unforum

[MageSteff]

Transmedia, ARG, whatever - All in a name

[thebruce]

A brief thought that came to mind...

[Penny Lane]

I agree that transmedia should be used as an adjective. It modifies the noun (transmedia is a characteristic of something). In this case that noun could be story, game, puzzle trail, marketing effort, or extended experience, for instance. I think it might be confusing to try to lump all of those very different things into one category, and I confess that I don't really see the necessity. They might have the similar characteristic of delivering information over multiple types of media, allowing them to be grouped together, but sometimes that's the only thing they have in common.

If we choose to lump them, storytelling seems most accurate. You could say that all forms of media tell a story. I think even that might misrepresent the focus and intention of some efforts, though.

[Lysithea]

Re: Transmedia, ARG, whatever - All in a name

[imbri]

Like thebruce, I do not see transmedia as a marketing term. It grew out of academia (via Henry Jenkins, a professor at USC and formerly MIT who has written several popular books) and was adopted by the entertainment industry (the Producers Guild actually created a transmedia credit a few months ago). It seems to have replaced cross-media and, I think, it's here to stay (mostly because of the PGA's credit).

I am of the mind that transmedia is the big umbrella term that we were looking for and ARGs sit under it along with a number of other things which may or may not yet exist. But, because ARGs have a long history and are considered one of the first forms of net-native storytelling & entertainment, they are a primary example of transmedia entertainment along with franchises (due to the combined influence of Henry Jenkins and Jeff Gomez who is a transmedia guru who seems to focus on franchises and was instrumental in getting the PGA to adopt the transmedia credit).

So, to answer your question on what I think our industry should be called - I think it depends on the focus. For us, at unfiction, we deal with alternate reality games. But, really, we're part of a larger industry or, even, several industries - the media industry, the ad industry, the entertainment industry. If we're looking for something akin to the film industry, then, I suppose, we're the transmedia industry. Just as films have documentaries and shorts and indies and romantic comedies and all sorts of other classifications, transmedia does too. What those are and will be remains to be seen.

Personally, I use transmedia as both a noun and an adjective. I do the same with media and multimedia. I see no difference, really. Transmedia, just as multimedia, further narrows the term media.

I've written more on defining transmedia on my blog:
Towards a definition of transmedia
Transmedia vs Alternate Reality Games
Types of Transmedia: Franchise, Marketing, & Native

[CSTL]

Transmedia Methodology- Collapsus