Some overdue expansion

Written on Thursday, December 26, 2013 by Unknown

In this post I blabbed a bit about my thoughts on transmedia categories. I said I would expand on some of those thoughts, and I've got some time now so let's get to it.

If you don't want to go back to that post, allow me to quickly summarize. If you've already saw it, then ignore the following paragraph. So Andrea Phillips discussed in her book that there were two types of transmedia, West Coast (or Hollywood) and East Coast. I disagree. Well, at least with her choice of names. I've decided that I prefer the terms industry transmedia (in place of West Coast) and creator's transmedia (in place of East Coast). Industry transmedia uses bigger pieces of media that don't heavily depend on each other (just like in Phillips' version) and is usually done as a means to an end. The end is usually dollars, exposure, shares, or something else to that effect. Creator's transmedia tends to uses more intricate and occasionally smaller pieces of media, relies more heavily on social media (again, like Phillips'), and tends to be done for the love and expansion of the story. At least, this is how I've chosen to categorize them. If I want to make them truly stand apart then I would probably call these the extremes on a transmedia spectrum, with something in between. Both of those names come from the standpoint of the producer, not the audience, so this in-between would also need to be named similarly. I have yet to figure that out.

Now, here is where I expand. I do also think that transmedia can be categorized in other ways, perhaps with terms like audience-immersive transmedia, or maybe even audience-participatory. Something that describes the experience from the other side. These labels could even be combined. So maybe like Creator's audience-immersive transmedia. Or it can be specific to the tactics/medias used. Industry ARG/Video transmedia. Regardless, I have plenty of time to make up more names later. For now I just want to stick with the industry and creator differences.

So here's what I'm thinking. It's a loose theory, and I'm just spitballing here, but that seems to be the best way to collect my thoughts. Consider this a first draft of a possible thesis argument. It is going to be long, maybe even repetitive, so you should probably get a snack.

Creator's transmedia, in general, is the more versatile form of transmedia. This is due to the fact that industry transmedia has to appease the studios, so there are more rules and constraints. It is less about the art or the story, and more about how transmedia can be used to get The Ultimate Goal (be it money, views, fame, etc.). So logically, creator's transmedia tends to take more risks and do more experimenting. Failures are inevitable, as are successes. But they have more opportunities to fail and succeed because they take more chances. Creators want to create, even if they don't have much money, and they don't have a studio that will be furious if they bomb. It is possible that they will have a kickstarter fund, but again those don't always make a lot (and when they do it's possible the money was raised after or that they are actually moving closer toward the industry side) at least when compared to the wallets of the industry. So creators can break out of the box, maybe to see how far they can go. Industry, on the other hand, can use this to their advantage. They can watch the creators and capitalize on their successes while heeding their failures. They aren't going to copy a failed creator. In fact, they might even hire a successful creator (or team of them) for an industry project.

All of this means that the industry is not the true leader. The creators are the innovators that are moving transmedia forward. They are the ones changing the game, not the industry. This is unfortunate, because the industry's efforts can reach more people, and their transmedia is more polished because more money and many professionals went into it. The east gets none of those successes nor do they get any credit. Their existence is advantageous to the industry. As my dad said, it is kind of like pure vs. applied science. Pure science is all about studying and learning. There is no goal, just experimenting. But applied science is all about the end result and they use pure science as a means. Applied science is finding a cure for cancer, and they use the results of pure science (misc. studies about cancer cells for example) as they go. Cure is the end, pure is the means. I don't really know anything about pure vs. applied other than what I was briefly told, so forgive me if I am mistaken.

I've said a lot about how creators create for the love of the story or the sake of the art. They do to do, not to get. Industry is the opposite. So does this mean that the creators fail a lot more than succeed? Yes. Does this mean they never succeed? No. But when they do succeed, do they not become industry because they got bank/audience? Not necessarily. I think it is all about intentions. But don't creators want success and viewers and maybe some money too? probably, yes. So how are they not industry? This is exactly why I need to have a middle category. This category would cover those who make choices for both the story and The Ultimate Goal. And what about those who are creators that work in/with the industry? Can we call that industry with creator's transmedia or creator's in the industry transmedia or even something like industrial creator's transmedia? Yeah, sure. The point is that this is all very blurry. There is rarely a black and white scenario. Transmedia is and probably always will be a tricky thing to define.

