1. A Supplement for Transmedia,
Multiplatform & Convergence Properties
A companion to the Screen Australia Bible for Canadian & Australian Producers*
*Additions & expansions by Dr. Siobhan O’Flynn & Anthea Foyer
with grateful acknowledgement of the work done by Gary Hayes & Screen Australia
2. T
able of contents
1 about this document
2 Introduction
3 3 Key Definitions
4 Scenario
5 Personas
6 User Journey
7 Wireframes
8 examples
9 Additions to
Multiplatform Forms
3. 1
A bout this document
Since the online launch of ‘How to Write a Transmedia Production Bible: A Template
for multi-platform producers’ by Gary Hayes & Screen Australia in July 2011, media
production continues to be impacted by innovations in technologies, platforms &
social behaviour in the digital sphere. Our additions supplement Gary Hayes’ fantastic
contribution to a global community interested in transmedia and multiplatform
production and we write with the knowledge that cycles of innovation and new social
phenomena will likely demand new updates at regular intervals.
This document is intended as a companion to the Screen Australia Bible and it is
meant to supplement the comprehensive overview provided by Gary Hayes of the
specifications of the various components a Transmedia Production is likely to need.
Our goal in writing this expansion is to provide Canadian and Australian content
creators moving into the digital space with detailed examples of how to write and/or
design specific components such as a ‘User Journey,’ an Experience Map, or a
wireframe for mobile or a website, as these are often new territory for traditional media
producers.
4. 2
iNTRODUCTION
As many funding opportunities for film and television in Canada now encourage or
require a digital media component, understanding what, how and when to include
digital media components is crucial for Canadian and sometimes Australian
content producers. And as the terms ‘transmedia,’ ‘multiplatform’ and ‘convergent’
have been sometimes used interchangeably and sometimes to mark distinct
practices, the following definitions will clarify how these terms will be used
throughout the TMC Resource Kit.
5. 3
3 key definitions
Over the last decade ‘transmedia’ has changed as a term and practice in response
to a number of factors, ranging from the popular impact of major studio cross-
platform marketing campaigns to the uptake in social media, participatory
storytelling, user generated content, fan culture, crowdsourcing, & crowdfunding. As
such, ‘Transmedia’ continues to be an evolving term and practice, though there are
common core design priniciples , so we begin with a brief recap of key definitions
by some of the leading practioners and theorists in the field...
6. Transmedia
One Definition
Transmedia stories are those which ‘unfold across multiple media platforms with
each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution the whole. - Henry
Jenkins, Convergence Culture 2006
A second definition
Transmedia storytelling, a concept identified by Henry Jenkins, is storytelling by a
number of decentralized authors who share assets and create content for
distribution across multiple forms of media. Transmedia immerses an audience in a
story’s universe through a number of dispersed entry points, providing a
comprehensive and coordinated experience of a complex story. - Lina Srivastava
2008
Another definition
Each part of the story is unique and plays to the strengths of each medium, and the
audience is often invited to participate and somehow interact with the narrative.
Simply put, transmedia is the art of conveying a rich message, theme or storyline to
a mass audience using multiple media platforms in concert. - Jeff Gomez 2009
Example: Nurse Jackie’s Dr. Cooper tweets during the episodes and those following ‘his’
account are given an inside window into the character’s in-the moment thoughts &
responses. Occasionally, Dr Cooper responds to tweets from the public.
7. * Words of wisdom from Henry Jenkins on
the flexibility of transmedia as a practice:
‘There is no transmedia formula. Transmedia refers to a set of choices
made about the best approach to tell a particular story to a particular
audience in a particular context depending on the particular resources
available to particular producers. The more we expand the definition,
the richer the range of options available to us can be.’
source here
8. Multiplatform
definition When used in contrast to transmedia, it commonly refers to the same content
being distributed through multiple channels (ie. a broadcast TV show on your mobile); OR
brand properties that use multiple channels for distributing content without extending the story
or story world across channels or distribution platforms. Example: A TV show with a webpage
with character bios, episode summaries, chat rooms, does not extend or contribute to the
story/story world.
