Les 3

Network (1976)

Theme and meaning

• Prophetic movie on the backstage economics and politics of network news

• The fall, rise and fall of Howard Beale driven by economic concerns

• Foresaw the notion of news as entertainment and the role of the profit imperative

Communication models

Mass communication

Franchise models

Crossmedia vs transmedia

• verhaallijn die door verschillende apparaten opgepikt wordt

  • → niet hetzelfde maar passen wel in elkaar

Transmedia’s objective

So… enjoyment from all the media should be greater than the sum of the parts

Design

Basic design

• What is the story I want to tell?

• How will I deliver the story?

• What kind of audience participation do I want or need?

• How will audience participation affect the story over time?

• How much is based in the real world vs. a fictional world?

• Als je het goed doet, blijft het proces lopen

Process (text)

• Define the world

  • Story

  • Experience

  • Audience

  • Platforms

  • Goal

  • Execution

• Define the Story

  • Premise

  • Themes

  • Characters

  • Locations

  • Periods

  • Objects

  • Factions

  • Hierachies

• Define the Experiences

  • Goals

  • Gaming

  • Role-playing

  • Exploring

  • Observing

• Define the Execution

  • Timing

  • Events

  • Platforms

  • Pacing

Process (visual)

Transmedia storytelling cube

• CONTROL

  • How much freedom does the audience have to create their own experience and how much control will you have as the author?

• IMPACT

  • What long-lasting impact will the audience have on the evolution of the experience?

• CONTEXT

  • How much of the experience is based in a fictional world and how much exists in “real life”?

Sticky criteria for storytelling

• KISS → Keep it simple, stick to one idea

• SURPRISE → Tell your story in a original way

• CONCRETE → Make the audience understand your story

• EMOTIONAL → It is about feelings, not data

• STORIES → Nobody remembers a sales pitch

• BELIEVABLE → Make it personal and human

Storyworld

• = De overkoepelende verhaalwereld van een transmediaal project. De verschillende media gebruiken één verhaalwereld om de verschillende verhaallijnen te vertellen.

Multiple-ending & branching path verhalen

• Influence stories at certain points, like e.g. ‘Bandersnatch’

• The viewer has the feeling he can form the story throughout his decisions

• The arena the story takes places is still determined by the storyteller.  He must:

  • choose the points where the viewer can influence the story

  • determine the relation between the points and the choices the viewer can make

Open ended stories & fully player-driven verhalen

• A storyworld where the viewer can make his own story from A to Z

• Interactivity and viewer experience are key

• Examples: ’The Sims’ game or most MMOGs

Story Design Patterns

• PARALLEL

  • Different videos with a fixed timeline

  • The content differs video from video

  • You can skip from video to video without an interruption

  • The soundtrack can be the same for all video

• PATH

  • The path describes the relationship between the different videos

  • These are the ‘pick your path’ or ‘choose your own adventure’ videos

  • The viewer gets some choices to influence the story

  • This enhances the viewer experience within each video

• PROGRAM

  • The central video is the HUB for the other videos which the viewer can explore

  • There is no timeline, except maybe for the individual videos

  • There is no definite end

  • The story is completely non-linear

• TANGENT

  • Similar to Program, except there is a link / relationship to the other videos

  • For example: you can only skip to a certain video at a certain point in your story

  • After you watched a ‘branch’ video you return to your main story video or you go on

Public participation

Purpose

• Interaction with public must be on a continuous basis

• Call to action at different points in your story

• Tuned to the desirable involvement in your story (e.g. community, offline event, …)

• Choose the right media channels which provide the maximum possibilities for audience participation

→ Engage media consumers so they make a relevant contribution to your story

Activation model

Engagement pyramid

• Curating

  • → users moderate content

• Producing

  • → users produce, publish, distribute content

• Commenting

  • → users comment on other users messages

• Sharing

  • → users actively place status updates

• Watching

  • → Users consume content

1/9/90 rule

• 90 % is a viewer

• 9 % is commenter, watching & sharing, not co-operating

• 1 % is creator, sharing, participating and influencing the story

Forms of participation

• User-generated content

• Wisdom of crowds

• Co-creation (content remix)

→ Consumers become active participants to creation, distribution and interpretation of media and take over control

Interactivity specifiactions

• APPROACHABLE → low entry level for a user

• ADDED VALUE → the user must get something out of it

• SCALABILITY → Interaction muse result in participating behaviour

Transmedia indicators

Target Audiences

PRIMARY → people you want to communicate directly to SECONDARY → people who ‘find’ your story through others

Media Channels

• MOBILE FIRST → main channel, the ‘app’ culture

• VIDEOCHANNELS → YouTube as channel, community & search engine

• PAPER → added value reduces, ideal for personal communication

• RADIO & TV → ‘broadcasting’

• EVENTS → e.g. offline exclusive fan event

• SOCIAL MEDIA → power of Facebook, choose your battles, pitfalls!

