International Journal of Communication 3 (2009), 586-606 1932-8036/20090586
Copyright © 2009 (Carlos Alberto Scolari). Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial
No Derivatives (by-nc-nd). Available at http://ijoc.org.
Transmedia Storytelling:
Implicit Consumers, Narrative Worlds, and Branding
in Contemporary Media Production
CARLOS ALBERTO SCOLARI
University of Vic
Catalunya, Spain
A very interesting article which really started me thinking about a number of issues as regards Transmedial story telling and the development of my SEER project. The article attempts to TRansmedial story telling through the lense of semiotics and narratology , 2 topics about which I currently know very little , but about which after reading this article I will explore in much more detail over the coming weeks.
Right from the outset Carlos made me consider my own project and the transmedial elements I intended to use. Quoting Henry Jenkins Carlos draws out two basic facts
- each media element must be self contained enough to be consumed autonomously - so can you understand and enjoy this product without reference to anything else!
- each medium employed must be used to do what it does best!
Interesting example of telling stories over twitter
http://twitter.com/manvszombies
i'm following this to see how it unfolds. So still thinking about this and about what kind of story / whose story I want to tell .
Key to the ideas that have been introduced to me within this article are :
1)Its the Story stupid!
the concept of primary and secondary modeling systems. Within this he is referring to the work of Juri Lotman (1977) in which he introduced the concept that
"Verbal language is the primary modeling system in our culture, and the most important and basic cognitive device for interpreting the world."In essence it is through language that we understand the world around use.This was then amended by the work of Ferraro who said that it is in fact the narrative form that constitutes the basic tool for meaning and event interpretation. The suggestion being that it is NARRATIVE rather than language as the primary modeling tool.
Ultimately seeing the narrative/ story as an abstract idea that is then interpreted through language.So within the transmedial story telling it is primary modeling system that is then encased within the secondary modeling language defined by the relevant media.
Get the story right and then see how it fits into the different media.
2)Who is the SEER for. Who is the implicit consumer. From a semiotic prospective every text constructs its own reader(EC) 1979 - i.e every book talks to a specific type of reader , so the interest group its targeted at, so So a history of tank battles in second WW11 might be targeted at people who are interested in the second world war. that is virtual figure is the model or implicit reader. By reading the book you as the empirical reader are said to recognize that implicit / model reader and accept the proposal behind it , so making what was defined by Veron 1985 as a reading contract.Carlos goes on to point out that a single text can have a multitude of implicit readers. This is achieved by constructing a "sedimentary multilayer text that requires different cognitive skills and knowledge to interpret .The Simpsons would fit this bill , with a top layer aimed at children , and then another more complex layer aimed at adults , With another darker layer aimed at adults with a knowledge of policital satire and pop culture. The different viewer groups participate from there different positions of knowledge and understanding in the creation of Bart Simpsons world.Another way to create this multiple layer of implicit users is create a text with multiple paths , , each path telling the story from a different perspective.
The question is therefore who is the implicit consumer of the SEER? If it is Multiply consumers then you need to start thinking about Mulitpath or Multilayer text, for me that really means different access points to the story. Each point providing access to a specific target group. Each point though open to eanyone interested enough to seek it out.
Carlos creation of a "implicit consumer-nested structure of transmedia story telling is interesting and provides a visual representation of the transmedia consumer space:
single text consumer -single media consumer- transmedia consumer.
(one show) (only TV) (everything)
Carlos breaks the 24 (TV/transmedial show ) into a narrative core ( TV show for me the SEER comic + film) this is the Macro stroy. The other narratives , for 24 ( the comic , the webeisodes etc for the SEER the twitter, the face book and miniwebeisodes?)
the micro narratives need to fill in the gaps between the chunks of marco narrative. So within the SEER universe the twitter and face book will need to sit in between the web comic. With a daily strip as probposed , this may mean bring characters into the story by way of alternative paths. So we may have a twitter prequel to the film for some of the main characters, which then runs parallel to the Macro story.
This idea is the expanded as regards expansion of a transmedia world to:
Level 1.creation of interstitial microstories
Level 2 : parallel stories - a secondary story unfolding at the same time as the main story.
Level 3 : Peripheral stories- exploring stories of some of the more peripheral characters - these stories sit along side but do not intersect the main marco story arch.
Level 4 Fan made content.
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