Cross-Media + Transmedia Entertainment

** SHORT VERSION: I’M NOW BLOGGING AT WWW.CHRISTYDENA.COM **

Well, not quite ‘death’ but an indefinite hiatus. I’m powering down this blog for a few reasons, one of which is my desire to finish my PhD. I’ve tried for the last year and a half to do PhD writing and work and this blog, but found the mindsets are somewhat incompatable. I’ve decided therefore to close this blog down. I don’t know if I’ll bring it up again and if I do when, or whether I’ll start another one. But I do know that I have thoroughly enjoyed blogging here these past few years. I have especially enjoyed meeting many of you because of the blog, and seeing ‘cross-media’ (etc) projects become ubiquitous. Thankfully, the area has alot more people looking at it now, from alot of different perspectives. Here are some blogs that will keep you informed:

• Networked Performance: research blog that posts about emerging network-enabled practice;
• You can read and listen to news about alternate reality games and just about any online extension of a film, TV or book property on the ARGNet blog and ARG Netcast (podcast);
• Henry Jenkins personal blog and the Convergence Culture Consortium blog has lots of goodies from a media studies perspective about ‘transmedia storytelling’ and ‘convergence culture’ in general;
• DeMontfort University share their investigations into what they term ’Transliteracy’ at their PART blog;
• Jeff Gomez, the CEO of Starlight Runner and longtime practitioner of ‘trans-media’ projects, is now blogging regularly about his insights and experience over at the Producers Guild of America blog;
• Monique de Haas blogs about ‘crossmedia communication’ occasionally;
• Tony Walsh posts semi-regularly on alternate reality games;
• Valentina Rao blogs about crossmedia games and anything related to that at Games Across Media, and will hopefully be starting her PhD on the subject soon;
• Johnathan Gray, Derek Johnson and Ivan Askwith are blogging about everything around TV and film at The Extratextuals;
• Crossmedia Dialog is a group blog that post regularly on crossmedia in Amsterdam and worldwide;
• Faris Yakob, Adam Crowe blog about ‘transmedia planning’ and other changes to the marketing industry;
• Jak Boumans posts every single day about stuff happening in the Netherlands and worldwide at Buziaulane; 
• Max Giovognoli runs everything to do with cross-media in Italy;
• MobileCrossMedia is a blog that looks at the different ways mobile phones can network with different devices and the real world;
• If you don’t already get it, the Convergence Newsletter has regular interesting newsletters about convergence in journalism and has been my favourite newsletter for the past few years;

I don’t plan to be blogging here about events or publications I’m involved in, instead I’ll pop them on my bio site. But for now, here are some events I’m involved with, in the not-too-distant-future:

• I’ll be on the ‘expert panel’ with Mark McCrindle and Tim Flattery at Mitchell Communications Group ’s launch of ‘While You Weren’t Watching’, a documentary on changes to branded entertainment etc in which I was interviewed. The launch is private but the documentary will be put online I believe in Nov; 
• I have my own panel on ‘Designing, Experiencing and Analysing Games in the Age of Integration’, and I am a panelist in Darren Toft’s panel on ‘What Happened to New Media Art?’ at the Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment in Dec;
• I’ll be on the panel on ‘Cyber-Born Film’ at Megan Spencer’s Destination Festival (or DestFest) in Dec;
• In Jan 08, I’ll be a guest lecturer again for Sue Thomas and Kate Pullinger’s Online MA in Creative Writing and New Media, De Montfort University, UK;
• In Feb 08, my essay on ‘Tiering in Alternate Reality Games’ will be published in the special issue of Convergence edited by Henry Jenkins and Mark Deuze.

For now though, I will continue to be online in a different way. I’ve started a podcast, a podcast where I’ll interview talented people working in this area. My ‘birth’ podcast is a bit awkward, but the second is a great one: an interview with Stitch Media’s Evan Jones. At the site, I also provide sneak preview information about Stitch Media’s latest project.

