3. “Additive Comprehension”
“Each new text adds a new piece of information
which forces us to revise our understanding of
the fiction as a whole.”
4. “The internet is forcing media to collide, to exist
as one instead of in parallel, and these two
extremely prominent men have seen it coming.”
- J.J Abrams & Gabe Newell
11. What we have learnt...
•How large a transmedia experience can become
•The interrelation of real life scenarios through an
animation
• There is no one single source where one can turn to
understand the entire story world
• It encourages audiences who are comfortable in one
particular medium, to explore others
•Each medium must make its own contribution to the
unfolding of the story
12. Bibliography
1. Transmedia Storytelling 101. 2013. Transmedia Storytelling 101. [ONLINE]
Available at:
http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html. [Accessed
07 April 2013].
2. Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki. 2013. Wikisimpsons - The Simpsons Wiki.
[ONLINE] Available at: http://simpsonswiki.net/wiki/Main_Page. [Accessed 10
April 2013]
3. PhD. 2013. PhD. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.christydena.com/phd/.
[Accessed 07 April 2013].
4. Transmedia Storytelling around the World: Christy Dena | Transmedia
Storytelling Berlin. 2013. Transmedia Storytelling around the World: Christy Dena
| Transmedia Storytelling Berlin. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.transmedia-
storytelling-berlin.de/2012/02/transmedia-storytelling-around-the-world-
christy-dena/. [Accessed 13 April 2013].
5. . 2013. . [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/documents/sa_publications/transmedia-
prod-bible-template.pdf. [Accessed 10 April 2013].
6. How Transmedia Storytelling Is Changing TV. 2013. How Transmedia Storytelling
Is Changing TV. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://mashable.com/2011/11/17/transmedia-tv/. [Accessed 05 April 2013]
7. The Simpsons - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2013. The Simpsons -
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Simpsons. [Accessed 05 April 2013]
8. Lecture Week 3 Notes – Guest Lecturer: Christy Dena
Editor's Notes
First episode aired in the Christmas of 1989, first ever prime time animation show. Longest standing TV series, reaching as of March 2013, its 24th Season.
The success of The Simpson’s was never expected to develop the way it did. It wasn’t until the end of the first season that they realised the great number of people they were reaching with each episode.In relation to Christy Dena’s description of transmedia types, The Simpsons can be considered “retroactive transmedia” as distinct multiple media platforms did not develop after the initial creation of the series. They expanded their franchise and from there, allowed viewers to build a richer and more interactive experience for them to discover and connect with the brand.Key to success: experiences need to be relevant to audiences. To be successful, transmedia brand stories need to not just talk at audiences, but need to involve them in ways they care about.The show was designed to represent an American family that hadn’t yet been explored and that helped to launch its success. Their involvement was encouraged in a number of ways, which we will discuss later.
Points of EntryEach episode of The Simpsons, stands on its own ensuring that its audience can tune in to any episode in any order and still make sense of the story. Making it easy for the success of any additional transmedia projects, it is accessible at any entry point amongst different media platforms. For example, The Simpsons live in a world where time stands still. No one has aged, and the characters haven’t really changed. Yet, the creators of the show have created a universe that is rich in detail, far richer than any show in television history. Inter-compositional: cross media projects with multiple compositions (for example: stories or games) in distinct media platforms or artforms. Eg: Simpsons epid
J.J Abrams and Gabe Newell viewed the power of about telling the show across different platforms as the show progressed. Their intention was to create characters whose tales were told interchangeably across gaming and film. They don’t think of this as innovation, per se—they think of it as necessity. ***Read quote
The Simpsons really has become its own world. It has its own Wiki site for people to discover and explore the Simpsons world, and only this world. This began in 2005.Viewers can edit these pages themselves, allowing them to build on the world they know so well, encouraging interactive usage. - All character profiles are documented here Significant calendar dates for every day of the year eg. “on this day, Daryl Gates guest star in “Springfield Most Wanted” died and much, much more. **make note of the graph that shows viewers to the website and their interaction”
To further encourage participation, the creators initiated a competition where fans were given the opportunity to submit their written ideas for the iconic couch gag that appears at the beginning of each episode. This gave them the chance to have their submissions brought to life in a future episode of The Simpsons.100 words or lessProfessional artists and designers would then illustrate these ideas
Comic books since 1991.In the episodes, we see Bart continuously show interest in his favorite superhero, “Radioactive Man.” To expand this further, the producers have created an entire embellishment of the Radioactive storyline in a real life tangible comic book series. This helps bring an essence of The Simpsons to life in which the audience can also engage with Radioactive Man.Henry Jenkins said: “This performative dimension at play with the release of action figures encourage children to construct their own stories. These can be based on fictional characters or costumes which invite us to immerse ourselves in the world of the fiction.”
To develop the world further, various video games have come out where the audience can explore a completely different path of The Simpsons.One in particular, “Hit and Run” is an action-adventure video game, released in 2003 for X Box, PlayStation 2 and Game Cube. The story and dialogue are written by the creators, character voices, supplied by the actual cast. The game has seven levels and requires you to travel through the world of Springfield and conquer various obstacles along the way.The Simpsons “Tapped Out” launched at the end of 2012, allows you to build with virtual money or “donuts” some of which are tied to tasks and come with a familiar character. You can visit friends' Springfields and collect buildings money and vandalize buildings. Uses examples of how The Simpsons has related to our world in this game: Halloween themes, Christmas updates, Valentines Day editions, St. Patricks day celebrations have all been incorporated with updates of this game on an android device.
The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios is a partial-motion virtual reality ride where guests sit in a carnival-ride themed car that shifts around to simulate motion through the animated environment projected on an 80-foot dome. The creators put you in the middle of a Simpsons episode gone wrong.
(Say for dot point two) Other transmedia projects in previous presentations have been completely separate to our world, and forced us to look into the creators world.The Simpsons is different, they use real-life events that take place in our world, and apply this to their own story world, by creating episodes with realistic themes. This essentially makes us feel as though the animated characters come to life and participate in our experiences.Say how these are aspects we hope to apply in our own group assignments…
