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Presentation to
                          WYRD CON
                          June 23, 2012

These slides were produced for “From Live to Web and Back Again,” a panel at
the WYRDCON conference, June 23, 2012. http://wyrdcon.com/

For a discussion of the conference, go to my blog: http://
www.nickdemartino.net/blog/
WHY ME?
                                  Movie Geek
                                   Journalist
                                  Filmmaker
                                   Marketer
                                   Strategist
What qualifies me to give this talk?
I am a movie geek.
I am an ex-journalist, filmmaker and marketer.
And I spent 20 years running digital programs and initiatives at the American Film Institute, some of which are
listed on the next slide.
To learn more about my career, check out my website at http://www.nickdemartino.net
20 YEARS @ AFI:

                    Computer Media Salons
                  Enhanced TV Workshop
                    Digital Content Lab
                          DigiFest

I discuss a few highlights of my years at AFI and the relationships I developed with innovators at the
intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. I discuss a few highlights of the training-based programs
and the showcase programs, leading into our signature approach: collaborative prototype
development around content.
To learn more about my career, check out my website at http://www.nickdemartino.net
WHY ME?




Having heard the word ‘transmedia’ for some time, even as we were incubating many cross-media applications at AFI, I
became intrigued by the rise in the use of the term last spring, especially because there seemed to be a lot of fighting
going on. This lead to a lot of research and a series of interviews with many of the leading practitioners in the
transmedia field, and a three-art series “Why Transmedia is Catching On” which was posted on the Tribeca Film
Institute’s “Future of Film” site, and syndicated to sites around the world, including Huffington Post, The Wrap,
MIPblogs, x-media Lab (Australia) and others. The series lives on my own blog: http://www.nickdemartino.net/blog
(Here is a post that includes the links to all the different versions: http://www.nickdemartino.net/blog/2011/7/11/
where-to-read-my-transmedia-series.html )
WHY ME?

       Nick DeMartino Consulting
           Digital media strategy:
        Content, distribution, markets.


I started a consulting business last year after leaving the AFI in which I help companies make the transition
occasioned by the disruption that the Internet is bringing to every market. Most of my work is in the content
production and distribution markets.

To learn more about my career, check out my website at http://www.nickdemartino.net
DEFINITION…
                   Transmedia Storytelling:
           * Across multiple media
         * Each contributing to story
       * Multiple entry points into story
                         Henry Jenkins:Transmedia Storytelling



The term transmedia storytelling is, by all accounts, a coinage from Henry Jenkins, a much-published academic from
MIT, now on the faculty at the University of Southern California. Henry is a good source for info, particularly his
courseware, which is published on his blog: http://www.henryjenkins.org/
The specific article is from MIT Technology Review, "Transmedia Storytelling.”
Jenkins, Henry (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press.
ISBN 9780814742815. Jenkins, Henry (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New
York University Press. ISBN 9780814742815. Jenkins, Henry (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media
Collide. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 9780814742815.
EXAMPLE?




So, is the Royal Wedding a transmedia story?
EXAMPLE?




Or the Bible & Jesus Christ?
EXAMPLE?




Certainly Star Wars is transmedia, with many different media and formats. Though, there are those in the field who
prefer to think of Star Wars as the first major storytelling FRANCHISE, not really transmedia. What is the distinction?
Whether new elements to the story are added in every platform, and therefore make the experience of all platforms
necessary for a full experience of the work.
YOU COULD SAY:
                      Franchise
           Multi-platform; cross-platform
                        ARG
                 Interactive media
                     Multimedia
            Connected entertainment

These are related words describing various story forms. Some would say that none is as complete as “transmedia.”
Others say, to hell with the language wars. Let’s get to storytelling! (Note: ARG=alternate reality game)
Is It Really Transmedia                                     START
                                 Storytelling?
                                                                                     Is it on multiple                                         Is it a single
                                                                                           media             YES                             story or multiple
                                                                                        platforms?                                                 stories
                                                                    NO
                                                                                                                     SINGLE
                                  It's not
                               Transmedia!                                              Was the story
                                                                                          transmedia
                                                                                       from inception?                                        MULTIPLE
                                                                                                           NO
                                                   YES
                                                                                                                      Are the pieces of
                                                                             Do you own the                          content linked and
                                                                                                           YES        in narrative sync
                                                                                  IP?
                                                     YES
                                                                                                                      with each other?

                                                                 NO
                                                                                                                                     NO

                                            Is it an                           Is it really a
                                           Alternate           NO             story, or is it a
                                         Reality Game?                       story universe?                STORY                                It's not
                                                                                                           UNIVERSE                           Transmedia
                                             YES                                 STORY                                                     Storytelling, it's
                                                                                                                                            just a crummy
                                                                                                                                            Entertainment
                                                                                                            THEME                              Franchise.
                                                                                 C'mon, is it
                                                                              *really* a story,
                                                                              or is it a theme?


                                                      It's not                        STORY
                                                    Transmedia
                                                    Storytelling,                                          YES         WHAT'S MOST EFFECTIVE
                                                       it's an                                                         TO REACH YOUR TARGET
                                                    adaptation.                                                              AUDIENCE
                                                                                        Are there action
                                                                                            figures?                       Which is more
                                                                                                                         important when
                                                                                                                      deciding how content
                                                                                    NO                                  will be delivered?
                                                     IDENTICAL
                                                                                                                                                       It's not
                                                                                  UNIQUE                                                            Transmedia
                                                         Are the pieces of                        WHAT'S MOST ORGANIC
                                                           story content
                                                                                                                                                   Storytelling,
                                                                                                     TO THE STORY
                                                             unique or                                                                            it's integrated
                                                             identical?                                                                              marketing.
                                                                                                                                     YES
                                                                                                                 Is the story just
                                                                                                                 a light narrative
                                                                                   Are there         YES             wrapper?
                                                                                casual games?

                                                                  NO                                                             NO              NO

                               Congratulations!                                                                                       Do the content
                                   You're a                                                                          YES              fragments link
                                 Transmedia                                                                                           to each other?
                                 Storyteller!

                                                                                                                     2011 Steve Peters (www.about.me/stevepeters)



Steve Peters (@vpisteve) has created a very engaging (and amusing) info graphic “Is it Really Transmedia Storytelling?”
You can download here from Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59897583/Is-It-Really-Transmedia
Is It Really Transmedia                                 START
      Storytelling?
                                                      Is it on multiple                                         Is it a single
                                                            media             YES                             story or multiple
                                                         platforms?                                                 stories
                                         NO
                                                                                     SINGLE
           It's not
        Transmedia!                                      Was the story
                                                           transmedia
                                                        from inception?                                        MULTIPLE
                                                                            NO
                            YES
                                                                                      Are the pieces of
                                              Do you own the                         content linked and
                                                                            YES       in narrative sync
                                                   IP?
                              YES
                                                                                      with each other?

