Transmedia storytelling is the way in which a story is told through multiple media platforms (video games, websites, books, etc.), and each element contributes to a fan’s immersion into the story. Transmedia storytelling can also be viewed as “New Hollywood’s” active marketing technique that has created media franchises.
Convergence Culture uses The Blair Witch Project as the paradigm for transmedia storytelling that began in 1999. Dan Myrick—the producer and director—explained, “To think of The Blair Witch Project as a film was to miss the bigger picture” (103). The book further explained this idea of transmedia storytelling through T.B.W.P as an occurrence in media platforms both before and after the film hit the theatres.
Before T.B.W.P was screened in theatres, it hit several media platforms such as the web and the Sci Fi Channel. These two platforms set the preliminary information needed to understand the concept of the “Witch.” For instance, the website—created a year before the film—explained the Burkittsville witch and the disappearance of the movie crew. Dan Myrick also stated, “The site provided documentation of numerous witch sightings over the past centuries…[which] forms the backdrop for its action” (104). The Sci Fi Channel also set the backdrop of T.B.W.P by investigating the witch in the movie. Ultimately, these two media platforms served as “the part for whole” of the transmedia story as they lured the audience into T.B.W.P before it even hit theatres.
After T.B.W.P hit theatres, the witch phenomenon continued to grow through other media platforms such as a comic book, soundtrack, and another website. For instance, Ed Sanchez—a crew member of T.B.W.P—wanted to continue with the Blair Witch phenomenon by creating a website that was framed in such a way to make it seem as though people were investigating the witch as though the witch really existed. Ed Sanchez stated, “We started fabricating artifacts, paintings, carvings, old books, and I would scan them in…What we learned from Blair Witch is that if you give people enough stuff to explore, they will explore” (105). Thus, T.B.W.P is not only a movie, but a transmedia story that unfolded through several layers of different media outlets.
As transmedia storytelling is implemented as a marketing strategy, I see a clash between old Hollywood and new Hollywood. Jenkins explained, “The old Hollywood depended on redundancy to ensure that viewers could follow the plot at all times…The new Hollywood demands that we keep our eyes on the road at all times, and that we do research before we arrive at the theater.” Although the new Hollywood has turned us onto transmedia stories where we become active audience members who “do research before we arrive at the theatre,” I still miss old Hollywood. Yes, the futuristic and thought provoking films like The Matrix are fascinating, but I miss the “redundancy” used in old Hollywood films like Gone With the Wind and Casablanca.
Now the question is, what will define a movie as a “classic” according to new Hollywood? Will a “classic” be the movie that engaged the audience the most through different media platforms?
Is the redundancy of old Hollywood so bad?
Another question that comes to mind is how can transmedia storytelling be used to be a money making tool? I can think of one example of the top of my head—Entourage. HBO could have made more money off of Entourage by using transmedia storytelling. For example, HBO could have made “Aqua Man” into an actual movie played by Vince, or Median could have been based on a novel. Just think of all the possibilities! What other shows or movies would work with transmedia storytelling?
