Broadening story threads
Two posts in the last couple of days — from Simon Pulman, and a response from Alison Norrington — have looked at localization in transmedia, working transmedia stories to appeal to different demographics, international audiences, etc. Transmedia has great potential to do this well — with different storylines fragmented over different media, one storyline could appeal to a particular audience, when perhaps the driving platform does not as heavily.
One paragraph from Simon’s post caught my eye especially:
When Jeff [Gomez] spoke of creating engaging canonical content that appeals to different segments, he was not merely talking about regional or linguistic localization. In time, we will see Transmedia story threads that appeal to audiences by gender, age, sexuality, income and interests. In the internet age, a person active in online communities may identify more with somebody on the other side of the world than his next door neighbor, based on specific shared interests. Transmedia can cater to that.
I absolutely agree, and can’t wait to see the fruits of this. As a gay man, especially as one who grew up without exposure to many gay role models or characters (a product of location more than anything, I think), I’m always excited when I see gay characters featuring in stories (assuming they’re handled well and not the ‘token gay’ or stereotyped comic relief) (and especially when those stories aren’t being ghettoized as “gay stories”). If transmedia can provide by looking to broaden audiences with expanded storylines and thus have some threads featuring gay characters, so much the better.
But there’s a worry in this for me as well. The localization strategy for a broader audience suggests that a side story might feature a character of a particular demographic, with the hope that it draws audience back to the driving platform(s). Which, by comparison, would need to be much broader in appeal in order to keep that larger audience. There’s the danger, then, that that driving platform would end up having to cater to the lowest common denominator (see: much of Hollywood today) in order to be successful, and to me that says that, as usual, minority demographics like gay characters will be large ignored in the central storyline or platform.
Obviously I don’t think every property needs a central gay character, or even any gay character. But my worry is that in the larger body of successful commercial works, those ‘localized’ storylines will be pushed to the side — used to draw in the target demographic, then pretended not to exist so as not to alienate everyone else.
(Is this a pessimistic and perhaps extreme view? Sure. I like hyperbole, because extremes can make a point. Nonetheless, I think it’s also a product of what I’ve already experienced in mainstream media.)
If a commercial transmedia property requires the largest audience possible to be successful, will there be room for anything but the most broadly appealing storylines and characters in the driving platforms, regardless of what’s in the side storylines? I know I’ll fight that in my own work, and I hope that other creators will at least keep it in mind.
Simon Pulman:
January 2nd, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Dead on. This has been in my thoughts as well, because I don’t think anybody wants to see Transmedia used as an excuse to segregate or repeal a lot of the cultural progress that has been made over the past few decades.
It’s a case-by-case analysis, I think, that requires a lot of tact and sensitivity. From a publicity standpoint, I would expect any attempt to shunt gay plotlines entirely from mainstream entertainment to second platforms would be – quite rightly – called out. In that respect, I’m guessing we’ll maintain the status quo more or less, but perhaps elaborate on relationships in the side stories. It’s definitely a sensitive issue.
Issues of national identity, language and race are a little easier I think because there’s simply no reason why stories are always about young, white Americans. People are starting to demand seeing themselves reflected in media, and producers are realizing that.
To end on a personal note, I would love to see a scenario whereby these specifically-tailored stories can still be enjoyed by anybody. So there’s a side or localized story that may be tailored to the Japanese, or Hispanic, or female, or gay audience – but it’s still close enough to the original property that anybody can enjoy it.
Lucas J.W. Johnson:
January 2nd, 2011 at 3:11 pm
You make a few points I’d like to add to.
“I don’t think anybody wants to see Transmedia used as an excuse to segregate or repeal a lot of the cultural progress that has been made over the past few decades.” –Yes. And yet it sometimes seems like any new kind of platform needs to start all over again, starting with the mainstream male character and going from there. I’m hoping the process can be sped up somewhat…
“there’s simply no reason why stories are always about young, white Americans.” –Personally, I think this should read “young, white, straight Americans.” Why should sexual orientation be treated any differently from race or national identity? I understand, though, that a lot of people still consider them separate topics, though. My point is simply that I, for one, will be working to remove that barrier.
“I would love to see a scenario whereby these specifically-tailored stories can still be enjoyed by anybody.” –This is absolutely my best case scenario. I write YA novels with gay characters, but my hope would be that staight guys would enjoy them as well. Perhaps what transmedia can do to that end is draw a broad audience into the story world and get them invested, so that they would want to enjoy a driving platform novel despite the fact that it has gay characters and they might not have looked at it otherwise.
There are definitely considerations to be made, I have no delusions about that. But it’s a conversation that needs having, so I’ll do everything I can to make sure it’s had.
Simon Pulman:
January 2nd, 2011 at 4:14 pm
Yes, my apologies – I didn’t mean to suggest that. The angle I was coming from is that it’s easier from a production standpoint to begin (superficially) diversifying a story in terms of age and national origin. You’re right though – in all instances, we’re looking to avoid stereotypes and “token” inclusions, and hopefully create something that resonates authentically with the target demo and beyond.
