Multimedia v Transmedia Post #3 (Ali Ismail). A Grand Story Across Media and Space

       If there's one thing an audience can enjoy it's a great story whether on a relatable realistic level or a grand journey in a mythical land of untold riches. Part of what's great about being a Video Production Major and creating narrative videos is that we are able to create our own worlds whether based on reality or fiction to convey the message we desire. Movies being a visual medium help greatly in order to make stories more accessible to the general audience as people usually prefer to watch a movie over reading a book, especially now in this more digital age. However when we get to having a great story a large amount of people enjoy, one of two things happen. Either the story is preserved and kept the same and simply retold throughout time either in the same or separated media, or the story is expanded upon in other forms of media and work. This right here is what we call respectively multimedia works and transmedia works.

Cartoon drawing depicting the topic of

discussion: Multimedia vs Transmedia

Drawn by myself in Photoshop.

       Before we can delve into multimedia and transmedia work, it's important to understand what the difference is between the two works as by name they sound similar and are easy to confuse. A Youtube video by One 3 Productions titled "Transmedia 101" gives a simple to understand definition of both terms that through visuals helps to explain the difference between the two. According to the video, multimedia is "telling a single story in multiple mediums" (Transmedia 101 One 3 Productions, Youtube. the link to video here ). This means you take one established story and tell that same story through multiple mediums such as books, movies, games, and more. An example of this comes from popular series such as Harry Potter that started off as a book by J.K Rowling, made into a film, and then have games of the movie released.

Movie poster of the 1st Harry Potter film.
Taken from this website

Front cover of the 1st Harry Potter book
by J.K Rowling. Picture taken from
this website

Front and back cover of 1st Harry Potter game
based on the movie based on the book. Picture
taken from this website

What makes Harry Potter a multimedia piece of work is throughout these different mediums, the same story is being told. It utilizes these different pieces of medium to gain a wider audience to people who may be experiencing Harry Potter for the first time. While of course the game and film is condensed as a book can be read at the reader's desired pace while a film is restricted to normally not go past a 3 hour runtime, they all tell the same story. I've read the book, watched the film, and played the game (which like most licensed games are made just to cash in on the idea through an interactive medium so ordinarily fleshing out a new story isn't the focus) and it all told the same story, but through different mediums. Reboots of movies
      However transmedia work differs from multimedia work through one main idea. Multimedia utilizes different media sources to tell one story. According to the Youtube video from earlier, transmedia can be simply defined as, "telling multiple stories over multiple mediums that fit together to tell one big pervasive story" (Transmedia 101 One 3 Productions, Youtube. Video link here ). What can make it confusing to some is that transmedia utilizes multiple mediums to tell multiple stories, which you would think would be the definition of multimedia. However the key distinction is transmedia utilizes its multiple mediums to tell one story all linked together. While it may be considered a grey line, reboots or reimagining of films are an example of transmedia storytelling. A reimagining of a film takes the same premise of the original film but retells the story in a different way through another director's vision and eyes (The Trek BBS, website) .

Movie poster of Planet of the Apes
by Tim Burton, a reimagining of the
original film. Taken fromthis website

A reboot however is a retelling of a story that does not refer to its previous iterations and makes its own world. This is commonly seen nowadays in superhero films such as the Spider Man and Batman reboots. However these films all join together to tell multiple stories of said superheroes through multiple mediums. The idea of retelling a story has been around since the earliest forms of human civilization. There's even an argument now that our current superhero stories are similar to the stories of Greek and Roman Gods (The Guardian, website. Link here ). In class we discussed about how superheroes are great examples of transmedia storytelling, but however the discussion was primarily based on Marvel's superheroes. DC however has two iconic superheroes that have lasted decades through transmedia storytelling.
       It's very easy to see the idea of transmedia storytelling in everyone's favorite DC caped crusader and the arguable reason the superhero genre is revived, Batman.

"I am vengence. I am the night. I AM BATMAN"
Picture from the cartoon series Batman. Taken from
this website

Batman has a plethora of transmedia versions of his story. There's the comic books, the 60s Adam West TV show, the Tim Burton films in the 90s, various video games that explore new Batman continunities such as the Arkham Asylum trilogy being notoriously popular among fans for being a great Batman story AND a great game, crossover comics such as The Justice League, the Christopher Nolan films such as The Dark Knight, various cartoon series, the new live TV show simply titled Gotham, and a whole lot more.