That is it for me here, thankyou all for sharing this time with me. I’ll see you on the other side of my PhD.

Check it out: www.ChristyDena.com  

Check it out: www.UniverseCreation101.com

Dynamic Logic have just released their latest study:

Dynamic Logic, a Millward Brown company, releases new analysis of 32 cross-media campaigns across ten categories showing that media work best when used together. All three media platforms – television, magazines, and online – contribute incrementally to brand metrics, but at different levels, bringing various strengths at different points along the purchase funnel. TV and online’s contributions were more apparent during the awareness stages while magazines were stronger at building brand favorability and purchase intent.

Check it out: http://www.dynamiclogic.com/na/research/WhatsInTheMix/Oct2007.html

Mark Deuze (Indiana University’s Department of Telecommunications in Bloomington, United States, and Professor of Journalism and New Media at Leiden University, The Netherlands) has a new book out: Media Work. The book is described in an interview with Deuze at influx:

As a former journalist, I have always taken a special interest in the management of creativity within media organizations: how can media workers truly be creatively autonomous? How can an individual culture creator really do what he or she wants to do? Under what conditions will media deliver the best entertaining and informing experiences for producers as well as consumers? My research, which is largely based on interviews with media professionals, tries to come up with answers to those kinds of questions. [...]

The book deals with the working lives of professionals in the four key media industries: advertising, journalism, film/TV production, and digital games. Collaborating with colleagues and students in South Africa, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States I interviewed hundreds of media workers over the last couple of years, basically asking them only one question: “so what is it like to do what you do?” The book serves three purposes: first, it allows me to tell our students – who all want to work in “the” media – exactly what that means. Second, understanding media work contributes to critical debates about and within the media professions, for example about the impact of new technologies, the globalization of production networks (for example through outsourcing), and the management of creativity and innovation. Third, I assume that citizens of wired countries all over the world are increasingly behaving like media producers – uploading pictures to Flickr, videos to YouTube, and everything else to MySpace or Facebook. This makes the lessons learned by media professionals also increasingly relevant to everyone else using media. [...]

What I’ve found my research is, that under the banner of Integrated Marketing/Brand Communications and the shift towards full-service agencies a lot of work within holding firms has been overhauled, reorganized, and disrupted. To some, this meant increasing centralized control and monitoring of work, less attention to unique interests of the cultivation of specialized talent in favor of unified management strategies.

Other companies, while using the same terms and concepts, used this trend to increase the autonomy of multi-functional teams, and started programs to facilitate knowledge sharing throughout the many agencies within larger firms. The problem is, that media workers are a special breed of people – they tend to be more interested in getting their own creative voice across and receiving peer acknowledgement than securing benefits or a steady paycheck. That makes them more vulnerable to exploitation (of labor), and the consolidation of agencies certainly can be understood in this context. However, as most media work takes place and gets organized through informal and personal networks, individual professionals can have some tactical impact on company strategy beyond the often hollow rhetoric of “integration”, “convergence”, and “synergy”.

Penguin Australia have launched a new book for the 13+ market: Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight. Written by Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow, the story is described as follows:

Joel and Cat Set the Story Straight is two weeks in the life of Joel Hedges and Cat Davis. Joel would prefer to get through his final year of high school without Cat Davis or his mother’s faux Spanish boyfriend and just hang-out with his best-friend Luke. Cat Davis has an annoying best-friend, and even more annoying little brother, and a deep abiding hatred of Joel Hedges.

Due to an unfortunate incident involving a leaking pen and suspected outbreak of Bird Flu, Joel and Cat are forced to sit next to each other in Extension English. To make matters worse, and to their mutual horror, they are paired together for a tandem story writing assignment. [source]

The story is delivered rotating between the POVs of the characters Joel and Cat and is linked by their tandem storytelling assignment; the writers, Nick and Rebecca, also wrote the story in a tandem storytelling style and the readers can also participate in the tandem storyelling assignment by submitting story threads on the website or SMS. The website was produced by IshMedia, which includes Kylie Robertson — the legend behind online & mobile interactive narrative works such as Jupiter Green (that I analysed for a journal), Girl Friday and Rock Chickz .