Convergent
definition Specific definition within the Canadian context defined by the CMF
funding guidelines: projects designed to be “available across a minimum of two
distribution platforms, including television.” The digital component can be a VOD
platform or “additional, value-added digital content on non-TV platforms” Projects
may have multiple ‘rich and substantial’ digital media components (website, app,
game, etc)
Henry Jenkins on Convergence: ‘convergence...in Convergence Culture, I describe
as a paradigm for thinking about the current moment of media change, one which
is defined through the layering, diversification, and interconnectivity of media.’
source here
9. S cenarios
User Scenario,User Experience
4
A scenario has a very specific use in interactive & user-centric design, which is to understand
how individuals will encounter, engage and interact with your property in concretely imagined,
visualized and detailed scenarios. The purpose of a scenario is to test the the producer’s
assumptions as to how a transmedia or multiplatform or convergent experience will play out
by imagining it from user’s perspective.
This is important because when designing distributed content, particularly with tent-pole
properties or native transmedia properties, there might be multiple points of entry ie. the initial
contact or encounter whereby you first hear or see or engage with a project. This might be a
poster, a commercial, a YouTube video, a Tweet, a flash-mob, the possibilities are endless.
Key questions to be asked are:
! How will your fans know your project exists? And if a tent-pole project, how will they
know that other content elements exists?
! How will they find it?
! How will you motivate your fans to interact with distributed content and/or share
content?
! Will you create direct or indirect prompts or calls to action?
! What value will fans gain from engaging with distributed content?
The most effective way to test this is either to do user-testing, which is often not possible at
an early phase of development, or to create a scenario. Note, user scenarios are written in the
present tense in order to be able to best visualize what the experience is. The sample
scenarios below are very detailed User Experience Scenarios in order to provide an example
of the kinds of details to think through.
useful resource here
10. Sample Scenario #1
Sana, a 23 year old Canadian, is studying goldsmithing at George Brown College & working
part time in a west-end Toronto restaurant. Walking home from work, she sees a new
poster campaign with a single image and url. The image and the url
‘doyouhaveanexitplan.com are intriguing as she’s a big fan of scifi and on a whim she
searches the url on her smart phone. A webpage loads with a counter marking down 17
days, 6 hours etc, & a text calling for recruits for a colonizing trip to Mars, in the event that
the message picked up from Arkab Posterior does indeed signal an alien invasion.
Underneath the recruitment call is a ‘register’ tab which she clicks. She inputs the
requested information: name, age, sex, allergies, email, phone number, musical taste, party
entertainment skill/talent, and relationship preferences (monogamy to polyamory) and
number of envisioned children. Once submitted, a further page opens with the invitation to
play a skills testing game. She realizes she can’t play this effectively on her smart phone as
she walks, so she closes the page & continues home.
Once home, she opens the site on her computer & looks for a sign in tab and she doesn’t
see one. Frustrated, she decides to do other things & opens her email. There she finds a
welcome email from the website’s recruitment & she clicks on the confirm registration link
and is taken back to the game. She plays through a couple of the skills tests & then has to
break off....
11. Sample Scenario #2
Kwungwon, a 34 year old computer programmer with a passion for political activism,
cycling, and Tarantino films, decides to watch the Season Premiere of a new broadcast TV
series, Sleuths! while chatting online with friends via multiple social platforms: a number of
running chats on Facebook, texts exchanged via phone.
During the show, a suspicious character drops a paper & the camera zooms in to the ripped
corner of an envelope with a company logo & acronym, the camera holds for a split second
then the paper fragment is blown off screen down an alley. Because he can, Kwungwon
rewinds, pauses on the logo & then googles the acronym to see what will list. A number of
links, including a company website and a twitter account come up & Kwungwon clicks on
the Twitter link.
When the Twitter page opens he sees that one of the main characters is running a live
Twitter account in-tandem with the show account & is seeking info on an employee of the
company & has created a hashtag for the company. Clicking on the hashtag, Kwongwon
discovers that other fans also watching in real time are exchanging details and links as they
discover online content related to the named company. Intrigued by the conspiracy
elements Kwongwon joins in and proposes someone create a wiki to track the links and info
as it is discovered.