Holy cow!!! That's a lot of Batmans.
Taken from this website

       Batman is one of the kings when it comes to transmedia storytelling as he covers almost every base and has been around for almost 70 years. Everyone knows of the Batman in some way or form because of the large access of Batman stories there are for anybody to get started in. Whether your a fan of movies, video games, television, there is a Batman story for you to begin to be absorbed into the grand fictional world. Batman engages participation in this sense because of not only how easy it is to get into the series and how many options there are, but from how realistic the idea of Batman is. There's no way anybody can be like Spider Man or the Hulk or Superman, its just unrealistic. Batman however is someone who has endured great pain and has gone through intense training to better himself as a person, an idea thats believable and desirable from an audience (Girloncomicbookworld, Website. Link here ). Among those traits he also has a large amount of wealth, which is a more believeable obtainable goal that radiation/mutation or being a part of an alien race) and fights for good. He's an endearing character with a lot of depth in him, his stories, his villians, and his multiple worlds.
       The fact that Batman utilizes all these medium sources help Batman out greatly to remain relevant. Batman started off as a comic book series, a medium that is not as popular in this day and age and would not last 70 years just as a comic. Expanding to other mediums such as television in the 60s around the time television was brand new helped to popularize the series. From there the series kept on building with movie adaptations, games that were released on the newest console, and much more. There's so many Batmans that someone could be a fan just by watching the Nolan films, or by just playing the Arkham video game trilogy. There's a piece of Batman everywhere, and it's easily accessible with all these media options.
       After looking at a large popular version of transmedia storytelling and based on what I've learned and research, I'm going to make a bold prediction on a new medium that I predict will become popular in months time and become a transmedia work. I am referring to the Indie Game released a month ago made alone by Toby Fox, Undertale.

Title screen of the game. Taken from this website

To briefly summarize the game without spoilers as it is a very story driven game and would ruin the experience, Undertale is a game where a human child falls into an underground world inhabited by monsters and has to make his way back home. The selling point of the game is something that breaks the mold of a traditional RPG game, you do not have to kill any enemy in the game. It has a unique morality system where the game remembers the actions you have done even in multiple playthroughs and cleverly utilizes 4th wall breaks to make the player take it's message seriously that it's not just making fun of you. There's 3 main endings to the game: A Neutral Path that players that treat the game like a standard RPG are most likely to get their first time playing, a True Pacifist ending where you do not kill a single enemy and befriend every major boss, and finally a Genocide Run where you actively kill every single monster in each area of the game and kill everyone. It breaks the mold of what's expected in an RPG game and has fantastic visuals, soundtrack, and endearing loving characters and world. Needless to say, Undertale has taken the Internet by storm being the highest rated PC game for a moment according to a tweet from the creator of the game.
       I feel that Undertale will become a transmedia form of storytelling in the future because it meets the criteria of transmedia as well as becoming rapidly popular in such a short amount of time. The same concept happened with Baratunde Thurston's #how to be black that quickly became popular and eventually became a book. Undertale ends its Happy Ending with the characters entering a new world leaving the possibility for a sequel or retelling of the story through the game's achknowledgement of multiple timelines. Hidden in the game are secrets that expand the story even further that are left purposefully by the game creator, who also states he plans to make a continuation comic of the game's story. In the meantime there is tons of fanart all over sites such as Twitter or Tumblr that depict people's interpretations of alternate worlds or continuations of Undertale's story such as this comic that depicts an alternate world where the monsters are inherently violent, or this one here. There are much more examples out there and I wanted to prevent linking the ones that contain massive story spoilers to the game, but those are to just name a few. The game is very new and has only been out for two months. However with how many people its touched through its message, morals, and story, and how it proves video games can be a high form of art that can be just as effective as cinema, I am confident and would not be surprised if Undertale becomes a transmedia phenomenon that everyone will soon know the name of.
       Whether multi or transmedia, a great story and world are ideas we all value. It's amazing to think that many of the things we enjoy now will be told in new ways 20 years from now. The kids we have are going to see our favorite games and comic book heroes in new light, and we can still show to them the stories we grew up with to further expand their enjoyment and keep the story connected through transmedia storytelling.

Works Cited

"Batman Day: Why Is Batman so Popular?" GirlonComicbookWorld. N.p., 26 Sept. 2015. Web. 8 Nov. 2015.

"Define "reboot" vs. "remake" vs. "reimagining" - The Trek BBS." Define "reboot" vs. "remake" vs. "reimagining" - The Trek BBS. The Trek BBS, 26 Aug. 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.

HCDMediaGroup. "Henry Jenkins" Online video clip. Youtube, 21 September 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2015

Gordon, Ullyses. “What is Transmedia?” Online video clip. Youtube, 17 October 2010.           Web. 5 Nov. 2015. 

Jones, Jonathan. "Batman Steps on Achilles Heel." The Guardian. The Guardian, 28 Nov. 2008. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.

Moloney, Kevin. "Multimedia, Crossmedia, Transmedia...What's in a Name?" Transmediajournalism. N.p., 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.

One 3 Productions. “Transmedia 101 by One 3 Productions”. Online video clip. Youtube, 24 June 2011. Web. 5 Nov. 2015

O'Reiley. "TOC 2012: Baratunde Thurston "Keynote" " Online video clip. Youtube, 14 February 2012. Web. 5 Nov. 2015

Undertale. 1.0 Toby Fox. 2015. Video Game.