by Sam Duncan

Now I desperately want to know — but I’ll continue on — as not knowing actually provides a good foundation to start with an explanation of what is ‘Transmedia’.

If I opened the App and found material that expanded upon the article I was reading about the band The Jezabels, with new information and perhaps a new focal point, then this would be a good example of Transmedia. If I opened the App and found the same information simply replicated on a different platform, then this would not be.

Transmedia is essentially multi-platform storytelling.

That’s an easy concept; the complexity however is in the requirement that different story elements be told through different platforms. Therefore a novelisation of a film is not Transmedia, yet a comic book that tells a character backstory is.

Novelist and Screenwriter Chuck Wendig paints the perfect picture of the Transmedia World. He uses the metaphor of a Tree vs the Forest. Stories are generally a single tree, sometimes grown by a single practitioner.

However the Transmedia story-world is far more fertile and compelling when seen as an entire forest growing up together at the same time. Some trees find light and others fail, it’s all one big organic collision of life that thrives on organised chaos.

This is where the beauty of Transmedia lies.
The storyteller has a much bigger and better canvas to work with.

A standard duration feature film might be the perfect platform to tell a central story that you could consider the main story, but at the end maybe we are left craving more time with a particular character or more exploration of a particular story-world?

Perhaps we could explore that story-world further through an alternate reality game or get more time with our favourite character by watching online minisodes focused on character backstories or different goal oriented adventure tangents.

Television shows Breaking Bad and Lost are two good examples of narrative extension across different platforms. As Transmedia Commentator Jason Mittell suggests, Breaking Bad is Character-driven Transmedia, with videos and websites illuminating the amusing backgrounds of Hank, Marie, Badger and Saul whereas Lost prioritised story-world expansion.

For example Breaking Bad’s Walt in one minisode is painted in a more comedic light as he listens to future brother-in-law Hank’s pre-wedding sexual hijinks and in another carries out a bungled break-and- enter with a drugged out Badger. The Lost TV show built a mythological universe and then expanded on some of those mysteries through Transmedia extensions.

As brought to my attention by Mittell, Lost put out five alternate reality games, four novels, a PC/console video game, multiple tie-in websites, two series of online videos and an array DVD extras.

It is obvious how this approach to storytelling can achieve greater audience engagement. The more we explore the more we want to keep exploring thus engaging us more intensely and probably for a lot longer. So in financial terms, yes producers are much more likely to get good return on investment from their creations.

However there’s a risk too. If it’s Transmedia for the sake of Transmedia, and the story isn’t rich enough to warrant this approach, the audience is likely to immediately disengage as the marketing centric franchise will annoy us or we will simply lose interest with the lack of interesting content.

I rather look at what Transmedia can offer creatively to the storyteller.

There’s another element to Transmedia that’s particularly appealing. That is the ability for the audience to be interactive.

To use a loose analogy, it can be like a chose your own adventure novel, the viewer can in many Transmedia experiences interact with the storyteller to shape the journeys and destinations of the characters in the story. This feedback loop I think particularly satisfying as it is no longer simply a lie back on the couch disconnected from the story you are watching experience.

This side of Transmedia is yet to reach it’s full potential however in the future it’s likely that many stories will be shaped by what the audience majority wants to see happen.

So is Transmedia a ‘must embrace’ approach for storytellers to succeed in the age where an eight year old probably has six connected media devices?

Many argue yes – that the audience needs it and will demand it, not to mention the financial incentives for content creators to do so. The jury is still out however and I would suggest that there is still something to be said for the beauty of simplicity.

I love the movie Fear and Loathing Las Vegas yet I want it to be just the book and movie (essentially the same story). I watch the movie and feel l like I’ve been on an interesting journey. A journey that I loved but am finished with. I don’t then want to watch Hunter S. Vegas story tangents on my Iphone on the toilet.

The series Dexter however, I wouldn’t mind seeing some of his other adventures away from the central focus of his ethical code based killings.

