Multimedia combines two or more forms of media to enhance one
final product. A New York Times online
article may be enhanced by a video or photo gallery on the same page as the
article, helping the reader better comprehend the subject of the journalist’s
writing. Transmedia takes the concept a step further by producing a product
that serves as the main source of a larger canonical universe. That main source
is then expanded upon through separate but related forms of media to enhance
and progress the story of the original product.
 | |
| Titan Prometheus |
Ridley
Scott’s Prometheus (2012) serves as
the main source of a transmedia campaign that includes TED Talks (performed by
a character in the film), comic books, clue-containing business cards, an interactive
twitter account and telephone hotline, and a thoroughly detailed website for a
fictional corporation alluded to in the film. The film itself serves as a
prequel to the original film in the Alien
franchise that Scott created in 1979.
Initial critical
response to the film was lukewarm. Overall, film critics appreciated the atmosphere
and acting in the movie, but found that it left too many unanswered questions
about the references and mythology of the film’s universe. The title of the
film itself is a reference to a Greek mythological Titan. Scott includes
references to other Greek, Aztec, Roman, and Christian myths and symbols
throughout the film. He creates a dense world filled with these mythological
references along with other fictional ones created for the film. The average
filmgoer would have a difficult time processing all of this information on
first viewing, at least not without investing time to research beforehand. This is where Prometheus’s transmedia campaign comes into play. |
| Screenshot of Peter Weyland's TED talk blog post |
20th Century Fox knew the
Alien franchise already had a
dedicated built-in fan base previous to the film’s release. To capitalize on
this opportunity to hype their product the distribution company launched a
viral campaign with a ten-minute TED talk video “recorded in 2023” featuring the
film’s actor Guy Pierce. In character as “Sir Peter Weyland,” the head of Weyland
Industries (the company alluded to in the film), Weyland details his life and
rise to go on to “create the largest and most successful company in the world.”
The Ridley Scott-directed video was featured on TED’s official blog and included
a written biography about Weyland and a description of his company’s accomplishments. This release was followed by the
creation of an interactive Weyland Industries website; complete with details of
its company’s products, future projects, a careers page, and an
alternate-reality game in which fans could compete with one another and act as “outside
agents” to search for ancient artifacts that would help the company find the
origins of human life. Every time a fan found an artifact their name and finding would be posted on the website. A URL listed in the end credits of Prometheus directs fans to a cryptic website with a Nietzsche quote
and a video from Weyland Industries.
Modes of transmedia production such
as these allow the consumer to dive deep into an “encyclopedic [world]
containing a rich array of information that can be drilled, practiced, and
mastered by devoted consumers” (Jenkins 99). The consumer becomes a participant
in the alternate-reality by helping Weyland Industries find the origins of life
and by being given the social ability to communicate with characters in the
film via their official Twitter accounts. The information overload immerses the
consumer in an interactive world where (s)he can participate, communicate, and
compete with other fans. Transmedia satiates the fan’s appetite months before
the film’s release and allows word-of-mouth to spread amongst the fan’s less-devoted
friends in order to establish a strong opening weekend box office gross for the
distributor.
 |
| Canon company logo and web address |
Companies
use this marketing strategy to instill a strong emotional attachment between
the consumer and its products. Instead of directly associating products with
love and happiness like in common advertisements, companies overwhelm the
consumer with supplemental information (s)he must sort through to fully
comprehend what occurred in the canonical universe before and after the events
depicted in the film. Devoted fans are an investment into the future of the
product’s success as the company churns out more products based in the film’s
universe.
By using
movies, blogs, games, websites, and comic books, 20th Century Fox
builds an overstimulating transmedia event that utilizes nearly every form of
media available in the real world to provide the consumer with 24/7 escapism. The consumer can go out and view Prometheus in theaters, watch the eight hours of bonus features on the Blu-ray release, log on to a virtual community of
online gamers, communicate with in-character Twitter account users on her smartphone,
or hold a physical comic book filled with supplemental stories that are part of
the film canon. Transmedia storytelling gives the consumer access to escape the
real world for the alternate anywhere (s)he goes.
Bibliography
Warren, Christina. "'Prometheus' Ad Shows Us the Robot
We All Want." Mashable. N.p., 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
"Do You Have What It Takes to Be a Part of Project
Prometheus? Visit the Project Prometheus Training Center and Find Out." Project
Prometheus. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.projectprometheus.com/genesis/>.
Sancton, Julian. "TED Goes to the Movies With
'Prometheus' Promotion." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 22 Mar. 2012.
Web. 12 Nov. 2015. <http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2012-03-22/ted-goes-to-the-movies-with-prometheus-promotion>.
Jenkins, Henry. "Searching for the Origami
Unicorn." Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New
York: New York UP, 2006. 99. Print.
Levy, Emanuel. "Prometheus: Thrilling 3D Sci-Fi
Spectacle." Emanuel Levy. N.p., 31 May 2012. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
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