I think this type of categorizing can be useful for analysis. If we have names for these things then we can better understand them, discuss them, and pick them apart. The picking is fun for me anyway. Rhetoric student after all. I just need to make all of this more clear, and then possibly utilize it within my greater thesis argument. It could be the key. Or maybe it's all total bullshit. We'll see.

I think that's enough for now. Did you enjoy your snack? 
-Danny
(& parents, who were nice enough to discuss this and provide the basis for some of these ideas.)

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A Letter

Written on Tuesday, December 24, 2013 by Unknown

Dear Thesis,

 What the hell am I going to do with you?

I'm sorry for being so brash thesis, but it's the truth. I have until Friday to come up with something for my advisor, and I've got about as many ideas as I have Christmas presents. (Just in case you were wondering Thesis, I'm Jew-ish so I have no Christmas presents.)

 So what do I do? How do you throw around ideas for this kind of thing? I tried that with my parents, and while they do have some good theories and such, nothing they suggested is anything more than a long paper. And frankly Thesis, I want you to be so much more than that. Well, at least a little more than that. I want you to have some transmedia element other than this blog. I want you to have a video component or some other out-of-the-box type thing. I would love to make a web show, but how the hell do I incorporate that sort of thing? Can I do a web show that documents (or mockuments) the thesis process? Maybe, but I definitely don't want to be the subject. I'll write, direct, shoot, edit, etc. but I will not act. I mean, I want you to be good Thesis, and with me acting it would be total crap. No lies. I can tell a good story though, but that's not acting and I only have so many stories.

One video idea that I've had for some time revolves around people telling stories, but I can't think of a way to trasmedify that. Again, I could document it documentary-style. Like tweet about my process and shit, but that sounds so boring. Just thinking about it made me roll my eyes. But then again, I guess I've been doing that a lot lately with all this Christmas music playing non-stop and Christmas movies on every channel. But I guess that's what an iPod and Netflix are for.

 But back to you thesis. What to do, what to do...  Let's play the what if game.
 
  • What if I made a web show?
    • Ok, but it would have to be relevant.
  • What if I used that web show to help my argument?
    • Ok, but it would again have to be relevant.
  • What if the web show proved some kind of point that I was trying to argue?
    • Ok, that could be good because evidence is good.
  • What if the argument was about how transmedia is better for audience immersion than not transmedia?
    • Ok, but can you take that a step further?
  • What if the argument was about how creators transmedia is better than industry transmedia? (see this post, and yes I know I said I would expand it)
    • Ok, but you don't work for the industry and you aren't a creator yet, and besides there are plenty of existing examples that you could use to better argue this.
  • What if this was like a science experiment where you had a hypothesis and put it to the test via the show and accompanying transmedia?
    • Ok, but what the hell is my hypothesis and why do I need to test it instead of relying on preexisting examples?
  • What if you were testing transmedia from the audience's standpoint instead of the creator's?
    • Ok, but I basically do that every day when I participate in other peoples transmedia work and how does that help?
  • What if you were testing it from the creator's standpoint instead of the audience?
    • Ok like can I get viewers, is this spreadable media, do people want to participate, how much effort is required on a weekly basis, and that sort of stuff?
  • What if your thesis was more science-y and you argued that the yet to be named in-between (creators and industry) version of transmedia is the best version because a) they care more about content and less about money, b) it is still important to get views and shares in order to keep the show going, c) anyone can do it so there are fewer rules, and d) I can do it and here were my results and the feedback that I gained from the experience?
    • Ok, but I guess that isn't totally science-y because I was still looking for a hypothesis in there somewhere, but this is totally progress.
  • What if you were hit by the Amazing Idea Asteroid tomorrow and got a way more concise, intelligent, and all around better version of the proposal above?  
    • Then my life would be complete, and so would you Thesis.
Well, at least I'm going forward.
And yes, I think transmedify should be a word. Upon googling I found "no results" so hopefully it will pick up soon.
Until next time.
-Danny

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So how do you categorize and subcategorize transmedia?