So in sum, the approach – Transmedia or not – should be driven by the nature and intent of the story. Going Transmedia to achieve increased associated advertising profit or because in 2012 we feel we should is not a recipe for success. If the characters and the story-world are rich enough and suitable enough to warrant it, then a Transmedia approach will without doubt be great.

-Sam Duncan

Sam Duncan is a Sydney-based videographer, documentarian, writer and founder of Sambo Media.
He is interested in practical, technologically relevant approaches to content production and distribution.
Sam enjoys surfing, Cuban music and handstands.

Photo Credit: Vinoth Chandar via Compfight

by Margaret M. MacDonald

What happens when you miss an episode? Do you TiVo or DVR it? Are you going to watch it online? Perhaps you plan to buy the last season on DVD anyway, or download it on iTunes. And oh, what I wouldn’t give to get Hulu in Australia.

We have come a long way from they days wheeling the television into the dining room, so we could watch the latest episode of I Love Lucy. Now we watch television on our own personalized schedules, and we never have to miss an episode.

The plethora of ways to catch up on our viewing also means we can follow more complex stories, elaborate plot twists, and cast numbers worthy of a greek tragedy. Shows no longer need the predictable characters and reliable formula to last in a viewers memory during the week long breaks between episodes.

Shows no longer need
the predictable characters and reliable formula

The luxury of time has opened the dramatic door and television writers have run through it. Character arcs now follow an ever changing flux across season after season. Plots are so thick that you might miss an essential detail during a bathroom break.  And the further shows push away from the formulaic past, the better the writing gets.

Plots are so thick that you might miss
an essential detail during a bathroom break.

There was a time when writers feared that the tidal wave of reality television was going to wash away quality scripted shows forever. But when facing shows like Lost, Mad Men, The Wire, Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock, that wave just laps at the shore. Sure, some formulas still get relied upon from time to time.

Someone was always trying to shut down the wire just as the team was on the edge of a breakthrough, and Barney Stinson will always be suited up, but for the most part, quality prevails over predictability.

Of course, there are also disadvantages to complex plots and ever increasing casts.

When I moved to Australia, I missed the last few episodes the third season of Lost, a show so needlessly complex that networks used to air catch-up episodes with extra “facts” that popped up at the bottom of the screen. When the fourth season finally aired, I didn’t actually watch it because I knew it was likely to confuse me into an aneurysm.

Lost, a show so needlessly complex that networks used to
air catch-up episodes with extra “facts”
that popped up at the bottom of the screen.

Nonetheless, there will come a day when I break down and watch it all. Why? Because one can only go so long without knowing the secrets of the Island.

That need to catch-up also points to another change that technology has brought about in boob-tube culture: watching great television is no longer a collective experience.

We used to all watch episodes on the same night, and then discuss them at the proverbial water cooler the next day. Now those discussions sound more like “What season are you up to now?” and “oh just wait, the next episode is even better.”

The collective experience is now spread out over time, usually spanning far beyond the life of the show itself. Of course, that also means that people who loved it the first time around, will likely see it again on DVD, reliving the episodes through others as they catch-up.

Discussions about those complex plot twists and ever changing characters will last longer than the one week break between episodes. Therefore, a richly layered writing style is almost a requirement to assure that shows retain their audience throughout their technologically extended lives.

A richly layered writing style is almost a requirement

Are you writing a television show right now? Have you mastered the ability to create cliffhangers between commercial breaks, and endings that leave your audience burning with desire for next week’s episode?

Have you also written a show that people will want to see over and over again, or watch entire seasons of in one sitting? Will discussions about its moments of comic genius or intricate plot twists, last for years after the show has gone of the air?

The next time you complete an episode, ask yourself “would I TiVo that?”

Margaret M. MacDonald is a production designer and award winning screenwriter. She has lived and worked in Los Angeles, New York and currently Sydney. She aims to use both her writing and designing to create cinematic worlds. She also loves to discuss the past, present and future and filmmaking and isn’t afraid to disagree with you.

You can find more of Margaret on Immmagination.com and on her blog Marglish.com

photo credits: mr.skeleton, RubyGoes, John Morton, redjar, celine | www.cheljacinto.tumblr.com