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60 | Digital Media and Storytelling in Higher Education dissemination, and thus by content that is presented horizontally across multiple types of media. By contrast, non-transmedia storytelling is characterized by a deeper, more in-depth single narrative. Continuity vs. Multiplicity In transmedia storytelling, the storyline of the mothership narrative continues. A sense of continuity is a real reward for fans, who feel that the more authentic the storyline, the more strongly it is reinforced by the extension. The narrative continuity around Marvel's superheroes is a good example of transmedia entertainment for the most dedicated fans. By having characters from one narrative appear in another narrative, the storyworld is expanded, continued and made more complex rather than multiplied. Continuity is the extension of the story universe of the mothership narrative, while multiplicity applies more to the franchise-type cross-media promotional activity of closed narrative products. Seriality Transmedia storytelling is a hyperbolic series; although the narrative extensions appear in a serial system, they are located in different, dispersed media systems. Performance In transmedia storytelling, fans actively contribute to the expansion of the storyworld by creating discussion forums, producing memes, remixing iconic scenes, or participating in cosplay events. Thanks to fans, an infinite number of transformations and additions to a mothership story can be made. A complex definition of the phenomenon allows us to identify the different scales of transmedia storytelling. One of the best-known fictional transmedia universes is built around the film adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings. Like the novel, the film trilogy is a sequel to the author's earlier work, The Hobbit, so the filming of the prequel was one of the extensions. A further extension was released in the form of a video game (Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, 2014), in which the story of some of the films’ supporting characters was played out. The video game’s plot is set between The Hobbit film trilogy and The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The transmedia storytelling was reinforced by Franchise-style advertising, websites, cards, board games, and comic books. The method and order of consumption and reception can be arbitrary. Similar examples are the three parts of the horror film The Blair Witch Project (1999, 2000, 2016) and the survival horror game Blair Witch (2019) which complements the story. The game, with its first-person perspective, places the player in 1994, two years after the first film. High-concept series keep viewers’ interest for years thanks to their mosaic narrative structure and serialized presentation. Typical transmedia extensions seen today are the spin-off series produced for iconic series, typically featuring
