StoryAlity #96 – Transmedia Practice: A Collective Approach (2014)

Transmedia Practice: A Collective Approach (2014) 

Transmedia Practice: A Collective Approach (ID-Press, 2014)

This book has just been published. I co-edited the volume, and also have a chapter in the book, i.e.:

Velikovsky, JT, (2014) “Two Successful Transmedia Film Case Studies: The Blair Witch Project (1999) and The Devil Inside (2012)”, in Transmedia Practice: A Collective Approach (Eds. D Polson D, A-M Cook, JT Velikovsky, Adam Brackin, Inter-Disciplinary Press, London.

From the book’s official page:

Transmedia Practice: A Collective Approach (2014)

Description

This volume introduces a collective approach that positions transmedia as a dynamic phenomenon which undergoes constant innovation as it absorbs current trends and advances in its constituent disciplines. The first section, ‘Sustaining Future Practices’, explores emerging models for defining stakeholder needs, understanding resource requirements and measuring the value and success of transmedia productions. The focus then shifts to ‘Intersecting Contexts of Transmedia Practices’, which uses the juxtaposition of a diverse collection of case studies to transcend not only the debates about how to define transmedia, but also the professional and disciplinary boundaries that impose artificial constraints upon the way transmedia projects are approached and understood. This inter-disciplinary dialogue aims to promote an ongoing conversation on the challenges and opportunities associated with sustaining this vital creative industry.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Understanding the Collective Approach
Debra Polson and Ann-Marie Cook

Part I Sustaining Future Practices

Transmedia as ‘Unmixed Media’ Aesthetics
Christy Dena

The Business Case for Transmedia
Joanne Jacobs

Measuring Online User Engagement: The Limitations of Web Analytics
Ann-Marie Cook and Debra Polson

Multi-Platform Storytelling and the ‘Niche’ Market: Producing Low-Budget Transmedia Projects
Natalie Krikowa

Part II Intersecting Contexts of Transmedia Practices

Transmediated Educational Futures: Case Studies in the Use of Transmedia in Educational Contexts
Hart Cohen

Produsage of Transmedia Stories
Stephen Barrass

Transmedia Toe-Dipping: Kiss Kill by Jeni Mawter
Jeni Mawter

Transmedia Activism: Exploring the Possibilities in West Papua
Tanya Notley and Alexandra Crosby

Video Installation as an Immersive Storytelling and Story Sharing Experience
Diane Charleson

Two Successful Transmedia Film Case Studies: The Blair Witch Project (1999) and The Devil Inside (2012)
JT Velikovsky

The Dead Boy’s Narrative Transmediated
Toni-Matti Karjalainen

Zombies, Run! Rethinking Immersion in Light of Nontraditional Gaming Contexts
Clare Southerton

ARG for ARG’s Sake: The Authenticity of Non-Commercial Alternate Reality Games
Adam L. Brackin

War Games: Interactive Discourses of War in Videogames
Daniel Binns

The Impact of Game Design in Generating the Value of Virtual Items
Ping-I (Adam) Ho

Key Words

Transmedia, transmedia collective, multi-platform, cross-media, storytelling, media, game, narrative, distributed narratives, ubiquitous games, cross-sighted narratives, creative industries, networked narrative environment, superfictions, media franchise.

Editor Bios

Debra Polson is an independent designer and lecturer in Communication Design at Queensland University of Technology. Her work focuses on exploiting unique aspects of digital games and creative social networks in the service of developing computer games and mobile technologies that improve human relationships in environments such as schools, museums and everyday public places.

Ann-Marie Cook is a Visiting Researcher at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation at Queensland University of Technology. Since receiving a Ph.D. in Film from the University of East Anglia she has been involved in research projects concerning transmedia production and audience engagement in the post-broadcast era.

JT Velikovsky is a writer, director and producer of transmedia projects involving films, games, TV, novels, comics). He also serves as a film/story/screenplay and transmedia consultant. He is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Western Sydney. http://uws.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky/ and http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jt_Velikovsky/

Adam Brackin was director of game development at Fundi Interactive Games as the head writer and creator of various works of collaborative online fiction which have inspired his ‘Circular Model of ARG Development.’ He earned his Ph.D. in Humanities: Aesthetic Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas, where he now teaches Art and Technology, with a focus on video game design and online interactive/collaborative storytelling.

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The 15 papers were the result of this Transmedia conference in 2013:

TM1 Transmedia Sydney (2013)

http://on-writering.blogspot.com.au/2013/02/transmedia-storytelling-and-beyond.html

The book is available from here.

Transmedia Practice: A Collective Approach (ID-Press, 2014)

https://www.interdisciplinarypress.net/online-store/ebooks/digital-humanities/transmedia-practice-a-collective-approach#content

The book costs 8 British pounds, and is also available for free access via the EBSCO full-text database.

Also, if Transmedia is your thing, see also the post: Why Transmedia is Destiny. (Hint: Because of, evolution.)

And – for more detail on the evolutionary systems (or, complexity) view of narrative and bioculture in general, see, this book chapter:

StoryAlity #132 – The holon/parton structure of the Meme, the unit of culture – and the narreme, or unit of story – book chapter (Velikovsky 2016)

And for a great consilience & creativity & evolution reading list, see:

StoryAlity #71 – On Consilience in the Arts / Humanities / Communication

Comments, always welcome.

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JT Velikovsky

High-RoI Story/Screenplay/Movie and Transmedia Researcher

The above is (mostly) an adapted excerpt, from my doctoral thesis: “Communication, Creativity and Consilience in Cinema”. It is presented here for the benefit of fellow screenwriting, filmmaking and creativity researchers. For more, see https://aftrs.academia.edu/JTVelikovsky

JT Velikovsky is also a produced feature film screenwriter and million-selling transmedia writer-director-producer. He has been a professional story analyst for major film studios, film funding organizations, and for the national writer’s guild. For more see: http://on-writering.blogspot.com/

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REFERENCES

Velikovsky, JT, (2014) “Two Successful Transmedia Film Case Studies: The Blair Witch Project (1999) and The Devil Inside (2012)”, in Transmedia Practice: A Collective Approach (Eds. D Polson D, A-M Cook, JT Velikovsky, Adam Brackin, Inter-Disciplinary Press, London.

Velikovsky, J. T. (2016). `The Holon/Parton Theory of the Unit of Culture (or the Meme, and Narreme): In Science, Media, Entertainment and the Arts.‘ In A. Connor & S. Marks (Eds.), Creative Technologies for Multidisciplinary Applications. New York: IGI Global.