                                    NO
                                                                                                     NO

                     Is it an                   Is it really a
                    Alternate       NO         story, or is it a
                  Reality Game?               story universe?                STORY                              It's not
                                                                            UNIVERSE                         Transmedia
                      YES                         STORY                                                   Storytelling, it's
                                                                                                           just a crummy
                                                                                                           Entertainment
                                                                             THEME                            Franchise.
                                                  C'mon, is it
                                               *really* a story,
                                               or is it a theme?


                                It's not           STORY
                              Transmedia
                              Storytelling,                        info      WHAT'S MOST EFFECTIVE
Steve Peters (@vpisteve) has created a very engaging (and amusing) YES graphic “Is it Really Transmedia
Storytelling?” You can download it's an
                                 here from Scribd:                           TO REACH YOUR TARGET
                              adaptation.                                             AUDIENCE
http://www.scribd.com/doc/59897583/Is-It-Really-Transmedia
                                                         Are there action
                                                             figures?                       Which is more
                                                                                          important when
                                                                                       deciding how content
                                                     NO                                  will be delivered?
                              IDENTICAL
                                                                                                                       It's not
ASPECTS



Not every example I’m going to cite goes from live to the web and back again, which is the topic of
our panel. But I thought I might set up a key idea here, and that is, that properties that people are
calling transmedia today have a lot of different aspects. I’m going to whip through many different
examples from our history in order to discuss some of these aspects, and wind up with a deeper dive
into a few from the recent past.
PERFORMANCE




                     1981: TAMARA. Interactive Theatre
Tamara was a theatrical event launched in Toronto in which the audience moved into different rooms
and interacted with the actors. The story would unfold differently, depending upon your journey and
what happened in each room. The show ran for many years in Los Angeles and New York, and was
revived in Toronto. This is interactive, but not really multi-platform, though a CD-ROM was
attempted.
INTERACTIVITY




                                    1990: Hyperland
                                  BBC & Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams, the creator of A HITCHHICKERS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE built this work with the BBC at the dawn of the
interactive media age in order to explain and explore hyper-media. It could be said to be multi-platform because the
links took the user into different environments and domains. You can tell that the ideas were ahead of the technology
by looking at the clunky fonts.
IMMERSION




                   1992: MYST from Cyan & Broderbund

MYST was a ground-breaking game series on CD-ROM back in the 90’s, which remained the highest grossing
title until the SIMS overtook it. Unlike the classic “videogame” format, which were usually shooter or role-
playing games, MYST was a journey of discovery in which users proceeded into environments and worlds by
finding clues and activating elements of the system. Again, not really multi-platform, but a new way to tell a
story. MYST and its sequels are now available in the iTunes store in both a free and $4.99 version.
MULTI(PLATFORM)




                           1992: Bram Stoker’s DRACULA
                           Game based on Coppola’s Film

Francis Ford Coppola created a successful film adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel about the original vampire
starring Gary Oldman, and Sony released a game version that utilized footage shot on the set of the film,
which nudges into the terrain of multi-platform. We were excited to show it at the time because of the high
profile of the director, who created iconic films like THE GODFATHER trilogy.
MYSTERY… PUZZLE




                           1995: In the First Degree
                    Interactive CD-ROM from Broderbund


Another CD-ROM title from Broderbund was created by my friend Haney Armstrong, a fllmmaker who came up
with this extension of the traditional police procedural story by allowing the user to interrogate people.
SCAVENGE




                          2002: Push, Nevada: ABC & LivePlanet
                          Play along with the mystery to win $$

TV interactivity is a whole topic in and of itself. I included PUSH NEVADA in this presentation because it did
represent a breakthrough. Clues were peppered throughout the show and the website that allowed users to
amass points leading to a winner. I think I remember that some clues involved mobile calling as well, Even
though the show was not popular enough to be renewed, it was an early example of multi-platform
enrichment of a primary story.
PARALLEL CASTS




   1995: Johnny Mnemonic. CD-ROM from Sony Imagesoft

This William Gibson classic was made into a film with Keanu Reeves, not well reviewed, but significant because
Sony released a CD-ROM game simultaneously which allowed gameplay in a movie-like setting based upon
the same story. The casts were different.
MERGE




          2003: Battlestar Gallactica. AFI team: Schematic, Syfy, others

When the Sci-Fi Channel wanted to bring back the classic Battlestar Gallactica, representatives of the company,
as well as Universal’s game division, came into the AFI’s Digital Content Lab to create a multi-dimensional
viewing experience. The user interface, created by Schematic’s Dale Herigstad, allowed seamless movement by
the user in and out of the primary story (TV), a first-person spaceship flying experience (game), and deep data
about the ship, the characters, and the backstory, which also included clues. This was not the version
launched at the time of the show, but inspired lots of others.
GREATEST HITS



In this section of the talk I whip through slides of what one might call the modern canon of transmedia
examples, expecially those originating on television, where I spent a lot of my time in development work.
HEROES




Ditto with HEROES, which launched its 360 experience, later renamed EVOLUTIONS. Producer Jesse Alexander worked
closely with the TV series creative team.
LOST




The Emmy went to the LOST EXPERIENCE, an alternative reality game from ABC and Hi-ReS, a design and experience
company. The TV Show’s millions of fans could deepen their experience of the story world via this comprehensive site.
TRUTH ABOUT MARIKA




My mind was blown by this Swedish alternative reality game from Company P, headed by Christopher Sandberg. They
used TV, newspapers, the web, live events and kind of took over the whole country for a few weeks. The premise was a
fake event, but it was treated as real, and people engaged with the story in a sort of ambiguous way, not knowing for
sure what was real, what was fake, what was conspiracy, etc. Such a fictional trope is often part of ARG work, and many
would date it back to Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre’s radio adaptation of H.G.Welles’ WAR OF THE WORLDS in
the 30’s.
I LOVE BEES




42 Entertainment produced an ARG called I LOVE BEES to support the release of Microsoft’s HALO game.
WHY SO SERIOUS?




42 Entertainment created this multi-platform alternative reality game that invited players during the period
bridging the release of the two Batman films, especially the much-anticipated DARK KNIGHT from director
Christopher Nolan. Because the Gotham setting and the tone and elements of the franchise are so well known,
the creators could play off of that with newspapers and other media released in sequence that contained clues
and links to fill in the complex world of the films.
YEAR ZERO




