TRANSMEDIA STORY-TELLING

Henry Jenkins (2007) explores the idea of spreading a narrative across numerous platforms in his blog post, ‘transmedia story-telling 101’. Straight off the bat I had no idea what transmedia story-telling was but Jenkins managed to make it very clear by using examples like the Matrix, DC comics and Star Wars in order to give an easily understood definition. I must admit I have never explored a story further than the one text; I have read a couple of the Harry Potter books as well as seen the movies but that’s about it. Comics made into movies are a great example of how one can delve further into the characters and storylines of a particular narrative.  Especially with the recent barrage of Marvel super-hero movies being released at the moment, those who have read the comics have far greater insight into the story-line than those who haven’t. The biggest display of transmedia story-telling I can think of is the Star Wars phenomenon. Jenkins (2007) mentions the ‘Attack of the Clones’ cartoon series which fills the gap between episode II and III but that is just the tip of the ice-berg; books, comics, websites, and merchandise all contribute to the densely layered storyline and give insight into even the smallest aspect of the narrative. Video games give background information on lesser known characters and let you explore jedi missions not shown in the films. A particular board game takes you through every step needed to become a Jedi; steps that cannot be fully understood through watching the films. I myself have not taken part in this extra Star Wars research but I have seen first-hand the extent of someone’s Star Wars textual library and it is mind blowing.

My only question about transmedia story-telling relates to consumer made texts. Are fan made comics included in the transmedia space?  If it isn’t approved by the original creators, are they to be disregarded when putting together the pieces of a transmedia narrative? If so, how do we know what to ignore? I think that for a fluid, un-fractured and un-contradictory narrative, all ideas have to come from the same source. If all texts (producer and consumer) are included, the story is likely to become too confusing and the consumer will lose interest. I know I would. Thanks for reading.

References

Jenkins, H. (2007) 'Transmedia Storytelling 101' http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html

Image sourced from: bdcomics.bdgamers.net