Written on Sunday, December 22, 2013 by Unknown

The concept of transmedia can be tricky to define, and when asked I usually just blab something about it being like a story that's told through multiple mediums mumblemumble... and then I talk about some examples. But if I really wanted to use my smarts and memorize a definition then I would probably go with -you guessed it- Henry Jenkins' version.

It goes a little something like this...

"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."

Tah-dah! Yes, I added the blue for emphasis. EMPHASIS. (Josh anyone?)
His definition expands from there, but this is the gist.

It's a wee bit too long to memorize without more mumbling. Unlike my professor's favorite definition of rhetoric: "the faculty of observing in any given case the available means of persuasion" - Aristotle. Now that one is short and sweet. But then again, what are iPhones for if not to use to pull up random information and spew it at other people as if you'd really known it all along. Shout out to whoever invented bookmarks for webpages. I would pretend to know, but Wikipedia isn't budging.

So anyway, now that we have loosely defined transmedia, can we break it down even more? As Emma would say, "HELL YEAH."

Now here is where I have some issues. Not many people really do break it down. I know, right? Why the hell not! But I was reading a book by Andrea Phillips called A Creators Guide to Transmedia Storytelling and she attempts to make some more classifications. She states that some people like to identify two types of transmedia: "West Coast (or Hollywood) transmedia" and "East Coast transmedia." (Are those supposed to stay capitalized? Hmm.) West Coast uses bigger chunks of media that don't rely so much on each other, and East Coast uses more social media and the media is much more connected. I had actually never heard of this concept before. And a quick google search simply leads back to her book. If you want some quotes from that chapter you can read this and she also is interviewed by Jenkins here where she talks about it even more. In that interview she claims that she regrets using the geographical terms, and frankly I don't blame her. Obviously you can make proverbial East Coast style transmedia on the literal West Coast and vice versa. I think I just used proverbial wrong. Whatever, I'm leaving it.

So while I think there is a lot of great stuff in the book, I absolutely hated this terminology. If I had to come up with something different, I would likely have chosen the terms "creator's transmedia" (in place of East Coast) and "industry transmedia" (in place of West Coast). Creators because that's the term that those who dabble/live in the transmedia arts tend to use to refer to themselves, and industry because, well, Hollywood = industry. Creators tend to make their works out of love for the story, while the industry's goal usually ends up in their pockets. They have different motives. But it isn't all black and white. You can be or use both. So there needs to be some hybrid. I don't want to call it "hybrid transmedia" because that implies something more complex, but I know there's probably a word out there that can better capture the essence of this better. And I'm always taking suggestions.

For the sake of bored readers who think I talk to much (and I do, I know I do) I'm going to stop here. I'll post again later with more thoughts about creators vs. industry vs. something else transmedia. I do have a lot to say, but I just wanted to put those words out there for now.

Ranting over.
-Danny

edit: I expand here.

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A Phone Call

Written on Friday, December 20, 2013 by Unknown

Today I spoke with my thesis advisor via the telephone. She's also my regular advisor. And maybe also my irregular advisor? Hmm...

We spoke about how we need to find a way to approach the transmedia aspect of my thesis. And guess what! We got nowhere. Surprise, surprise. All we discovered is that we need to figure it out. Which is something we both already knew. So maybe the phone call was a tad redundant? But still, it was necessary.

Here are some thoughts so far...

1. Blog
I've already preemptively started that part just in case. This may end up being totally useless, or a very important aspect of my thesis. Who knows. Her thoughts were "Well you don't want to blog about how you're sitting in the library writing and annotated bibliography and then linking it in." But actually, if I can manage to do that in an interesting manner, then I don't see why not? Although, I see her point. That's not really a help to my (currently lacking) argument.