YEAR ZERO is an ARG that involved fans of the band Nine Inch Nails at concerts by leaving USB drives in
restrooms. Those who activated the files contained therein on a computer got instructions that involved them
in launching the viral game, which depicts a theocratic dystopian future, the subject of the album.
CONSPIRACY FOR GOOD




Tim Kring created Heroes and in 2010 launched a global ARG called Conspiracy for Good which was
sponsored by Nokia. There were extensive live events that contained clues that could be retrieved via mobile
augmented reality technologies, as well as many other events. The fictional elements, especially those about
the evil corporation, were quite elaborate. There was a real-world charity in Africa that benefited from the
activities as well.
HEAD TRAUMA




This is just one of the properties created by Lance Weiler, whose breakthrough film THE BIG BROADCAST was
itself a precursor to more complex storytelling components being added beyond the film “platform.” 2010: HEAD
TRAUMA/Hope is Missing Lance Weiler/ Seize the Media
COLLAPSUS




COLLAPSUS was a documentary film on Dutch television that was expanded into a broader transmedia
experience that integrated game-play, global mapping, animation and other elements. Directed by
Tommy Palotta, who produced Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly. Won the best interactive film award
at the SXSW festival in 2011. From Submarine and VPRO.
PLAYING ON THE WEB



If we are going to discuss going from “live” to the web and back again, it might be worth examining some
examples of trends in the presentation of content on the web.
TAKE THIS LOLLIPOP




              Interactive Live Facebook Connect Experience

Take This Lollipop is a cinematic website created in HTML 5 that requires users to launch Facebook
Connect and authorize the use of content in the account, which is integrated into a creepy, serial killer
type short film. http://www.takethislollipop.com/
TAKE THIS LOLLIPOP




The cinematic experience of “Lolllipop” is startling because it embeds images, maps, names and facts
extracted from your Facebook account into the movie seemlessly.
ARCADE FIRE




                              LEVERAGES HTML 5 VIDEO
The Wilderness Downtown. http://thewildernessdowntown.com/ : Indie Rock Band Arcade Fire, working with
filmmaker Chris Milk, released a song “We Used to Wait” produced with HTML5. Users enter the zip code of the
place they lived as a kid, and the video incorporates street scenes grabbed via Google Map Street View feature.
Milk has a slew of experimental video/web projects on his site, including the 2012 FWA Best website (voted by
fans), another collaboration with a band, this time Danger Mouse. http://portfolio.chrismilk.com/
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE




Tommy Pallotta and other collaborators created a game to support the release Mission Impossible:Ghost
Protocol, requiring a Facebook Connect log-on. http://cobalt.missionimpossible.com/
FACEBOOK CONNECT INTEGRATION




This is the image generated at the end of the Cobalt game, which is then sharable on Facebook.
3 DREAMS OF BLACK




       WebGL/Chrome Project by Chris Milk & Aaron Koblin
http://www.ro.me/?id=86057 is another Chris Milk project using Google Chrome’s browser, this time
leveraging the power of Web GL technologies.
3 DREAMS OF BLACK




Users can generate their own “dreams” by drawing on the landscape provided by the site or vote for
their favorites.
LEVERAGES HTML 5 VIDEO
AIM HIGH is a web series about a teenaged spy. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1730374/ “Viewers log on via
Facebook” and by giving permission, become part of the story. https://www.facebook.com/AimHighSeries.
FAN-VIDEO
                   STORYTELLING


Another web format that inspires is fan-produced video, uploaded into a storytelling frame. The innovation
here is the direct address format, with the user speaking to viewers via the webcam ubiquitous on personal
computers, especially laptops.
LONELY GIRL 15




The technique began at the dawn of YouTube: Lonely Girl 15 was a very influential early use of YouTube in
which actors portrayed young people’s lives as if they were really opening up to the world via video. Most
people thought these were real people, and responded in kind with video uploads of their own, creating a
tapestry of video storytelling that was quite unique. What has become a standard feature of YouTube was
pioneered by Lonely Girl, and the lessons are being applied by the firm founded by its producers: EQAL.
http://www.eqal.com/
BECKINFIELD




     Beckinfield (2011) – User submitted videos tell the story of a town


Beckinfield is a new site that creates a story world, e.g., a mythical California town, and a storyline that
comes from the site, but the unfolding of the story is created by users who upload videos to the site
that they have made in characters. The originator is an actor who had been helping fellow actors
upload “audition” type videos to YouTube, and yearned for a way to let actors use their improv skills to
further their careers. The site’s platform company, Theatrix, hopes to license the software to other
content companies who want to leverage their experience. They call it “mass participation television.”

http://www.beckinfield.com/
Registered users get a weekly newsletter that provides a framework for “events” in the mythical town against
which users can create their characters’ performances in video, and then upload them. There are also
auditions and contests conveyed thru the newsletter.
BECKINFIELD




As the site and story forms have matured, Beckinfield has featured more complexly edited pieces,
generated by the site’s creative team. Otherwise, all of the content is in the form of direct address into
the camera, usually webcam-style confessional formats.
WHAT IS THEATRE?



“Live” content with a live audience is an ancient art form: theatre. Some innovations in interactivity, like
“Tamara” are being leveraged in today’s theatre world, along with the insertion of multi-platform story forms
and web-based extensions.
SLEEP NO MORE




            2011: Punchdrunk Interactive Production Opens in NYC

“Sleep No More” is an interactive theatre presentation of Macbeth in which audience members in masks
interact throughout a physical space where the actors unfurl the story. http://sleepnomorenyc.com/
Punchdrunk Theatre, a London-based troupe, has experimented with interactive theatre in the past. The
brought “Sleep No More” to NYC in 2011, where it has been selling out almost every show.
NO GOOD DEED




               2012: Furious Theatre Company Play & Graphic Novel


Pasadena CA based Furious Theatre Company specializes in edgy productions by emerging playwrights. Furious
commissioned Matt Pelfrey to write the play, which involves a young loser who inadvertently becomes famous for an act
of apparent heroism and wanders into superhero fantasy inspired by the comics he wants to publish. His character--
Hellbound Hero, is the subject of a graphic novel released in conjunction with the show. The show ran for several
weeks in 2012 at LA’s John Anson Ford Theatre. http://www.iamhellbound.com/
NO GOOD DEED




               2012: Furious Theatre Company Play & Graphic Novel


The show ran for several weeks in 2012 at LA’s John Anson Ford Theatre. http://www.iamhellbound.com/
NO GOOD DEED




               2012: Furious Theatre Company Play & Graphic Novel


The graphic novel Hellbound Heroes, written by Matt Pelfrey and illustrated by Ben Matsuya, is still available
for sale online.
NO GOOD DEED




          2012: Furious Theatre Company Play & Graphic Novel


Here’s the hero, hell-bound, of course.
ACCOMPLICE




The Accomplice is an urban-based exploration game/theatre piece, launched in
NY http://accomplicetheshow.com/details-ny.php and now in Los Angeles
http://www.accomplicetheshow.com/details-hollywood.php
THE SEED




        The Seed (2012) – Facebook-based “Play” by David Varela, U.K.


