Friday’s class recap: Writing a short script or remix song

“Harry Potter” and the Dark Lord Waldemart

On Friday we discussed transmedia storytelling a bit more and looked at some additional examples. The video above, Harry Potter and the Dark Lord Waldemart, features a number of the key components of transmedia storytelling. In this example, the Harry Potter characters and world are used for political activism targeting big box giant Walmart. Let’s look at some of the features of this video as they relate to three of Jenkins core concepts of transmedia storytelling: Continuity, Performance and Subjectivity.

Key (transmedia) features:

1) Look and feel (continuity):
Look and feel describes just that. The costumes, props, opening credits, sound FX and music have a recognizable connection to Harry Potter series – in this case, mostly the movie version. The degree to which we recognise and identify this new piece with the original is also an expression of the maker’s (and the fans) shared “mastery” (or knoweldge) of the original world from which this is based.

2) Fan produced, fan performed (performance)
Transmedia isn’t always fan produced, though most of the works – including this one – we’re looking at in this unit are created by fans (versus the original creators).  The object here isn’t to recreate the production values of the movie or replicate the acting, but to say something new using the book/movie’s themes/characters. While the FX and acting may seem crude next to the original, that’s also part of the entertainment value.

3) A message (subjectivity)
As we discussed the first day of the unit, transmedia is not about about merely adapting a story from one platform to another (book to movie, movie to book) extending or transmforming the components of a storyworld across platforms to say something new and different. In this case, the characters of Harry Potter series are using familiar tropes from the novels (the villains) to say something about Walmart. They’re extending the world and the story elements to suggest that Walmart is evil by personifying the Walmart brand as the evil villain Voldemort.

There are several other core concepts present here as well but these three are a good place to start thinking about the elements you need for your own stories.

Day Two: Fan fiction shorts

These ideas do not require that you write across platforms but that you first start by putting your character(s) in a completely new storyline of your own creation. This is the storytelling approach of fan fiction and transmedia — though authentic fan fiction often comes with (sometimes complex) rules or style conventions. These writing prompts are intended to get you thinking differently about a familiar character or series through short creative writing practice. You are welcome to come up with your own original idea as well!

1) Cat in the hat: One or more characters from a popular media text (book, show, game, etc) show up at your place to play. What happens next?

2) Except in the movies: Characters never seem to have to deal with any boring real life stuff. What happens when Darth Vader gets the hydro bill for the death star? Write a scene in which characters from a popular media text have to deal with a situation they wouldn’t normally encounter.

3) “Don’t let me get too deep …” Get two characters into a debate or argument on a serious or obscure topic they might not talk about as part of their normal storyline.

4) Lawful Good or Chaotic Evil? Translate a literary character into a game avatar. What are their stats? Special talents, abilities, challenges. What Where do they come from? Who are their people? What is their “alignment” to good or evil? Draw a picture of your character with diagrams.

5) Likes: “Watching the ice crystallize on my sword.” Write a comedic diary entry or personal ad by your character. No explicit imagery or language please. Focus on illuminating more about the inner life and needs of the character. Try using a villain (as villain’s are rarely portrayed as having an inner emotional life) – What would Sauron list as his “look fors” in a date?

Writer’s Craft: Introducing transmedia

Henry Jenkins, the foremost authority on transmedia culture and storytelling, explains what transmedia is and why it matters

Welcome to the transmedia unit resource blog!

For this unit you will be creating one crossplatform story and one short (2 minute script). Assignments will be provided in class and regular attendance is part of the overall grade. Throughout the unit I’ll be posting updates to this blog about what we did in class with links to videos and other resources viewed. The blog is a supplement – not a substitute – for in-class learning. You will find all of the unit documents on the Assignments tab.

In addition to brief updates, Assignmentsand video content you can dig deeper into the transmedia world via the links on the left hand sidebar – lots more videos, articles and websites to check out.

Homework & Assignments so far…

Those of you who were absent for the first day are probably wondering: What is transmedia? To find out a bit of what you missed, view the video above and complete the questions below (“activity”). Please download all of the course documents found on the Assignments tab. You can find definitions and links to more information about transmedia in the sidebar links.

Those of you who were present the first day should watch the videos below and complete the “Day two” creative writing activity, which follows the “day one activity” (questions) below.

Homework: Please also make a decision about the text you will be using as your transmedia source (i.e., Harry Potter, Heroes, etc) and start thinking about the kind of story you’d like to tell and what platforms would be best suited to your short script and transmedia fiction (i.e., a blog format, personal diary, mystery package, etc). Please review the assignment carefully!

DAY ONE ACTIVITY: Questions for Henry Jenkins video (above)
Those of you who were not present for the first day of the unit must complete the questions above on a sheet of paper and hand this in next class.

1) Who is Henry Jenkins? What is his title?

2) What is “convergence culture”

3) What does Jenkins mean when he talks about using particular media platform to “do what it does best”?

4) Why does Jenkins cite the Matrix series as “transmedia” and not merely adaptation?

5) Jenkins says: “the most important stories, retold many times, belonged to the folk” what does
he mean?
6 ) What are some of the challenges involved in making this kind of media?

7) Beyond entertainment, what are some of the purposes of transmedia storytelling?

8 ) What are some of the reasons Jenkins offers about “average people” should make transmedia?

9) What are some examples of transmedia storytelling?

Further Viewing:

Some of the following videos are featured in Henry Jenkins talks and presentations about transmedia. By the end of this unit, we will collect more examples of transmedia storytelling from youtube and elsewhere online that reflect our own interests and cultures.