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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Mike Jones responds to the Buzz: Transmedia: confusing Style with Story - mikejones.tv

Media_httpwwwgreggmor_pxmde

Excerpt:

"...What we now call Transmedia - the art of storytelling across multiple platforms - is nothing new and the only thing the Digital age has really delivered to us is, to date, a larger diversity of platforms and modes of experience. What this means is not more or new types of Story, but rather more Styles for a story to be expressed. This is not to downplay the importance of individual platform Styles - just as an oil painter moving to watercolours needs to adapt their technique to engage with the possibilities of the watercolour Style, so to do writers and creators need to understand how their story needs to be adapted to take advantage of new platform styles.

But again the notion of Story and what a Story is does not change and has never changed. Indeed there is no compelling argument to suggest that modern transmedia is anywhere close to as big an upheaval as the inception of Radio and Cinema from an oral, theatrical landscape. By comparison transmedia is decidedly subtle.

Another way to express this perspective is to understand that Transmedia IS, by nature, Adaptation. And in this context the processes of Adapatation are no different in manifesting game and interactive forms as they are adapting a story from book to movie. Once we recognize that Transmedia means the introduction of new story Styles, not new types of Stories, we afford ourselves the opportunity to focus on what really matters rather than be continually distracted by the shiny newness...."

I posted my response on Mike's blog:

Hey Mike,

great post & nice to see you take this back to adaption - I'm writing a piece on adaptation & digital media write now. One point I would add is that when designing interactive/transmedia stories - user experience design - UX - is a huge consideration -designing for what people intuitively do on distinct platforms, which means engaging with different forms of play - touchscreen, installation, live performance, social web, game platforms - all are distinct modes of engagement. Core idea? people are your medium and design for what people do - that is completely different from telling a story

Posted via email from Siobhan O'Flynn's 1001 Tales

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