I just learned about The Seed, a “theatre” project from UK’s David Varela that takes place on Facebook. Here’s
some info from the author’s blog: http://www.davidvarela.com/ and the FB site of the fictional character, an
agronomist, who is the protagonist of the story: https://www.facebook.com/theseed2012
HAUNTED




                                2012: BXX’s HAUNTED
                     Daniel Knauf (Carnivale)’s online horror/mystery

http://bxxweb.com/ is the site for Daniel Knauf’s beta site for an interactive haunted house story called,
fittingly, “Haunted.” His linear stuff (Carnivale on HBO) was beautiful and plenty weird. This is lower tech, not
so beautiful, but addictive in a strange mesmerizing way.
HAUNTED




                               2012: BXX’s HAUNTED
                    Daniel Knauf (Carnivale)’s online horror/mystery

Many items are available to help “viewers” navigate the story, including this map of the haunted house from an
early real estate ad.
BOOK ‘EM



Authors of books are also edging into multi-platform storytelling and interactivity. Here are a few examples.
AN AMERICAN STORY




                         ETHAN RUSSELL ebook (2012): “It’s Your
                               History: Help Write It”
Rock photographer and music video director Ethan Russell http://www.ethanrussell.com/index.htmlhas just
published his “illustrated” memoir “An American Story” that features copious photography, videos, and a
companion website that is seamlessly integrated into the narrative. He tells me the iBook version on the iPad is
the best user-experience. It’s also available for the Kindle, Nook, etc. http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/
ethan-russell-american-story/id531762062?mt=11
The website allows users to post their own reminiscences of the historical timeline events itemized within
Russell’s nonfiction book. He intends to release these user contributions in subsequent versions of the ebook,
which he titled version 1.0.
Text
 Text
NEXUS HUMANUS




                      2011: Nexus Humanus from Michael Grant

Nexus Humanus is a new project, just launched, from Michael Grant, a best-selling children’s book author,
and a transmedia team which has created a web-based story world for his next story, which is focused on a
mind-control organization. http://nexushumanus.com/
NEXUS HUMANUS




                       2011: Nexus Humanus from Michael Grant


The story seems to be a satire of Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
NEXUS HUMANUS




                      2011: Nexus Humanus from Michael Grant


At the bottom of the page, after copious amounts of white space is a tiny button….
BZRK.COM




                       2011: Nexus Humanus from Michael Grant


...and clicking the button takes you to another Michael Grant multimedia book and web project, this one for
teens called “Go BZRK.”
BRANDED



Brands are experimenting with multiplatform storytelling. I dive into a particularly complex example in this
case study.
TEST SUBJECTS NEEDED




         42 Entertainment: PROJECT ICEFLY/HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT


HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT

http://survivalcode.com/
Test subjects needed
Project ICEFLY
COMPLEX & IMMERSIVE
      Online rumors > Live events > Phone
      Calls > YouTube videos > Website A >
      Backstory/Themes Revealed > Register
        > Objects with QR code mailed >
       Website B > Back Story > Videos >
        Gameplay & Levels > Codes from
       Gum > Facebook > Secrets… > ???
HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT

http://survivalcode.com/
Test subjects needed
Project ICEFLY
RUMORS




HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT

http://survivalcode.com/
Test subjects needed
Project ICEFLY
WEBSITE




HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT

http://survivalcode.com/
Test subjects needed
Project ICEFLY
OBJECT




HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT

http://survivalcode.com/
Test subjects needed
Project ICEFLY
EVENTS




HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT

http://survivalcode.com/
Test subjects needed
Project ICEFLY
VIDEOS




HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT

http://survivalcode.com/
Test subjects needed
Project ICEFLY
FACEBOOK SITE




HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT

http://survivalcode.com/
Test subjects needed
Project ICEFLY
FACEBOOK SITE




Ultimately the goal is to play a game to progress thru levels that gain points and allow you to retrieve prizes. There were
winners in multiple cities.
INDIE MODELS
        • No-budget aesthetic
        • Grass-roots / DIY / “some budget”
        • R&D
        • Fan Incubation
        • Fan Funded (think pre-sale)
        • Arbitrage plays
        • Audience Product
        • Infrastructure Play

A review of the Brian Clark talk at Henry Jenkin’s transmedia class can be found at http://
metascott.com/2011/09/21/brian-clarks-the-business-of-transmedia/
REMEMBERING 9/11




Clark’s GMD Studios created an interactive experience with the Smithsonian to remember 9/11.
Simple, text and image-based. http://conversations.si.edu/
REMEMBERING 9/11




Clark’s GMD Studios created an interactive experience with the Smithsonian to
remember 9/11. Simple, text and image-based. http://conversations.si.edu/
ROBOT HEART




Lance Weiler created an educational transmedia experience for kids in two schools, one in Montreal
and one in Los Angeles, who manipulated a robot across the U.S. He calls this storytelling R&D. http://
robotheartstories.com/about

He used IndieGoGo to raise funds to support the rollout of the project: http://www.indiegogo.com/
Robot-Heart-Stories
CHRISTY DENA




Australian Christy Dena offers “pre-orders” for her new transmedia experience, which involves audio overlays
of the story elements.
http://www.authenticinallcaps.com/
SNOW TOWN




Jan Libby has turned to Kickstarter to raise development funds for her interactive app platform within which
she hopes to create a more fully realized version of her story SNOWTOWN. http://www.snowtown.me/
FUN




Mother Jones Magazine produced three faux negative campaign ads around “candidates” from GAME
OF THRONES. View at http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/game-of-thrones-attack-ads

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a6r9CdNenuk"
frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
WISDOM
       When you start out a career in the
       arts you have no idea what you are
       doing. It’s impossible to do anything
         wrong. Because nobody’s done it
      before, they haven’t made up the rules
         to stop anyone from doing that
                   particular thing.