12. 5
P ERSONAS
Another key element useful in developing User Experience Scenarios is the process of
‘Building Personas’ in order to be able to ‘test-run’ User Centred Design. The distinction
here is that you create imagined profiles of specific individuals rather than
demographics. Usually, a number of personas are developed (3-5) in order to run
imagined User Experience Scenarios. This process often leads to unexpected or
overlooked factors and discoveries that can help refine the overall design process. For
example, designing a digital component with QR codes on subway posters might seem
like an exciting marketing & promotional opportunity to connect with a potential
audience until one realized that QR codes are not not accessible underground because
wifi signals are usually unavailable.
See UX Magazine’s article, ‘Personas: The Foundation of a Great User Experience’
See KissMetrics ‘How User Personas can Improve your SEO Strategy’
13. 6
u ser journey
Most importantly, there is no one-size-fits-all user journey that will work for
every transmedia, multiplatform & convergent project.
In fact, there can be multiple user journeys for each project as audience
members will be able to encounter these projects in a variety of ways. In
addition to the user journey from the Transmedia Bible we have added in more
examples in order to get a feel for how to create user journeys for your own
projects.
16. 7
w ireframes
Wireframes are mock-ups of the layout design for websites, mobile interfaces and
other interactive digital platforms. Usually these begin as paper/pencil sketches that
help to visualize what the interface design will be on the various ‘pages,’ home or
landing page to all other subsidiary pages.
As the design process evolves, wireframes become more polished and demo
everything from font to colour choices
18. a dditional multiplatform forms
Apps - non-game apps that expand, supplement or interact with a given project, could be
9
related to historical content, archives, communities, etc anything outside of games
that interconnect with a property’s content or focus - see Choco-locate app
machinima: machinima is a cinematic art form that uses existing game engines to create
animated movies. The form began in .. when a company called Rooster Teeth
graphic novels/comics: as noted by many, graphic novels and comics are a great low-cost
medium that can be used to deliver storylines and world-building that would be cost-
prohibitive in live-action or animation. And they can exist on the web or in hard-copy.
Numerous online self-publishing sites such as Lulu.com can be used as publishing
platforms without having to invest in print runs.
participatory websites/platforms: sites and/or platforms used to host invited and sometimes
curate UGC - see - Wattpad as a great participatory story sharing platform
Content Sharing Pinterest, Flickr, Wattpad, & many others are highly populated platforms for
content sharing
theatre & live performance: in an era of global and immediate access to digital content, there is
real value in scarcity and location-specific performances. Live events & theatrical
performances are exclusive experiences that can create excitement and immersion in
a given project, which attendees might then share with their communities via social
media via the ‘world of mouth’. Think of this as analogue promotion in a crowded
digital space. ARGs often incorporate live performances that are are scripted to a
degree though designed to be open to audience participation. See Zed.TO coming
soon
* please see Section 2. Functional Specification in Gary Hayes Transmedia Bible for complete list
19. *
Note of Caution on Choosing Your Platform(s)...
‘Beware the Shiny Thing’
Just because casual games can generate massive downloads and
audiences doesn’t mean that your project has to have a casual game, be
that on Facebook or mobile (iPhone, iPad, Android etc). Decide on and
build from what is appropriate for your project. Think about what
experience(s) outside of the tent-pole property can add real value and
engage an audience’s or fan’s interest building on what is integral to
your project. Just because Pinterest has now surpassed Google+ in
terms of users doesn’t necessarily mean that your project should have a
Pinterest board.
20. Get in Touch
contactus
TMC Resource Kit
info@tmcresourcekit.com
tmcresourcekit.com
TMC Bible Supplement was prepared by:
anthea foyer & Dr. Siobhan O’Flynn
antheafoyer.com @antheafoyer
siobhanoflynn.com @Sioflynn
22. TMC Bible Supplement is released under a NonCommercial
ShareAlike Creative Commons license to be shared,
remixed and expanded non-‐commercially, as long as you
credit the TMC Resource Kit, the creator of the TMC Bible
Supplement, Anthea Foyer & Dr. Siobhan O’Flynn, and
license your new creations under the identical terms.