• OTHERS → games, podcasts, …

Media specifications

• Televisie

  • Groot bereik

    • Langere videofragmenten

    • Korte teksten

    • Eenvoudige visuals

    • Muzikale omlijsting

• Radio

  • Groot bereik

    • Langere audiofragmenten

    • Muzikale omlijsting

• Internet

  • Interactie en participatie

    • Inzet social media

    • Interactieve visuals

    • Korte video en audio

    • Korte linkende teksten

    • Mash-ups

    • Deelbare tools (tijdlijnen e.a.)

• Krant

  • Fysiek houdbaar en draagbaar

    • Visuals

    • Langere teksten

    • Foto

• Tijdschrift

  • Fysiek houdbaar en draagbaar

    • Visuals

    • Langere teksten

    • Fotoreportage

• Mobiel

  • Connectiviteit

    • Korte tekst

    • Korte video

    • Korte audio

    • Deelbare content

• Buitenreclame

  • Actiegericht

    • Sterke visuals

    • Korte teksten

    • Oproep tot actie

Usability

• TYPE CONTENT → video, game, …

• USER ENVIRONMENT → site, smartphone, …

• EFFECT → does it reach your target audience?

• EFFECIENCY → effort vs. effect

• SATISFACTION → is the user satisfied about his partipation?

• CUSTOMER SERVICE → confirmation and feedback after enagement

Experience domains

• AMUSEMENT

  • ‘feeling’ / passive & absorption

  • film, tv, …

• LEARNING

  • ‘ratio’ / active & absorption

  • mobile learning, wiki, …

• AESTHETICS

  • ‘be’ / passive & submerge

  • theater, events, …

• ESCAPE

  • ‘to do’ / active & submerge

  • Games, VR, …

Different production process

1. Concept & development

   1. Film & TV (lineair)

      Idea, story, producers, treatment, pitch, funding, commission

   2. Multiplatform (crossmedia)

      Idea, experience design, research, story, EPOC, pitch, funding, commission

   3. Games (worlds)

      Game concept, features, story lines, prototype, design & evironment concepts

2. Pre-production

   1. Film & TV (lineair)

      Screenwriting, storyboarding, previz, crew, cast, scheduling location, sets, costume

   2. Multiplatform (crossmedia)

      Full scoping, storyworld, writing, UX, user journey, prototype, testing functional specs, features, architecure project / product plan, IA wireframes, design narrative maps

   3. Games (worlds)

      paper art & design, key art character & environment sketches, cinematic storyboards, audio scoring technical design, motion capture tests game segment build

3. Production

   1. Film & TV (lineair)

      Sound, lighting, camera, direction, talent, music

   2. Multiplatform (crossmedia)

      Technical lockdown, documentation, assets collection, asset creation, copy

   3. Games (worlds)

      Modelling & textures, shading, mocap integration sound effects, visual FX programming, camera moves, AI & NPC engines

Creating a buzz

• RECEIVE: expose your message to your audience

  • → Video on YouTube, reading a blog, …

• SPREAD: every possible way a consumer can spread info on your story

  • → Social media, events, …

• CREATE: content produced by the audience the enhances the story

  • → Blog, fansite, UGC, …

Analysis

• DESIGN → reaction of audience on site, look & feel, …

• ACCESABILITY → URL, login, profile, avatar, …

• ENVIRONMENT → mobile, desk, …

• TECHNOLOGY → browsers, platform, speed, …

Key performance indicators

Transmedia

Definition

• = telling a story across multiple media and preferably, although it doesn’t always happen, with a degree of audience participation, interaction or collaboration.

TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING is telling a story across multiple media and preferably, although it doesn’t always happen, with a degree of audience participation, interaction or collaboration. ~Henry Jenkins