                    Author & Screenwriter Neil Gaiman

I end this talk with these words of wisdom from Neil Gaiman’s recent talk at a
University Commencement.
Thank you for your
                              attention.

            Let me know how I can help.




Nick DeMartino Consulting provides strategic services to companies in the digital media and content markets,
including marketing initiatives, strategic alliance and partnerships, business development and more. Details
available at http://www.nickdemartino.net
NICK DEMARTINO
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     nickdemartino                                                  blog
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     nrdemartino@gmail.com                                          www.delicious.com/
                                                                    afinickd/transmedia


Please feel free to contact me with questions. I will be posting this presentation on SlideShare. If you give me your card
after the talk, I’ll send it to you, as well. Please check out my website, and if you like my blog posts, sign up for my
newsletter. Much of the research for this talk can be found on my Delicious site, under either transmedia tag.

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Transmedia wyrdcon

  • 1. Presentation to WYRD CON June 23, 2012 These slides were produced for “From Live to Web and Back Again,” a panel at the WYRDCON conference, June 23, 2012. http://wyrdcon.com/ For a discussion of the conference, go to my blog: http:// www.nickdemartino.net/blog/
  • 2. WHY ME? Movie Geek Journalist Filmmaker Marketer Strategist What qualifies me to give this talk? I am a movie geek. I am an ex-journalist, filmmaker and marketer. And I spent 20 years running digital programs and initiatives at the American Film Institute, some of which are listed on the next slide. To learn more about my career, check out my website at http://www.nickdemartino.net
  • 3. 20 YEARS @ AFI: Computer Media Salons Enhanced TV Workshop Digital Content Lab DigiFest I discuss a few highlights of my years at AFI and the relationships I developed with innovators at the intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. I discuss a few highlights of the training-based programs and the showcase programs, leading into our signature approach: collaborative prototype development around content. To learn more about my career, check out my website at http://www.nickdemartino.net
  • 4. WHY ME? Having heard the word ‘transmedia’ for some time, even as we were incubating many cross-media applications at AFI, I became intrigued by the rise in the use of the term last spring, especially because there seemed to be a lot of fighting going on. This lead to a lot of research and a series of interviews with many of the leading practitioners in the transmedia field, and a three-art series “Why Transmedia is Catching On” which was posted on the Tribeca Film Institute’s “Future of Film” site, and syndicated to sites around the world, including Huffington Post, The Wrap, MIPblogs, x-media Lab (Australia) and others. The series lives on my own blog: http://www.nickdemartino.net/blog (Here is a post that includes the links to all the different versions: http://www.nickdemartino.net/blog/2011/7/11/ where-to-read-my-transmedia-series.html )
  • 5. WHY ME? Nick DeMartino Consulting Digital media strategy: Content, distribution, markets. I started a consulting business last year after leaving the AFI in which I help companies make the transition occasioned by the disruption that the Internet is bringing to every market. Most of my work is in the content production and distribution markets. To learn more about my career, check out my website at http://www.nickdemartino.net
  • 6. DEFINITION… Transmedia Storytelling: * Across multiple media * Each contributing to story * Multiple entry points into story Henry Jenkins:Transmedia Storytelling The term transmedia storytelling is, by all accounts, a coinage from Henry Jenkins, a much-published academic from MIT, now on the faculty at the University of Southern California. Henry is a good source for info, particularly his courseware, which is published on his blog: http://www.henryjenkins.org/ The specific article is from MIT Technology Review, "Transmedia Storytelling.” Jenkins, Henry (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 9780814742815. Jenkins, Henry (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 9780814742815. Jenkins, Henry (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 9780814742815.
  • 7. EXAMPLE? So, is the Royal Wedding a transmedia story?
  • 8. EXAMPLE? Or the Bible & Jesus Christ?
  • 9. EXAMPLE? Certainly Star Wars is transmedia, with many different media and formats. Though, there are those in the field who prefer to think of Star Wars as the first major storytelling FRANCHISE, not really transmedia. What is the distinction? Whether new elements to the story are added in every platform, and therefore make the experience of all platforms necessary for a full experience of the work.
  • 10. YOU COULD SAY: Franchise Multi-platform; cross-platform ARG Interactive media Multimedia Connected entertainment These are related words describing various story forms. Some would say that none is as complete as “transmedia.” Others say, to hell with the language wars. Let’s get to storytelling! (Note: ARG=alternate reality game)
  • 11. Is It Really Transmedia START Storytelling? Is it on multiple Is it a single media YES story or multiple platforms? stories NO SINGLE It's not Transmedia! Was the story transmedia from inception? MULTIPLE NO YES Are the pieces of Do you own the content linked and YES in narrative sync IP? YES with each other? NO NO Is it an Is it really a Alternate NO story, or is it a Reality Game? story universe? STORY It's not UNIVERSE Transmedia YES STORY Storytelling, it's just a crummy Entertainment THEME Franchise. C'mon, is it *really* a story, or is it a theme? It's not STORY Transmedia Storytelling, YES WHAT'S MOST EFFECTIVE it's an TO REACH YOUR TARGET adaptation. AUDIENCE Are there action figures? Which is more important when deciding how content NO will be delivered? IDENTICAL It's not UNIQUE Transmedia Are the pieces of WHAT'S MOST ORGANIC story content Storytelling, TO THE STORY unique or it's integrated identical? marketing. YES Is the story just a light narrative Are there YES wrapper? casual games? NO NO NO Congratulations! Do the content You're a YES fragments link Transmedia to each other? Storyteller! 2011 Steve Peters (www.about.me/stevepeters) Steve Peters (@vpisteve) has created a very engaging (and amusing) info graphic “Is it Really Transmedia Storytelling?” You can download here from Scribd: http://www.scribd.com/doc/59897583/Is-It-Really-Transmedia