2. Video Essay
This one is both too easy and too difficult. Yes, I can do what a friend of mine did and make my history chapter into a video essay or something, but that's too easy. And also too hard, because it is incredibly time consuming. And would it really help me or just add some possibly unnecessary flashiness? That is yet to be seen.

3. Web Show
Even more difficult. Because I need so many things. 1. An idea for the show; 2. Possible cast and crew because I can't do it all by myself; 3. Lots of time to write, direct, edit, etc.; 4. Actual skill and preferably some experience too; 5. A way for it to tie into the thesis in a this-supports-my-argument kind of way rather than a this-was-really-cool-and-also-useless-but-I-did-it-because-I-like-web-series kind of way.

4. Game
Haha, no.

5. Something Else?
Like what? Help me out here! I have no ideas.

And then after I make a decision on what to do, we need to set a schedule. This needs to be done by this time and so on. I'm not very good about doing tons of homework in general, so if I divide it up into small pieces and then meet with my advisor every week for her to check on it then I'll actually do it and do it well. Yes, I know I'm in college but sometimes you need to be treated like a 5th grader in order to get things done properly. It will help, is all I'm saying.

After the phone call I also looked into some other thesis online. They look very long (as mine will also be) so that will take some time to go though. I also found a blog by another person who did a transmedia-esque thesis so that was promising. I'll go through it and see what kinds of things they did that might work for me too. Don't worry, I won't steal their ideas. And I'll cite them if I need to.

Finally we discussed the almighty transmedia god Henry Jenkins. He is a fantastic writer and professor (well I've never had him, but it would be cool if I did!) who is well-known in the world of academia and on le interwebs as the ultimate transmedia guru. Ok, he's probably not as fabulous as I'm making him out to be, but he will be SUPER useful for my thesis so I'm going to exaggerate a bit. I have one of his books and am about to order another, I've perused his blog a bit, and most importantly he published his class syllabus in an academic journal which was very, very useful to me. He discussed some assignments that he had his students do that look very promising. More on that later. Or you can just look it up yourself (maybe? it is in a journal and I needed to use my magical school website to get access to it. but he tends to put a lot of this stuff on his blog "Confessions of an Aca-Fan" too.).

Time to go, but I once again accept any and all suggestions from the world. Reading suggestions too. I have a handful of books and articles already but I can always use more.

Oh, side-note, one of my main artifacts (if I chose to go this route) will likely be my favorite webseries The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. It is a prime example of transmedia in action. I highly recommend it to everyone.

-Danny

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Transmedia Experiment

Written on Thursday, December 19, 2013 by Unknown

I am a Rhetoric student. I love transmedia. So why not take the two and put them together?

In January I start my final semester of college. And I have to write a thesis.

"A thesis?" you say, "Sounds rough."

Yea thanks, I had no freakin' idea. Never would have guessed that something that takes at least a whole semester could be difficult to do.

But alas, I must prevail. So I have decided to write about transmedia! Woo! Sounds cool right? Well, I think it sounds cool. And it could be fun.

"Yea, that's great that you're excited and whatever, but how the hell are you going to write about that?"

I'm not quite sure yet. But I'm working on it.

"What do you mean you aren't sure? Shouldn't you know by know? Aren't you starting soon?"

Yes. I know. Now stop asking me difficult questions.

"What even is 'transmedia' anyway?"

Definition here.

Look, here's my plan. I need to write about something that I care about or else I will spend the second half of my senior year in some sort of endless boring torture. I can't think of some witty comparison about torture right now because I am currently on break and my brain is mush. But whatever, this is just a first post to get me going.

Anyway, I want to incorporate a transmedia element into my thesis. Well, really I want to create a web show but I'm not sure if I have that kind of time. But as I said, I'm working on it. I just need an idea or something. You know, that really important part of the project that can prevent you from moving forward even though you finally have an ounce of motivation lying around that's about to go stale so you should really use it while you can. Yup. I need an idea.

I'll keep you posted imaginary internet followers. And the supposed co-creator of this blog who hasn't been on it since she and I first started messing around with it over the summer. I'm kinda taking it over for now. Shhhh, don't tell.

Any suggestions on how I should proceed are always welcome.
-Danny

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