Week 1 Analysis: Nailing Down Transmedia

Trans-media and Cross-media storytelling are both important for marketing in Media Communications. I would say the best way to describe Trans-media storytelling is to tell one story on many different platforms. Some examples of this would be Facebook, Twitter, Websites, blogs, YouTube and other social media platforms. This could include any current technology available in any format.

Cross-media storytelling is more like expanding a current franchise, by giving content to the viewer on various platforms in a continuous format. Cross media storytelling is often used to give the viewer more insight in current, existing franchises. Some examples of franchises that use Cross-media effectively would include: The Walking Dead, Star Wars, Harry Potter and The Avengers. Both types of storytelling can be used in the marketing of new products.

A good example of a Cross-Media story would be Batman. The new show Gotham is a great example of Cross-Media storytelling. The show focuses on a specific time period in the Batman universe, by showing us what the city was like when Bruce Wayne was a child. The show focuses on the police force and also on how Mr. Wayne grew into the character that so many followers of the character have come to know. The reason I chose this example is because this is an effective way to provide backstory to the reader and is a slightly different take on a franchise that already exists.

A good Trans-Media example would be the film Prometheus. This is an example of a trailer being used to make other curious about a film. The trailer is known is a great example of Trans-Media storytelling. This is because instead of using a regular trailer the film used one that would expand the world instead of just show footage of what is in the world. The reason I chose this example is because it has become influential and many other brands and advertisers have used this format for many products in many different industries. Also, it is interesting to note that this film can also be viewed as an Aliens prequel and can also have some elements of Cross-Media storytelling.

An example of an ARG is “The Beast” It was created in 2001, and is considered an early and influential example of an ARG. It was a mystery game that was used to promote the film A.I.: Artificial Intelligence and also a series of planned games, based on the film. The mystery was created over all types of social media of the time including E-mail and websites. The game only lasted a few months, but had millions of participants worldwide. It also inspired many people to attempt to create their own ARG’s and is also an early example of how the Internet could bring people from all walks of life together, to pursue a common goal.