Transmedia Lens Framework

Transmedia Lens Framework
The power of connected narratives
Image: Mullen

The media canvas for story-telling has changed from this…
Image: Gary Hayes www.personalizedmedia.com

…to this
Image: Gary Hayes www.personalizedmedia.com

Original definition of Transmedia
Transmedia stories are those which ‘unfold across multiple media platforms with each new element making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole.”
2003

The seal of approval
That role was formally recognized by the Producer’s Guild of America (PGA) last April following the formation of the Transmedia Artists Guild (a non-profit organization in the development aiming to provide a network and base for transmedia artists). This historic decision for the PGA, marks the first time the guild has voted to add a new credit.

Two paths…
ARGs for
Marketing
Communications
Storyworlds for
Entertainment
Franchises

Storyworlds for Entertainment Franchises
The principle is fairly simple, the whole should be greater than the sum of its parts.
Zen Films: http://bit.ly/YDsSv

Multiple story arcs within a single storyworld.
Regardless of the format (book, game, film, toy etc.) the story arcs overlap each other. These overlaps can be character, location or time based.
Steve Sponder: twitter @stevesponder
Lawton Communications Group - Version 2.1 - 10/06/11
Creative Commons: Attribution-Non-commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License

Starlight Runner Entertainment are one of the leading companies in this space.
They have created storyworlds for some of the worlds largest entertainment IPs.
Starlight Runner creates and expands fictional universes in the form of elaborate intellectual property bibles and story & style guides.
Guides cover all major characters, story arcs, world details, weapons, vehicles, creatures, technology, magic and insignia.
This allows for multiple franchise extensions into traditional, interactive and advanced media.

Entertainment franchises get the transmedia storyworld treatment

Other IPs get the transmedia storyworld treatment

http://www.destructoid.com
Strategic Partnerships to create transmedia storyworlds

Wired: http://bit.ly/m0oTYv
TV programmes get the transmedia storyworld treatment

ARGs for marketing communications

Film and game launches get the transmedia ARG treatment

TV programmes get the transmedia ARG treatment

“The Art of the Heist” embraced the target audience’s need of control over their environment and invited them into an immersive 24-hour-a-day alternate reality. This story blurred fact and fiction by concocting a mysterious storyline that involved consumers in the recovery of an A3 stolen from Audis Park Avenue headquarters in New York City.
At the heart of the narrative were six new A3s containing coded plans for the largest art heist in history; however, one car contained the key to decrypting the information hidden in all the others, and the mystery surrounding the “heist” unfolded in real time over three months across the country. The Heists final chapter was played out in front of a live audience at the Viceroy Hotel in Los Angeles, where we finally discovered who the real villain was.
Brands get the transmedia ARG treatment

Transmedia Mutants

Transmedia Mutants
Barbie and Oasis - Brands get the transmedia treatment, but not the ARG variety.
This activity is a storytelling-based campaign.
Coke - Brands get the transmedia storyworld treatment.
This activity is storytelling-based brand planning.

Transmedia Mutants
Head Trauma - Franchises get the transmedia ARG treatment.
The Million Pound Drop – TV Programmes get the transmedia treatment, but not the ARG format.
Sometimes referred to as two-screen entertainment, this activity could also be called ‘Live Transmedia’.
This is related to Social TV, see http://bit.ly/m11xTl

Having meaningful discussions about transmedia opportunities is becoming increasingly difficult with so many variants.
This is exacerbated when talking about the marketing of entertainment properties.
We need a simple way of identifying different types of transmedia.
So to this end I have created the Transmedia Lens Framework.

Steve Sponder: twitter @stevesponder - Lawton Communications Group - Version 3.0 - 10/06/11
Creative Commons: Attribution-Non-commercial-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales License

Transmedia Briefing
The power of connected narratives
Image: Mullen

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Transmedia Lens Framework

by Steve Sponder

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