Jeff Gomez:
January 2nd, 2011 at 5:43 pm
When I give my seminars, I attribute substantial stretches of time to an emphasis on the art of good narrative and the rare talent of the truly successful storyteller. I’ve worked hard to include the word “artful” and artistic expression in any definition I’ve given on transmedia narrative. Naturally this applies to the topic at hand.
It’s my belief that cynical applications of these techniques will be easily recognized and dismissed by the very savvy audiences that they were hyper-designed to reach. And with regard to those of us who’ve been marginalized, ostracized or otherwise left in the dark, I know first hand the pain and ignorance that invisibility fosters.
I hope you’ll share with me a vision of how transmedia narrative can well become a means to give voice, promote acceptance and empower us all…
Jeff Gomez
CEO
Starlight Runner Entertainment
Lucas J.W. Johnson:
January 2nd, 2011 at 6:08 pm
I didn’t think you had meant to suggest that, I meant only to add the emphasis
Thanks for the insight, Simon, as always.
Lucas J.W. Johnson:
January 2nd, 2011 at 6:21 pm
I love that it is the “very savvy” audiences transmedia tends to reach, I only worry that as transmedia becomes more dare-I-say “mainstream,” that smaller voices will get pushed to the edges as properties are made to retain the largest audience possible (and thus the lowest common denominator).
As for how transmedia can be used to give voice — just like in every medium, I think it starts with visibility. Are there gay members of Na’vi society? Can we hear their stories? That’s a first step for the big commercial properties, I think. I do love Simon’s concept of “beyond localization” in terms of being able to showcase (for instance) gay characters in their own stories, even if they don’t feature primarily in the driving platform. It’s a start. We just have to be careful. Meanwhile, artists like me will create whole properties around those stories, and find our smaller audiences.
You’re a great boon to have spreading the word, Jeff, given your own personal experiences. Transmedia *can* do a lot of empowering stuff, we just have to make sure we always do our best to that end.
I’m sure I’ll be writing about this more down the road
Thanks for the comment!
Simon Staffans:
January 2nd, 2011 at 9:17 pm
Lucas,
thanks for a good post. I agree fully that this will be something that will be implemented to a higher degree in the future. In some cases because people genuinely want to tell the stories that people of different race, gender, age or sexual orientation can share, in order to promote understanding, acceptance and ultimately a better world. The cynic in me (or is it the “realist”?) tells me, however, that the overwhelming part of production in this area will be for profit first and for telling stories second.
Don’t get me wrong, I like profit as much as anyone. I simply believe that we will see many tacky takes on race, gender and/or sexual orientation in the name of transmedia in the future. The trick is not to lose hope
As a final comment – above you talk about the “driving platform” being the one that everything else will bow to. This is the case at the moment, with TV or film being the driving platform in most cases (because that’s where the money (or should I say the “old money”) is). I’ve been developing tv formats for several years now, and we see that this has been changing dramatically these past few years. My point is that I believe that in the quite near future, the carefully tailored “smaller stories” around a greater, say, tv series, will – akin to the “long tail” theory – be the ones that engage a loyal audience and bring the real revenue in the long run. It’s all about creating, planning and executing!
Laura Fleming:
January 3rd, 2011 at 5:33 am
Powerful discussion. I can’t help but transfer what you are saying over to children and the educational world. I dream of a type of learning in which students can connect via their own personal experiences or life. Too often, students do not have that connection. Transmedia has the ability to reach all types of learners but all kinds of children as well. Students will be able to make connections to themselves and to the world around them and this naturally will begin a dialogue based on a story that relates to their family and life experiences- giving each and every one of them a voice- inevitably leading to a higher level of engagement.
Lucas J.W. Johnson:
January 3rd, 2011 at 6:38 am
That was basically the worry I was talking about — that at first, if we’re not careful, we will get problematic storylines like that. I think it’s up to people like us to try to avoid that as much as possible.
A great point about the long tail of side stories, though. Thanks for the comment, Simon!
Lucas J.W. Johnson:
January 3rd, 2011 at 6:43 am
Absolutely. Having a broad range of stories within a property is vital, to touch all the diverse experiences that kids have or might have. Perhaps one way to execute that will be for an educational transmedia property to have some customization for a given classroom, or ways that the kids can choose what kinds of stories they each want to interface with.
As soon as we’re talking about education for teens, though, my point comes roaring back into the picture. Teens dealing with their own sexuality need positive stories — and education! — about what they’re dealing with, about gay and lesbian and transgender characters that they can connect with and understand and learn from.
Simon Staffans:
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:01 am
What if we could not only let the kids choose which educational material to interact with, but even let them pass on knowledge to coming classes? Could use something like ThingLink perhaps, to tag pictures or online learning material – kids could read and learn and get advice from other kids from their own neighborhoods. Could be something simple like “this algebra helped me no end when I built a canoe this summer” or something more elaborate like linking to other material “You liked that Jeanne D’Arc girl? Here’s an online graphic novel about her, have a look!”.
Getting the kids to share their knowledge, and what use they’ve had of the things they’ve learnt.
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