TransDisney: The Nature of Crowd Sourced Transmedia

Transmedia is literally EVERYWHERE. As Jenkins describes it, Transmedia Narratives are the elements of fiction diffused across multiple channels, meaning different stories about the same subject are spread inversely across these different platforms, enhancing and enriching the consumers experience of the overall narrative.

The uniqueness of the story in each media needs to be satisfying in its own right while enjoyment from all the media should be greater as a whole. This is further supported by one if this weeks readings which states that ideally, each individual episode must be accessible on its own terms even, as it makes a unique contribution to the narrative system as a whole.

The Disney company have embraced the art of transmedia narratives. From a global media culture, the Disney films, books, video games, mobile apps, board games and stuffed toys, offer their audience a very detailed narrative world. As well as allowing that same audience to take possession of that world and develop it (almost) independently (if you can get past their copyright laws).

The local culture of Fandom participation of transmedia is part of the collective intelligence of media convergence  in the 21^st Century and prosumer participation. Due to this shift, greater access and participation allows individuals to create content themselves such as crowd sourced spin-offs, mash-ups and parodies that become part of this ‘bigger’ picture or narrative, like a giant puzzle.

I took it upon myself as an audience member to become actively involved as a creative transmedia collaborator on YouTube. I decided to engage with the elements and characters of my favourite Disney Movie Finding Nemo, and curate it as a mash up and parody. Check it out below.

Sources:

http://athinklab.com/transmedia-storytelling/what-is-transmedia-storytelling/

http://www.tstoryteller.com/transmedia-storytelling

Further readings

• http://www.standard.co.uk/business/markets/disney-goes-transmedia-for-ipad-generation-6442426.html
• http://www.stateofdigital.com/complete-guide-transmedia-storytelling/

 

 

The Power of the Prosumer

“The historic role of the consumer has been nothing more than a giant maw at the end of the mass media’s long conveyor belt, the all-absorbing Yin to the mass media’s all-producing Yang… In the age of the internet, no one is a passive consumer anymore because everyone is a media outlet.” — Clay Shirkey (2000) 

Convergence can not only be understood as the bringing together of all media functions within a single device, but also as a cultural revolution involving a complex interplay amongst individuals in society and traditional media industries. This is clearly seen with the convergence of citizen journalism as a new media outlet, based on an open system that allows greater access, participation and empowerment for audiences.

The development of smart phones and social media platforms, has enabled citizens to publish breaking news and topics of interest more rapidly and openly. Examples includes Whitney Houston’s death being reported on Twitter over an hour before any mainstream press reported it, and the ability to participate more openly in political activism such as Kony Campaign and Free Egypt. This demonstrates the capabilities of the prosumer and the number of open platforms, available to upload content  allowing  the people formerly known as the audience, and now the writing readers,to have an increased  role with the media where they can curate  and access their own content more freely.

Previously, old media platforms have rendered consumers into a crowd, where news is closed, gatekeeped and specifically packaged for viewing. As one of the readings, Jay Rosen 2008 explains, legacy media and prosumer participation are closed and open editorial systems; they are different animals. One does not simply replace the other, but a complex interplay now resides between the two. Now the two media outlets are the yin to each other’s yang in a different light. Apps like Guardian Witness and Eyewitness demonstrates how legacy media now develop and encourage the open participation of the public to provide information for them.

It will be intriguing to see how the interconnectedness of these open and closed editorials will continue to adapt in the future.

Sources:

• https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/prosumers-not-consumers-future/
• www.forbes.com/…/2010/07/03/the-shift-from-consumers-to-prosumers
• http://henryjenkins.org/2008/03/the_moral_economy_of_web_20_pa_1.html#sthash.Ssubf0W7.dpuf
• Lecture Notes

Further Readings:

• http://readwrite.com/2008/05/20/youtube_launches_citizen_news/

• http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/04/05/youtube-threat-journalism-or-evolutionary-step

 

The Little Universal Box

Henry Jenkins states that “convergence alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres and audiences.” The podcast that I have created aims to discuss and reflect on the dynamics of technological convergence, one of the many angles and themes explored in this week’s topic of “I ❤ Gadgets.” Throughout time a variety of media platforms and channels have adapted to our society and to us as people in the 21^st Century. As a result, a multi-faceted mutating media platform continues to uncontrollably grow and adapt, encompassing all previous and established platforms before it, in attempt to keep us connected everyday 24/7. This little gadget is the universal black box, or what we commonly know as the mobile phone.

Further readings and sources into the topic discussed above and on the ideology of apple vs android

• http://www.howtogeek.com/217593/android-is-open-and-ios-is-closed-but-what-does-that-mean-to-you/
• https://t.co/WOPmBevNF4
• http://m.khaleejtimes.com/nation/general/media-platforms-are-changing-fast-say-experts