide more of the same, printing a Star Trek logo on so many widgets. In reality, audiences want the new work to offer new insights into the characters and new experiences of the fictional world. If media companies reward that demand, viewers will feel greater mastery and investment; deny it and they stomp off in disgust.

So far, the most successful transmedia franchises have emerged when a single creator or creative unit maintains control over the franchise. Hollywood might well study the ways that Lucasfilm has managed and cultivated its Indiana Jones and Star Wars franchises. When Indiana Jones went to television, for example, it exploited the medium's potential for extended storytelling and character development: the Young Indiana Jones Chronicles showed us the character take shape against the backdrop of various historical events and exotic environments. When Star Wars moved into print, its novels expanded the timeline to show us events not contained in the film trilogies, or recast the stories around secondary characters, as did the Tales of the Cantina series, which fleshes out those curious-looking aliens in the background of the original movie. When Star Wars went to games, those games didn't just enact film events; they showed us what life would be like for a Jedi trainee or a bounty hunter.

On the other end of the scale, independent filmmaker Kevin Smith ( Chasing Amy, Clerks), a longtime comic fan, uses this lower cost medium to fill in gaps and extend character background within his New Jersey film series. Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, similarly uses comics to extend his storyline backwards ( Tales of the Slayers) and forward ( Fray) in time, depicting huge spans in the history of the Watcher's Council and the Slayers. Sony used the Web to offer new insights into the characters of Dawson's Creek, mimicking the title character's desktop, so that we can read his e-mail, sneak a peek at his journals, or even plagiarize his school essays. A team of writers updated this content each week in response to the aired episodes, using the Web to both plant seeds for future plot development and provide background to remind viewers of past actions.

In the ideal form of transmedia storytelling, each medium does what it does best-so that a story might be introduced in a film, expanded through television, novels, and comics, and its world might be explored and experienced through game play. Each franchise entry needs to be self-contained enough to enable autonomous consumption. That is, you don't need to have seen the film to enjoy the game and vice-versa. As Pokemon does so well, any given product is a point of entry into the franchise as a whole.

Reading across the media sustains a depth of experience that motivates more consumption. In a world with many media options, consumers are choosing to invest deeply in a limited number of franchises rather than dip shallowly into a larger number. Increasingly, gamers spend most of their time and money within a single genre, often a single franchise. We can see the same pattern in other media-films (high success for certain franchises, overall declines in revenue), television (shorter spans for most series, longer runs for a few), or comics (incredibly long runs for a limited number of superhero icons). Redundancy between media burns up fan interest and causes franchises to fail. Offering new levels of insight and experience refreshes the franchise and sustains consumer loyalty. Such a multilayered approach to storytelling will enable a more complex, more sophisticated, more rewarding mode of narrative to emerge within the constraints of commercial entertainment.

And it also makes economic sense. Different media attract different market niches. Films and television probably have the most diverse audiences, comics and games the narrowest. A good transmedia franchise attracts a wider audience by pitching the content differently in the different media. If each work offers fresh experiences, then a crossover market will expand the potential gross within any individual media. So, women may not play games, but women who like Lord of the Rings might experiment on a related game title.

Have no fear-not all stories will flow across media. Most won't, but a growing number will. Transmedia stories aren't necessarily bad stories; they are different kinds of stories. According to Hollywood lore, a good pitch starts with either a compelling character or an interesting world. We might, from there, make the following argument: A good character can sustain multiple narratives and thus lead to a successful movie franchise. A good "world" can sustain multiple characters (and their stories) and thus successfully launch a transmedia franchise.

Many of our best authors, from William Faulkner to J.R.R. Tolkien, understood their art in terms of world-creation and developed rich environments which could, indeed, support a variety of different characters. For most of human history, it would be taken for granted that a great story would take many different forms, enshrined in stain glass windows or tapestries, told through printed words or sung by bards and poets, or enacted by traveling performers. Sequels aren't inherently bad-remember that Huckleberry Finn was a sequel to Tom Sawyer. But Twain understood what modern storytellers seem to have forgotten-a compelling sequel offers consumers a new perspective on the characters, rather than just more of the same.

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Several years ago, I asked a leading producer of animated features how much creative control his team exerted over the games, toys, comics, and other products that deployed their characters. I was reassured that the distribution company handled all such ancillary materials. I saw the movement of content across media as an enhancement of the creative process.

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Transmedia In the Classroom- Breaking the Fourth Wall

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Transmedia In the Classroom- Breaking the Fourth Wall

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Using transmedia to teach!