  • 12. Is It Really Transmedia START Storytelling? Is it on multiple Is it a single media YES story or multiple platforms? stories NO SINGLE It's not Transmedia! Was the story transmedia from inception? MULTIPLE NO YES Are the pieces of Do you own the content linked and YES in narrative sync IP? YES with each other? NO NO Is it an Is it really a Alternate NO story, or is it a Reality Game? story universe? STORY It's not UNIVERSE Transmedia YES STORY Storytelling, it's just a crummy Entertainment THEME Franchise. C'mon, is it *really* a story, or is it a theme? It's not STORY Transmedia Storytelling, info WHAT'S MOST EFFECTIVE Steve Peters (@vpisteve) has created a very engaging (and amusing) YES graphic “Is it Really Transmedia Storytelling?” You can download it's an here from Scribd: TO REACH YOUR TARGET adaptation. AUDIENCE http://www.scribd.com/doc/59897583/Is-It-Really-Transmedia Are there action figures? Which is more important when deciding how content NO will be delivered? IDENTICAL It's not
  • 13. ASPECTS Not every example I’m going to cite goes from live to the web and back again, which is the topic of our panel. But I thought I might set up a key idea here, and that is, that properties that people are calling transmedia today have a lot of different aspects. I’m going to whip through many different examples from our history in order to discuss some of these aspects, and wind up with a deeper dive into a few from the recent past.
  • 14. PERFORMANCE 1981: TAMARA. Interactive Theatre Tamara was a theatrical event launched in Toronto in which the audience moved into different rooms and interacted with the actors. The story would unfold differently, depending upon your journey and what happened in each room. The show ran for many years in Los Angeles and New York, and was revived in Toronto. This is interactive, but not really multi-platform, though a CD-ROM was attempted.
  • 15. INTERACTIVITY 1990: Hyperland BBC & Douglas Adams Douglas Adams, the creator of A HITCHHICKERS GUIDE TO THE UNIVERSE built this work with the BBC at the dawn of the interactive media age in order to explain and explore hyper-media. It could be said to be multi-platform because the links took the user into different environments and domains. You can tell that the ideas were ahead of the technology by looking at the clunky fonts.
  • 16. IMMERSION 1992: MYST from Cyan & Broderbund MYST was a ground-breaking game series on CD-ROM back in the 90’s, which remained the highest grossing title until the SIMS overtook it. Unlike the classic “videogame” format, which were usually shooter or role- playing games, MYST was a journey of discovery in which users proceeded into environments and worlds by finding clues and activating elements of the system. Again, not really multi-platform, but a new way to tell a story. MYST and its sequels are now available in the iTunes store in both a free and $4.99 version.
  • 17. MULTI(PLATFORM) 1992: Bram Stoker’s DRACULA Game based on Coppola’s Film Francis Ford Coppola created a successful film adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel about the original vampire starring Gary Oldman, and Sony released a game version that utilized footage shot on the set of the film, which nudges into the terrain of multi-platform. We were excited to show it at the time because of the high profile of the director, who created iconic films like THE GODFATHER trilogy.
  • 18. MYSTERY… PUZZLE 1995: In the First Degree Interactive CD-ROM from Broderbund Another CD-ROM title from Broderbund was created by my friend Haney Armstrong, a fllmmaker who came up with this extension of the traditional police procedural story by allowing the user to interrogate people.
  • 19. SCAVENGE 2002: Push, Nevada: ABC & LivePlanet Play along with the mystery to win $$ TV interactivity is a whole topic in and of itself. I included PUSH NEVADA in this presentation because it did represent a breakthrough. Clues were peppered throughout the show and the website that allowed users to amass points leading to a winner. I think I remember that some clues involved mobile calling as well, Even though the show was not popular enough to be renewed, it was an early example of multi-platform enrichment of a primary story.
  • 20. PARALLEL CASTS 1995: Johnny Mnemonic. CD-ROM from Sony Imagesoft This William Gibson classic was made into a film with Keanu Reeves, not well reviewed, but significant because Sony released a CD-ROM game simultaneously which allowed gameplay in a movie-like setting based upon the same story. The casts were different.
  • 21. MERGE 2003: Battlestar Gallactica. AFI team: Schematic, Syfy, others When the Sci-Fi Channel wanted to bring back the classic Battlestar Gallactica, representatives of the company, as well as Universal’s game division, came into the AFI’s Digital Content Lab to create a multi-dimensional viewing experience. The user interface, created by Schematic’s Dale Herigstad, allowed seamless movement by the user in and out of the primary story (TV), a first-person spaceship flying experience (game), and deep data about the ship, the characters, and the backstory, which also included clues. This was not the version launched at the time of the show, but inspired lots of others.
  • 22. GREATEST HITS In this section of the talk I whip through slides of what one might call the modern canon of transmedia examples, expecially those originating on television, where I spent a lot of my time in development work.
  • 23. HEROES Ditto with HEROES, which launched its 360 experience, later renamed EVOLUTIONS. Producer Jesse Alexander worked closely with the TV series creative team.
  • 24. LOST The Emmy went to the LOST EXPERIENCE, an alternative reality game from ABC and Hi-ReS, a design and experience company. The TV Show’s millions of fans could deepen their experience of the story world via this comprehensive site.
  • 25. TRUTH ABOUT MARIKA My mind was blown by this Swedish alternative reality game from Company P, headed by Christopher Sandberg. They used TV, newspapers, the web, live events and kind of took over the whole country for a few weeks. The premise was a fake event, but it was treated as real, and people engaged with the story in a sort of ambiguous way, not knowing for sure what was real, what was fake, what was conspiracy, etc. Such a fictional trope is often part of ARG work, and many would date it back to Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre’s radio adaptation of H.G.Welles’ WAR OF THE WORLDS in the 30’s.
  • 26. I LOVE BEES 42 Entertainment produced an ARG called I LOVE BEES to support the release of Microsoft’s HALO game.
  • 27. WHY SO SERIOUS? 42 Entertainment created this multi-platform alternative reality game that invited players during the period bridging the release of the two Batman films, especially the much-anticipated DARK KNIGHT from director Christopher Nolan. Because the Gotham setting and the tone and elements of the franchise are so well known, the creators could play off of that with newspapers and other media released in sequence that contained clues and links to fill in the complex world of the films.
  • 28. YEAR ZERO YEAR ZERO is an ARG that involved fans of the band Nine Inch Nails at concerts by leaving USB drives in restrooms. Those who activated the files contained therein on a computer got instructions that involved them in launching the viral game, which depicts a theocratic dystopian future, the subject of the album.