As I’ve said before, it is these sort of intimate and parallel media experiences that will increase over the next few years and will explore the potential of polymorphic narrative.

Check it out: http://www.joelandcat.com

I’m keen to find out about fan productions that have been officially or unofficially deemed part of the main canon, fanon or at least highly regarded. According to Ms Nitpicker’s FanFic Glossary (2002-2006):

“Fanon” is a detail about a particular show or character that was created by a fan but has now been generally borrowed/copied/accepted as canon by many other writers. [source]

Here are some works that are highly regarded: 

STAR TREK

Star Trek: The New Voyages

A 1976 book compilation of stories to continue the narrative after the cancelled TV series of Star Trek.  It was edited by Sondra Marshak and Myrna Culbreath and had a forward by Gene Roddenberry and an introduction by Leonard Nimoy. It was published by Bantam Books, apparently the first commercial compilation of fan fiction.

Star Trek: New Voyages

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This web-only series continues after the 1969 third season of the TV series, but is not an adaptation of the print series. It began in 1997 with James Cawley and Next Generation costume designer William Ware Theiss. Original props, set and costumes were used as well as some guest starring roles by original actors. There has been a pilot, Come What May, and five episodes produced so far. More are in production. Official site.

STAR WARS

The Dark Redemption

Set in George Lucas’ Star Wars ‘verse, The Dark Redemption narrative is set two days before A New Hope (ep 4). The 1999 film explains (gives a possible scenario) about how the rebels got hold of plans about the Death Star. It is the story of a Jedi, Mara Jade, and how she tries to escape from an Imperial prison. Directed by Peter Mether; screenplay by Peter Mether, Dwight Boniecki and Derek Curtis. Features original Star Wars cast member Peter Sumner (Imperial Officer Lt. Pol Triedum). 

Star Wars: Revelations

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Released in 2005, Star Wars: Revelations is also set in the Star Wars ‘verse. The narrative, set between Revenge of the Sith (ep 3) and A New Hope (ep 4), explains why the Jedi Order became almost extinct. It has many original characters (Darth Vader, the Emperer, the stormtroopers) but has more of its own. The film intended to give a reason for why the Jedi Order was extinct in the original trilogy. It was directed by Shane Felux and written by Dawn Cowings and Sarah Yaworsky. Official site. 

Star Wars Episode I.I – The Phantom Edit 

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Although this 2000 feature film is not a continuation but an edit of the original film, it is included because it is highly regarded by fans and critics as a ‘better’ version of The Phantom Menace. It was edited by Mike J. Nichols.

BUFFY & ANGEL

Buffy & Angel > Forgotten Memories

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This 2006 film is a cross-over of Buffy and Angel and continues the narrative 2-3 months after the final Buffy episode of ‘The Chosen’. In this short film the main characters are played by new actors. It explores the possible story of the character Spike returning to Buffy. It was directed by Darren K. Hawkins, written and performed by Emma Paige Langley. Although the Buffy TV series has finished it has actually continued in Joss Whedon’s graphic novel continuation. Season 8 is in the comic form but this fan film is in the media form the series started in. Official Site

FIREFLY/SERENITY

Firefly > Into the Black

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Created by Shindigital, it is a TV series set in in Joss Whedon’s Firefly ‘verse. The first one-hour episode, Mined Control, is the only one created so far and hasn’t been released as yet. New characters and stories have been created. Official site.

JANE EYRE

Wide Sargasso Sea

Jean Rhys’ 1966 novel Wide Sargasso Sea is set in the fictional world of Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 novel Jane Eyre. Rhy’s novel is a prequel to Jane Eyre and features the original character Mrs. Rochester, Antionette Mason (Bertha).

What are some works you know that continue a story (I’m not after parodies) that are fanon, canon or highly regarded at contributing to a world?… Any grassroots games (even hacks or plugins that make a game better)? theatre productions? radio shows? etc?