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Super sleuth Bryan Clancy invites grades 3 and 4 students to play detective

Is Niagara Falls replacing Switzerland's Reichenbach as the destination for detectives? Sherlock Holmes would surely recognize the co-incidence and be keen to investigate what's in store for budding detectives in the digital age.

Bryan Clancy has been engaging learners with the tale of Inanimate Alice for 8 years. Initially, teaching grades 6&7, Alice tagged along while he introduced her to grade 2's. Now, with grades 3&4 under the magnifying glass, he invites their participation, asking for their help by video invitation while reading through story episodes making them inclusive for every reader. As they follow Alice's adventures "I can tell they are getting excited to write" he says.

Prior experience with the series has left Bryan well-placed to deliver this born-digital literary work at a distance. Excited by the prospect he has recruited a wider catchment in his plot. He explains "I have been teaching Alice so long that older siblings have been sworn to secrecy as to what happens." Referring to the closet scene in Russia (Episode 3) as a jumpscare, "some of my little guys are worried that The Last Gas Station will be the scariest because they heard so from older brothers."

"Even through distance learning, Alice keeps them engaged and talking amongst family members. All the parents know who Alice is." Presented with Powerpoint and using Google Forms for students' responses, Bryan employs a wide array of available technologies to give context to his storytelling. On a previous occasion he acquired a lock-box from Home Depot in order to keep Alice's secrets safe... but that's another story for another day.

Meanwhile, responding to the question whether she liked Alice, one of Bryan's students said "Yes, because she is home schooled like we are."

"a book that blinks, buzzes, hums, sings, jitterbugs, plays games and on occasion, rains and snows..."

"welcome to the future of reading..."

6 students
3 instructors
3 client representatives
15 weeks
Fall semester at Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center

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Super sleuth Bryan Clancy invites grades 3 and 4 students to play detective Is Niagara Falls replacing Switzerland's Reichenbach as the destination for detectives? Sherlock Holmes would surely recognize the co-incidence and be keen to investigate what's in store for budding detectives in the digital age.

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I designed this handout on transmedia storytelling to distribute to my students. More recently, I passed it out at a teaching workshop at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. I thought it might be of value to more of you out there in the community. Much of it builds on the discussion of that concept in Convergence Culture, though I have updated it to reflect some more recent developments in that space. For those who want to dig deeper still into this concept, check out the webcast version of the Transmedia Entertainment panel from the Futures of Entertainment Conference.
Transmedia Storytelling 101
1. Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes it own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story. So, for example, in The Matrix franchise, key bits of information are conveyed through three live action films, a series of animated shorts, two collections of comic book stories, and several video games. There is no one single source or ur-text where one can turn to gain all of the information needed to comprehend the Matrix universe.

2. Transmedia storytelling reflects the economics of media consolidation or what industry observers call "synergy." Modern media companies are horizontally integrated - that is, they hold interests across a range of what were once distinct media industries. A media conglomerate has an incentive to spread its brand or expand its franchises across as many different media platforms as possible. Consider, for example, the comic books published in advance of the release of such films as Batman Begins and Superman Returns by DC ( owned by Warner Brothers, the studio that released these films). These comics provided back-story which enhanced the viewer's experience of the film even as they also help to publicize the forthcoming release (thus blurring the line between marketing and entertainment). The current configuration of the entertainment industry makes transmedia expansion an economic imperative, yet the most gifted transmedia artists also surf these marketplace pressures to create a more expansive and immersive story than would have been possible otherwise.

3. Most often, transmedia stories are based not on individual characters or specific plots but rather complex fictional worlds which can sustain multiple interrelated characters and their stories. This process of world-building encourages an encyclopedic impulse in both readers and writers. We are drawn to master what can be known about a world which always expands beyond our grasp. This is a very different pleasure than we associate with the closure found in most classically constructed narratives, where we expect to leave the theatre knowing everything that is required to make sense of a particular story.

4. Extensions may serve a variety of different functions. For example, the BBC used radio dramas to maintain audience interest in Doctor Who during almost a decade during which no new television episodes were produced. The extension may provide insight into the characters and their motivations (as in the case of websites surrounding Dawson's Creek and Veronica Mars which reproduced the imaginary correspondence or journals of their feature characters), may flesh out aspects of the fictional world (as in the web version of the Daily Planet published each week by DC comics during the run of its 52 series to "report" on the events occurring across its superhero universe), or may bridge between events depicted in a series of sequels (as in the animated series - The Clone Wars - which was aired on the Cartoon Network to bridge over a lapse in time between Star Wars II and III). The extension may add a greater sense of realism to the fiction as a whole (as occurs when fake documents and time lines were produced for the website associated with The Blair Witch Project or in a different sense, the documentary films and cd-roms produced by James Cameron to provide historical context for Titanic).

