Transmedia storytelling and convergence culture

I recently read the article Searching of the Origami Unicorn in the book Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins. The text is not just exciting, also it is interesting and helps to reflection and to understand a little better the world of convergence culture in which we live.

The main concept introduced by Henry Jenkins is "transmedia storytelling" which basically serves to name the narrative experiences that spread across multiple media or platforms.

There are several similar concepts about this: some prefer to speak about “cross-media”, others opt for "multimodal". But, all of them refer to a greater or lesser extent the same thing: narrative worlds spanning several media and platforms. The following video explains it very well.

To explain it, Henry Jenkins presents several examples of this type of narrative expansion. Particularly, he analyzes Matrix as a leading exponent of this type of "transmedia storytelling".

Almost from the Matrix franchise, the author seeks to explain and analyze this narrative mode and how to create parts of a single plot, constructed through the coordinated combination of different media and platforms. Personally, I believe in addition that the analysis is brilliant. For this reason, I am going to explain and summarize it:

Jenkins argues that this franchise of the Wachowski brothers was a new way of storytelling. In this way also says that "Matrix is entertainment era of media convergence, integrating multiple texts to create a narrative so large that it cannot be contained within a single medium". And it is precisely "transmedia storytelling". It is a new model of narrative that uses the possibilities of media convergence to create stories at different levels within the same universe.

The Matrix works in different media and different stories that intertwine with each other, creating in this way a world where those who are immersed can identify references in its aesthetic. The transmedia storytelling should be spread across multiple channels, and thus maximizes the possibilities they offer the benefit of the narrative, and may also attract different market segments.

"Matrix functions both as a cultural attractor and a cultural activator . The most commited consumers track down data spread across multiple media, scanning each and every text for insights into the world "

In The Matrix, each means used brings something new, a new experience or historical fact (a deepening of something or a different point of view). In each medium, the reader of these stories achieve learn more about the universe that deepens: "The consumer who has played the game or watched the shorts will get a different experience of the movies than one who has simply has the theatrical film experience. The whole is worth more than the sum of the parts".

At the same time, there must be independence between the stories, because as he says, the parts form a whole. The redundancy between the parties "destroys the fan interest and causes the failure of the franchise" (Jenkins, 2008:101). It aims to offer and ensure new knowledge in each part to retain and convince the consumer to the project.

The author appreciates the effort expended in the Matrix project dares to say that although some critics and consumers to confirm the failure of Matrix, this does not detract from the merit in "the significance of what he was trying to achieve," which was nothing more to explore around this new transmedia model of entertainment franchise.

The author also notes that the creators of transmedia storytelling should provide the viewer deepening the work not as an obligation but as an attractive possibility. In any case, to create a transmedia story you need to create a world where all their stories converge, so Jenkins says that this is like The art of creating worlds

The consumer becomes a faithful follower who has followed every step, has used multiple ways of knowing the characters and stories of each universe, and plunging into another world. The information, theories and comments from The Matrix is disseminated through the web, fans shared their knowledge in discussion forums dedicated to the analysis of the work. It is common knowledge within the community, as the collective work of an author is directed to a reader group. But as Jenkins claims about reading transmedia work, only the most ardent fans come to this meeting point of the entire franchise, to become part of the transmedia world.

I make a parenthesis here aimed at all fans of the series Lost, a more recent phenomenon: do you feel identified with this? Surely. This is our reality.

On the other hand, Matrix and in general the transmedia storytelling is configured as a synergistic narrative in which there are many economic interests. An entertainment franchise coupled with the maketing to increase sales.

And that, after all, this convergence is part of the narrative strategies of major content producers. While always existed, transmedia narratives nowadays take an impressive dimension for two reasons:

1) The amount of media has been multiplied and

2) Powerful participatory platforms which allow consumers to expand their favorite stories have appeared

Our reality is a multi-platform era and a collective intelligence.
And, transmedia storytelling is an excellent production strategy which corporations adopt to extend their base and reach new audiences and users.

Finally, there is only one thought: transmedia storytelling is a great creative opportunity, but its implementation must be intentional by the creators. There is not a simple cross-channel diffusion, it is a fictional universe that should make sense at every step, with each story.

Clara Bernal Garcia

References:

Seven Myths About Transmedia Storytelling Debunked

Henry Jenkins: Convergence Culture (pp.93-108).