As I mentioned previously, last month I gave a talk at the Australian Literature Board’s Publishing the Story of the Future. Although it is very cringe-worthy to me (I’m not my usual lively self and I’m reading a script), I’ve decided to share my slides and the video. The slides are actually best viewed at a bigger size, at slideshare.

A couple of months ago I wrote an article for the Workbook Project: Filmmakers that Think Outside the Film. My latest article in this series is on ‘Authors that Think Outside the Book‘. Let me know your thoughts.

This Tuesday I will be presenting at this event:

The Story of the Future project invites you to a one-day seminar exploring a universe in which a book is a game without buttons. Presented by the Literature Board of the Australia Council for the Arts, Publishing: The Story of the Future will provide inside knowledge on the global changes happening in publishing and the paradigm shifts needed for digital and cross-media publishing in Australia.

Discussion will focus on the impact of digital technology and how Australian publishers can face the digital future. It will also examine how change will affect copyright and intellectual property and other key concerns of publishers today.

Speakers and panel participants include:

Mike Shatzkin, CEO of Idea Logical Company, New York

Elizabeth Weiss, Allen & Unwin

David Reiter, Interactive Publications

Peter Blanki, Banki Haddock Fiora Lawyers

Ross Gibb, Group MD of Macmillan Publishers ANZ

and me!

Venue: Museum of Sydney, corner Bridge and Phillip Streets, Sydney
Time: 9.00-5.00pm

Registration details here.

In a previous post I mentioned video trailers being made for books: Harper Collins Trailers and the wonderful Vidlit. Now Simon and Schuster have started doing video podcast (a type of vlogging) on books: BookVideos.tv.

BookVideos.tv offers compelling video stories that give readers insights into some of the world’s best authors. The social media video site offers the back story about the lives, personalities and the inspirations of these engaging writers. We created Bookvideos.tv to give readers the real story behind the story. It is the place where your favorite books and authors come to life, and it’s also where you can engage with the literary community on a whole new level.

There are plenty of audio podcasts by authors reading and discussing their works (such as Cory Doctorow’s podcast), and audio podcasts by publishers such as Penguin UK podcast, but I think this is the first video podcast. They’re doing just what filmmakers have been doing for a long time: posting the pre- and post-production of films. About time! It seems that video really is the preferred medium for many on the web. It can communicate so much more in a shorter period of time. Here is a sample of BookVideos.tv:

[youtube RNDpQTwyDls]

Check out their site: http://www.bookvideos.tv/

via El MarMOogle

A couple of weeks ago I toddled along to the Sydney Writers Festival to see a UK author speak. I wanted to ask Steven Hall about his RawSharkTexts website, which seems a great extension of the storyworld of his novel Raw Shark Texts. The novel — ‘a science fiction, romance, thriller, adventure and mystery’ – is described as follows:

[A] 20-something named Eric Sanderson wakes up one day in a house in England with no memory of his past. By following a series of clues, he soon discovers that he has lost the woman he loved and that he’s being pursued through an alternate world of ideas and concepts by a giant shark made of words, who is trying to devour his memory.

Not only does he have the great website, but he has done some nifty things:

The visual artist-turned writer had always envisioned the book as having a life beyond the page. The book’s “nice little tricks and traps,” as Hall calls them, include a 50-page flip-book in the middle of the novel depicting the approaching shark, chapter titles that allude to other books, special editions with extra chapters, a limited number of books printed with coloured ink, and a character from Hall’s next novel-in-progress who appears only in the Greek version of The Raw Shark Texts. Even the title is a game — a play on “Rorschach tests.” [source]

I must say, I want every version of the book! The different versions of the book with coloured ink reminds me too of Mark Z. Danielewski’a colour versions of House of Leaves. There will also be a trailer of Hall’s novel, and the article I just cited mentions Harper Collins’ trailers for books. It is good to see Harper Collins creating trailers for books, but frankly I prefer the book trailers created by VidLit. I’ve been following their trailers for a couple of years and always find them entertaining.