5. Transmedia storytelling practices may expand the potential market for a property by creating different points of entry for different audience segments. So, for example, Marvel produces comic books which tell the Spider-man story in ways that they think will be particularly attractive to female (a romance comic, Mary Jane Loves Spiderman) or younger readers (coloring book or picture book versions of the classic comicbook stories ). Similarly, the strategy may work to draw viewers who are comfortable in a particular medium to experiment with alternative media platforms (as in the development of a Desperate Housewives game designed to attract older female consumers into gaming).

6. Ideally, each individual episode must be accessible on its own terms even as it makes a unique contribution to the narrative system as a whole. Game designer Neil Young coined the term, "additive comprehension," to refer to the ways that each new texts adds a new piece of information which forces us to revise our understanding of the fiction as a whole. His example was the addition of an image of an origami unicorn to the director's cut edition of Bladerunner, an element which raised questions about whether the protagonist might be a replicant. Transmedia producers have found it difficult to achieve the delicate balance between creating stories which make sense to first time viewers and building in elements which enhance the experience of people reading across multiple media.

7. Because transmedia storytelling requires a high degree of coordination across the different media sectors, it has so far worked best either in independent projects where the same artist shapes the story across all of the media involved or in projects where strong collaboration (or co-creation) is encouraged across the different divisions of the same company. Most media franchises, however, are governed not by co-creation (which involves conceiving the property in transmedia terms from the outset) but rather licensing (where the story originates in one media and subsequent media remain subordinate to the original master text.)

8. Transmedia storytelling is the ideal aesthetic form for an era of collective intelligence. Pierre Levy coined the term, collective intelligence, to refer to new social structures that enable the production and circulation of knowledge within a networked society. Participants pool information and tap each others expertise as they work together to solve problems. Levy argues that art in an age of collective intelligence functions as a cultural attractor, drawing together like-minded individuals to form new knowledge communities. Transmedia narratives also function as textual activators - setting into motion the production, assessment, and archiving information. The ABC television drama, Lost, for example, flashed a dense map in the midst of one second season episode: fans digitized a freeze-frame of the image and put it on the web where together they extrapolated about what it might reveal regarding the Hanso Corporation and its activities on the island. Transmedia storytelling expands what can be known about a particular fictional world while dispersing that information, insuring that no one consumer knows everything and insure that they must talk about the series with others (see, for example, the hundreds of different species featured in Pokemon or Yu-Gi-O). Consumers become hunters and gatherers moving back across the various narratives trying to stitch together a coherent picture from the dispersed information.

9. A transmedia text does not simply disperse information: it provides a set of roles and goals which readers can assume as they enact aspects of the story through their everyday life. We might see this performative dimension at play with the release of action figures which encourage children to construct their own stories about the fictional characters or costumes and role playing games which invite us to immerse ourselves in the world of the fiction. In the case of Star Wars, the Boba Fett action figure generated consumer interest in a character who had otherwise played a small role in the series, creating pressure for giving that character a larger plot function in future stories.

10. The encyclopedic ambitions of transmedia texts often results in what might be seen as gaps or excesses in the unfolding of the story: that is, they introduce potential plots which can not be fully told or extra details which hint at more than can be revealed. Readers, thus, have a strong incentive to continue to elaborate on these story elements, working them over through their speculations, until they take on a life of their own. Fan fiction can be seen as an unauthorized expansion of these media franchises into new directions which reflect the reader's desire to "fill in the gaps" they have discovered in the commercially produced material.

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Transmedia Storytelling 101 - Pop Junctions

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I designed this handout on transmedia storytelling to distribute to my students. More recently, I passed it out at a teaching workshop at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. I thought it might be of value to more of you out there in the community.

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"Transmedia storytelling is inextricably linked to scholar Henry Jenkins. Jenkins 2003 is considered the first significant discussion of the movement of characters and story worlds across platforms that grew into his recognition of transmedia storytelling as a distinct form. His work on fandom and convergence culture, which can be found in Jenkins 2006 and Jenkins 2013, built on the foundation for his concept of transmedia storytelling. As can be witnessed in Jenkins 2016."  (http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199756841/obo-9780199756841-0174.xml)

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Link to Folder