  • 29. CONSPIRACY FOR GOOD Tim Kring created Heroes and in 2010 launched a global ARG called Conspiracy for Good which was sponsored by Nokia. There were extensive live events that contained clues that could be retrieved via mobile augmented reality technologies, as well as many other events. The fictional elements, especially those about the evil corporation, were quite elaborate. There was a real-world charity in Africa that benefited from the activities as well.
  • 30. HEAD TRAUMA This is just one of the properties created by Lance Weiler, whose breakthrough film THE BIG BROADCAST was itself a precursor to more complex storytelling components being added beyond the film “platform.” 2010: HEAD TRAUMA/Hope is Missing Lance Weiler/ Seize the Media
  • 31. COLLAPSUS COLLAPSUS was a documentary film on Dutch television that was expanded into a broader transmedia experience that integrated game-play, global mapping, animation and other elements. Directed by Tommy Palotta, who produced Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly. Won the best interactive film award at the SXSW festival in 2011. From Submarine and VPRO.
  • 32. PLAYING ON THE WEB If we are going to discuss going from “live” to the web and back again, it might be worth examining some examples of trends in the presentation of content on the web.
  • 33. TAKE THIS LOLLIPOP Interactive Live Facebook Connect Experience Take This Lollipop is a cinematic website created in HTML 5 that requires users to launch Facebook Connect and authorize the use of content in the account, which is integrated into a creepy, serial killer type short film. http://www.takethislollipop.com/
  • 34.
  • 35.
  • 36.
  • 37. TAKE THIS LOLLIPOP The cinematic experience of “Lolllipop” is startling because it embeds images, maps, names and facts extracted from your Facebook account into the movie seemlessly.
  • 38. ARCADE FIRE LEVERAGES HTML 5 VIDEO The Wilderness Downtown. http://thewildernessdowntown.com/ : Indie Rock Band Arcade Fire, working with filmmaker Chris Milk, released a song “We Used to Wait” produced with HTML5. Users enter the zip code of the place they lived as a kid, and the video incorporates street scenes grabbed via Google Map Street View feature. Milk has a slew of experimental video/web projects on his site, including the 2012 FWA Best website (voted by fans), another collaboration with a band, this time Danger Mouse. http://portfolio.chrismilk.com/
  • 39. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE Tommy Pallotta and other collaborators created a game to support the release Mission Impossible:Ghost Protocol, requiring a Facebook Connect log-on. http://cobalt.missionimpossible.com/
  • 40. FACEBOOK CONNECT INTEGRATION This is the image generated at the end of the Cobalt game, which is then sharable on Facebook.
  • 41. 3 DREAMS OF BLACK WebGL/Chrome Project by Chris Milk & Aaron Koblin http://www.ro.me/?id=86057 is another Chris Milk project using Google Chrome’s browser, this time leveraging the power of Web GL technologies.
  • 42. 3 DREAMS OF BLACK Users can generate their own “dreams” by drawing on the landscape provided by the site or vote for their favorites.
  • 43. LEVERAGES HTML 5 VIDEO AIM HIGH is a web series about a teenaged spy. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1730374/ “Viewers log on via Facebook” and by giving permission, become part of the story. https://www.facebook.com/AimHighSeries.
  • 44. FAN-VIDEO STORYTELLING Another web format that inspires is fan-produced video, uploaded into a storytelling frame. The innovation here is the direct address format, with the user speaking to viewers via the webcam ubiquitous on personal computers, especially laptops.
  • 45. LONELY GIRL 15 The technique began at the dawn of YouTube: Lonely Girl 15 was a very influential early use of YouTube in which actors portrayed young people’s lives as if they were really opening up to the world via video. Most people thought these were real people, and responded in kind with video uploads of their own, creating a tapestry of video storytelling that was quite unique. What has become a standard feature of YouTube was pioneered by Lonely Girl, and the lessons are being applied by the firm founded by its producers: EQAL. http://www.eqal.com/
  • 46. BECKINFIELD Beckinfield (2011) – User submitted videos tell the story of a town Beckinfield is a new site that creates a story world, e.g., a mythical California town, and a storyline that comes from the site, but the unfolding of the story is created by users who upload videos to the site that they have made in characters. The originator is an actor who had been helping fellow actors upload “audition” type videos to YouTube, and yearned for a way to let actors use their improv skills to further their careers. The site’s platform company, Theatrix, hopes to license the software to other content companies who want to leverage their experience. They call it “mass participation television.” http://www.beckinfield.com/
  • 47. Registered users get a weekly newsletter that provides a framework for “events” in the mythical town against which users can create their characters’ performances in video, and then upload them. There are also auditions and contests conveyed thru the newsletter.
  • 48. BECKINFIELD As the site and story forms have matured, Beckinfield has featured more complexly edited pieces, generated by the site’s creative team. Otherwise, all of the content is in the form of direct address into the camera, usually webcam-style confessional formats.
  • 49. WHAT IS THEATRE? “Live” content with a live audience is an ancient art form: theatre. Some innovations in interactivity, like “Tamara” are being leveraged in today’s theatre world, along with the insertion of multi-platform story forms and web-based extensions.
  • 50. SLEEP NO MORE 2011: Punchdrunk Interactive Production Opens in NYC “Sleep No More” is an interactive theatre presentation of Macbeth in which audience members in masks interact throughout a physical space where the actors unfurl the story. http://sleepnomorenyc.com/
  • 51. Punchdrunk Theatre, a London-based troupe, has experimented with interactive theatre in the past. The brought “Sleep No More” to NYC in 2011, where it has been selling out almost every show.
  • 52. NO GOOD DEED 2012: Furious Theatre Company Play & Graphic Novel Pasadena CA based Furious Theatre Company specializes in edgy productions by emerging playwrights. Furious commissioned Matt Pelfrey to write the play, which involves a young loser who inadvertently becomes famous for an act of apparent heroism and wanders into superhero fantasy inspired by the comics he wants to publish. His character-- Hellbound Hero, is the subject of a graphic novel released in conjunction with the show. The show ran for several weeks in 2012 at LA’s John Anson Ford Theatre. http://www.iamhellbound.com/
  • 53. NO GOOD DEED 2012: Furious Theatre Company Play & Graphic Novel The show ran for several weeks in 2012 at LA’s John Anson Ford Theatre. http://www.iamhellbound.com/
  • 54. NO GOOD DEED 2012: Furious Theatre Company Play & Graphic Novel The graphic novel Hellbound Heroes, written by Matt Pelfrey and illustrated by Ben Matsuya, is still available for sale online.