But anyway, I caught up with Steven after his talk at the festival nd asked him about his website. He was surprised and thrilled to see someone was interested. So, we chatted about the site, what parts were his idea and what were the publishers. And then he mentioned that he actually has an ‘alternate reality game’ ARG for the book! Well, you could of wiped me off the floor as they say. He told me about how he got the idea from the perpetual (though maybe not so anymore) ARG Perplex City and the different sites it involves. I would love to tell you about the journey (I haven’t been all the way but the beginning is pretty easy). So, I’ll leave it up to you to play: The ARG starts at this site: www.lostenvelope.com.

What I enjoyed about it was that it gave me a way to experience the novel just as the protagonist in a way. What you do on the net is the story at the beginning of the novel. So, rather than prefiguring the narrative or continuing it (which would also be good!), it adapts it. An ARG adaptation of a novel. Nice. It seems the experience can have a good resonance either way: if you experience the journey online and then read the book you’ll reveal in the familiarity, and vice versa. It seems to be though, that it is more exciting to have read the book and then do it online. I argue that transmedia projects should start with a fixed media setting the storyworld and then move into interaction as a deeper and personal experience of it. But back to the game. It is also (or more so?) pitched at marketers and booksellers. Here is the experience by one journalist Rachel Giese:

For several weeks, novelist Steven Hall and his publishers have been playing games with me. First was the request, which arrived by e-mail, to take an online inkblot test (the results indicated a mild case of paranoia — and with what came next, no wonder). Then I received a typewritten letter in the mail with the ominous greeting, “First things first, stay calm.” It was sent to me by me, or at least, according to the signature, “The First Rachel Giese” and I advised myself to consult a Dr. Randle about my memory loss.

A few days later, yet another letter confirmed my membership in something called the Unspace Exploration Committee. That was followed by a message typed on a business card that read, “I need to speak to you,” and a telephone number. When I called, I got a recorded message from Dr. Randle advising me not to read any letters I might receive from myself and warning me not — “under any circumstances” — to read a book called The Raw Shark Texts. [source]

This ARG-style campaign to booksellers and readers is not the first however. DoubleDay undertook a fairly extensive campaign in 2005 for John Twelve Hawks’ The Traveller which I have described parts of here. There have also been books that have websites that are integrated into the novel. Cathy’s Book for instance, which is described by Elan Lee of 42 Entertainment as follows:

Cathy’s Book is another wild experiment. It’s on the New York Times bestseller list right now, which is very exciting for us. That sort of validates a lot of the assumptions that we made about the product. It’s a very, very early step. You buy the book, and it serves the absolute goal of being a book. It’s entertaining to sit down and read the thing. When someone says, I called Joe to see what the deal was with blah, well, there’s his phone number, you can call Joe yourself and see what the deal is with blah. It’s kind of like fiction enhancements–just a little bit more real. When we talk about a photograph that Cathy grabbed and tore up, as you flip through the book, there is that photograph, torn up in pieces, and the fun part is you can put them back to together and flip it over and see a phone number on the back, which you can call, which leads to the next part. But the interactive model kind of ends there. There’s no mystery that you can solve that the book won’t on it’s own. [Gamasutra]

What I also find interesting about Steven’s ARG is the fact that he came up with the idea and worked on creating it, along with all the other elements mentioned. This artist-led approach to cross-media is akin to what Trent Reznor did with the Year Zero Project for the NiN album. You really can tell the difference between multiple medium extensions that are an expression of the artist and those that are not. This is the big change we’re going to see over the next few years: more and more creators coming out with trans/cross-media projects that are a natural extension of what THEY are interested (not what they’re told to be interested in). The next step will be to create projects that are transmedia from the core. Projects that are not self-contained extensions across mediums.  But for now, wohoo! Steven.

Get the book

Check out: www.rawsharktexts.com

Check out: www.lostenvelope.com

Check out: ARG Community gameplay