Seite 59 [59]
58 | Digital Media and Storytelling in Higher Education
CHAPTER 3.
TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING
Transmedia storytelling is a complex narrative architecture that has evolved
in the world of media, film, video games, marketing and branding whose
conventions combine participatory media culture with media convergence.
As Jenkins puts it:
Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction
get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channel for the purpose
of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally each
medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story.
(Jenkins, 2006)
As the name implies, the narrative is extended through different forms of
expression and across multiple platforms. Each medium contributes its own
particular form of expression to the unity and enjoyment of the unfolding
story. Transmedia storytelling is a complex of narratives in which a larger
narrative is complemented by narrative elements across different media.
A key term in the field is the central narrative, also called the mother ship
(Ryan, 2016).
The aim of transmedia storytelling is to maintain the engagement of the
target audience, which is achieved by supplementing the storyworld with
different perspectives. Ihe more of these narrative transmedia supplements
the user consumes, the more immersed he or she becomesin the storyworld.
Examples of such transmedia supplements include spin-off series or
supplementary video games in which a minor character in the mother ship
work becomes the main character. A well-known transmedia supplement
is the voting by the audience that takes place in certain talent shows, since
the story of the competition is only completed once the audience has voted.
The expansion ofthe fictional storyworld, while costly, generates significant
profits for companies. Within the world of transmedia storytelling, Jacob
(2021) distinguishes transmedia in Hollywood entertainment franchising,
which is primarily for advertising purposes (e.g., the Harry Potter films)
as not all franchises maintain engagement among their fanbase through
storytelling (advertising properties are typical examples). Jenkins (2009a,
2009b, cf. McAdams, 2016) makes the point that transmedia storytelling needs
to be distinguished from transmedia advertising for commercial purposes.
Conceptual differences such as these raise the question of what is not
transmedia storytelling. Transmedia storytelling is not to be confused with
cross-media presentation of the same story through different media, where
the basic story is presented in the same way or with minimal modifications
in another medium - such as the film adaptations of the Twilight books. In
contrast, The Avengers can now be seen as transmedia storytelling, as the films