IDEA Channel talks transmedia

The excellent PBS Idea channel on Youtube, for which I wish I had enough time to go back and watch everything, but I need space/time for my mind to reel out after each episode, anyway, they recently did an episode on transmedia. Or, as they put it, How Is Technology Changing TV Narrative? I'm looking forward to the comments recap on this at the end of the next episode.

Dark Tower disapointment

So this is why I haven't heard anything about that Dark Tower transmedia project that was supposed to happen ages ago. It's because the producers and studios couldn't get themselves sorted out. I guess this sort of thing is to be expected for projects this large. So, basically according to The Mary Sue, the Dark Tower project is still happening, they've just been faffing around too much. HBO now set to helm the TV parts though, does bode well. Oh, and that guy from Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul is now rumoured to be the lead - which kind of makes sense, as his level of stardom is not too big to prohibit him committing to so much at once (3 movies and 2 series of TV), but still established enough to draw some fans and credibility. Well, let's hope it finally gets off the ground...

What the Frey?

I must admit I had no idea what James Frey had been up to since the 'A Million Little Pieces' scandal (A book, which, in a fit of masochism, I actually read). I watched that poorly received film, 'I am number four', though it was so forgettable I barely remember it.  I didn't realise it was based on a book, let alone one by Frey. So I was quite surprised to come across this article, on Frey signing a seal with Fox, Google and HarperCollins for a transmedia YA series.

On reflection, I suppose one could make a case that the whole million little pieces, oprah-scolding awkwardness was actually an ill attempted piece of transmedia storytelling, mixing his 'life-story' as elaborated in interviews, etc with a novel. However, with that, the schlocky-ness of IAN4 and now reading about his fiction factory that doesn't credit authors, he leaves a bad taste in the mouth. I'm all for innovative transmedia projects that even team up with Google, such as this one announced, but I worry that Frey might not be the best person to help build positive concept of transmedia in the public consciousness. I will watch for the results with bated breath.

Letting filmmakers tell stories, spoilers free

Over on Film.com Eric D. Snider makes some great points, asking how many scoops on plot and characters in upcoming films we really need, and if they are spoiling the experience of the film (they are), in his post 'Why Can’t We Let Filmmakers Tell Stories on their Own Terms?'. I think the point that is glossed over a little here is how much of this the studios are responsible for, as much if nor more so than media journalists. Which all goes to show what Hollywood is ripe for transmedia storytelling - people want info, or rather, they want to start experiencing the story of a film long before it comes out. If studios provided genuine pieces of narrative to their audience before the film came out, then they are going to be much less likely to go seeking information that will ultimately spoil it for themselves. Everyone wins.

The Art of Immersion

On my recent holiday back to Australia, I had the opportunity to read Frank Rose's 'The Art of Immersion', and as was to be expected with anything that delves into transmedia, it had me completely absorbed. Rose doesn't offer any sort of blue-print or road map about how transmedia ought to work, but rather gives up a survey of many fascinating examples of transmedia from recent years.

Similar structurally to Henry Jenkin's 'Convergence Culture' which I read a couple of years back (it even goes over some of the same examples), it captures transmedia activities from the last few years. The pleasure from the book comes from the anecdotes and discussions with the producers of transmedia - I loved the insight into Howard Roffman's role in the creation of the Star Wars bible at Lucasfilm, the world that Cameron built for Avatar, or even the happiness factory for Coca-Cola. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the book for me was the discussion of brain function in relation to games and dopamine release - it provided a simple and useful understanding.

It would be nice to have a comprehensive survey listing all the transmedia narratives that have been attempted to date, perhaps with some sort of categorization for narrative that were intended to be transmedia, and those that have evolved to be such over time. There seem to be a lot of standard examples these books keep coming back too (Star Wars, Harry Potter, The Matrix, etc), and I'd find it useful to have a detailed map of the history of transmedia.

Ultimately though, what I'd love is a theory for how transmedia narratives should be created. Where does one start - with the characters or the universe? How do you break down the elements of the story, how do you determine which elements fit best in which media? What bits of the story do you give away for free (adverts) and what bits do you think the audience should pay for? There are so many questions that could be addressed by a good Theory of Transmedia Creation... I hope someone comes up with one soon!

King's 'The Dark Tower' to be Simultaneous Movies and TV

This is very exciting. Although I haven't read them, Stephen King's The Dark Tower books are being adapted by into complimentary films and tv series. From NYMag:

The project, based on seven books, will kick off with a movie, which will quickly be followed by a TV season of undisclosed length that will lead up to a second movie. That film will be followed by a second TV season that will be more of a prequel, focusing on Deschain as a younger man, before the third film finishes up where the second film left off. If that sounds like a lot of The Dark Tower, it is. Sometime in the not-so-distant future, the series is going take over movie theaters and your television in what will either wind up being a genuinely new, much bigger way of telling and selling stories or a hugely expensive fiasco.

 It's really wonderful to see big studios put a lot of cash into a new transmedia way of storytelling. I hope they are just as innovative with their marketing efforts for this production, creating more spin-off content in different mediums. They have some decent talent behind the project, they are taking a centralised, unified approach to the production, and Stephen King stories are generally a good yarn, so I've got my fingers-crossed that this will be a success. That wouldn't just mean a great transmedia narrative to enjoy, but also it would set a great example for other media companies to follow.