  • 55. NO GOOD DEED 2012: Furious Theatre Company Play & Graphic Novel Here’s the hero, hell-bound, of course.
  • 56. ACCOMPLICE The Accomplice is an urban-based exploration game/theatre piece, launched in NY http://accomplicetheshow.com/details-ny.php and now in Los Angeles http://www.accomplicetheshow.com/details-hollywood.php
  • 57. THE SEED The Seed (2012) – Facebook-based “Play” by David Varela, U.K. I just learned about The Seed, a “theatre” project from UK’s David Varela that takes place on Facebook. Here’s some info from the author’s blog: http://www.davidvarela.com/ and the FB site of the fictional character, an agronomist, who is the protagonist of the story: https://www.facebook.com/theseed2012
  • 58. HAUNTED 2012: BXX’s HAUNTED Daniel Knauf (Carnivale)’s online horror/mystery http://bxxweb.com/ is the site for Daniel Knauf’s beta site for an interactive haunted house story called, fittingly, “Haunted.” His linear stuff (Carnivale on HBO) was beautiful and plenty weird. This is lower tech, not so beautiful, but addictive in a strange mesmerizing way.
  • 59. HAUNTED 2012: BXX’s HAUNTED Daniel Knauf (Carnivale)’s online horror/mystery Many items are available to help “viewers” navigate the story, including this map of the haunted house from an early real estate ad.
  • 60. BOOK ‘EM Authors of books are also edging into multi-platform storytelling and interactivity. Here are a few examples.
  • 61. AN AMERICAN STORY ETHAN RUSSELL ebook (2012): “It’s Your History: Help Write It” Rock photographer and music video director Ethan Russell http://www.ethanrussell.com/index.htmlhas just published his “illustrated” memoir “An American Story” that features copious photography, videos, and a companion website that is seamlessly integrated into the narrative. He tells me the iBook version on the iPad is the best user-experience. It’s also available for the Kindle, Nook, etc. http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/ ethan-russell-american-story/id531762062?mt=11
  • 62. The website allows users to post their own reminiscences of the historical timeline events itemized within Russell’s nonfiction book. He intends to release these user contributions in subsequent versions of the ebook, which he titled version 1.0.
  • 64. NEXUS HUMANUS 2011: Nexus Humanus from Michael Grant Nexus Humanus is a new project, just launched, from Michael Grant, a best-selling children’s book author, and a transmedia team which has created a web-based story world for his next story, which is focused on a mind-control organization. http://nexushumanus.com/
  • 65. NEXUS HUMANUS 2011: Nexus Humanus from Michael Grant The story seems to be a satire of Scientology and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard.
  • 66. NEXUS HUMANUS 2011: Nexus Humanus from Michael Grant At the bottom of the page, after copious amounts of white space is a tiny button….
  • 67. BZRK.COM 2011: Nexus Humanus from Michael Grant ...and clicking the button takes you to another Michael Grant multimedia book and web project, this one for teens called “Go BZRK.”
  • 68. BRANDED Brands are experimenting with multiplatform storytelling. I dive into a particularly complex example in this case study.
  • 69. TEST SUBJECTS NEEDED 42 Entertainment: PROJECT ICEFLY/HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT http://survivalcode.com/ Test subjects needed Project ICEFLY
  • 70. COMPLEX & IMMERSIVE Online rumors > Live events > Phone Calls > YouTube videos > Website A > Backstory/Themes Revealed > Register > Objects with QR code mailed > Website B > Back Story > Videos > Gameplay & Levels > Codes from Gum > Facebook > Secrets… > ??? HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT http://survivalcode.com/ Test subjects needed Project ICEFLY
  • 76. FACEBOOK SITE HUMAN PRESERVATION PROJECT http://survivalcode.com/ Test subjects needed Project ICEFLY
  • 77. FACEBOOK SITE Ultimately the goal is to play a game to progress thru levels that gain points and allow you to retrieve prizes. There were winners in multiple cities.
  • 78. INDIE MODELS • No-budget aesthetic • Grass-roots / DIY / “some budget” • R&D • Fan Incubation • Fan Funded (think pre-sale) • Arbitrage plays • Audience Product • Infrastructure Play A review of the Brian Clark talk at Henry Jenkin’s transmedia class can be found at http:// metascott.com/2011/09/21/brian-clarks-the-business-of-transmedia/
  • 79. REMEMBERING 9/11 Clark’s GMD Studios created an interactive experience with the Smithsonian to remember 9/11. Simple, text and image-based. http://conversations.si.edu/
  • 80. REMEMBERING 9/11 Clark’s GMD Studios created an interactive experience with the Smithsonian to remember 9/11. Simple, text and image-based. http://conversations.si.edu/
  • 81. ROBOT HEART Lance Weiler created an educational transmedia experience for kids in two schools, one in Montreal and one in Los Angeles, who manipulated a robot across the U.S. He calls this storytelling R&D. http:// robotheartstories.com/about He used IndieGoGo to raise funds to support the rollout of the project: http://www.indiegogo.com/ Robot-Heart-Stories
  • 82. CHRISTY DENA Australian Christy Dena offers “pre-orders” for her new transmedia experience, which involves audio overlays of the story elements. http://www.authenticinallcaps.com/
  • 83. SNOW TOWN Jan Libby has turned to Kickstarter to raise development funds for her interactive app platform within which she hopes to create a more fully realized version of her story SNOWTOWN. http://www.snowtown.me/
  • 84. FUN Mother Jones Magazine produced three faux negative campaign ads around “candidates” from GAME OF THRONES. View at http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/06/game-of-thrones-attack-ads <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/a6r9CdNenuk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  • 85. WISDOM When you start out a career in the arts you have no idea what you are doing. It’s impossible to do anything wrong. Because nobody’s done it before, they haven’t made up the rules to stop anyone from doing that particular thing. Author & Screenwriter Neil Gaiman I end this talk with these words of wisdom from Neil Gaiman’s recent talk at a University Commencement.
  • 86. Thank you for your attention. Let me know how I can help. Nick DeMartino Consulting provides strategic services to companies in the digital media and content markets, including marketing initiatives, strategic alliance and partnerships, business development and more. Details available at http://www.nickdemartino.net
  • 87. NICK DEMARTINO • TWITTER: • WEBSITE: @nickdemartino www.nickdemartino.net • SLIDESHARE: • BLOG (and newsletter): www.slideshare.net/ www.nickdemartino.net/ nickdemartino blog • EMAIL: • DELICIOUS: nrdemartino@gmail.com www.delicious.com/ afinickd/transmedia Please feel free to contact me with questions. I will be posting this presentation on SlideShare. If you give me your card after the talk, I’ll send it to you, as well. Please check out my website, and if you like my blog posts, sign up for my newsletter. Much of the research for this talk can be found on my Delicious site, under either transmedia tag.