When you finally hit the last page of a book series that has greatly impacted your life or have finally reached those last credit scenes of a TV series you have been watching on Netflix, one question usually passes through your mind. Is this it? With some stories within media, the answer is a heart-breaking “yes” and fans have to stick to their own imaginations to continue the stories or watch reruns from the very beginning again. Other stories within media have been more lucky with this question. With the help of “transmedia”, stories are no longer bound to the pages they were first written on. It now lives on through various platforms.
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| Marvel Comics compared to Marvel Films Characters |
In definition, “transmedia” is the technique of telling a single story or story experience across multiple platforms and formats including, but not limited to games, books, events, film and television. It is a concept that first came into light through the works of Henry Jenkins; first featured through his seminal book Convergence Culture. In his book Jenkins states, “In the ideal form of transmedia storytelling, each medium does what it does best—so that a story might be introduced in a film, expanded through television, novels, and comics; its world might be explored through game play or experienced as an amusement park attraction” (Jenkins 98). With this said, Jenkins explains transmedia to start as one form of media while expanding its storytelling through other forms of media. This is an entirely different concept to another term that features similar concepts of media; the term known as “multimedia”.
Multimedia, in contrast, refers to content that uses a combination of different mediums. Stories within the media can use multimedia to reiterate its already made concepts, without changing the storyline. Films can provide books, comics, or even products that follow the same storyline, but it does not expand what is already made in the story. For example, Marvel comics such as Stan Lee's The Amazing Spiderman and The Avengers have their stories retold in the form of films and television shows. In this, their story-lines do not change, but their medium does from comic books to the big screen. This is what makes multimedia and transmedia so significantly different. Multimedia sticks to the same story, but multiplies its story through various forms of content. Transmedia similarly tells stories through various mediums, but it uses the various mediums to expand the story even more.
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| Film Director Joss Whedon |
Writers, filmmakers, and other artists have used transmedia to further their stories through various media platforms. One of the most well-known filmmakers that has done this is Joss Whedon. Whedon has been known to create cult classics and expand his sci-fi and fantastical worlds, most of his fans refer to as the “Whedonverse”, through many forms of media (PopMatters). This can be seen through his work with cult television show Buffy the Vampire (1997-2003) Slayer and more recently Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) and his works to expand the Marvel TV/film universe through the television show Marvel’s Agents of Shield (2013- ), which he produced. Even with all these great examples of Whedon’s transmedia works, Whedon’s greatest example of transmedia taking a story and keeping it alive can be shown through his cult TV series called Firefly (2002-2003).
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| Firefly TV Series (2002-2003) |
As Joss Whedon became more well-known, he was able to expand the story without renewing the series. Transmedia made it possible for Whedon to expand the story of Firefly on the big screen two years after its television cancellation through the film Serenity (2005). Whedon was able to pick up the story from where the series left off and continue the adventures to Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his crew of “Big Damn Heroes” through another medium ("How Transmedia Brought Firefly Back to Life”). This installment in the Firefly storyline excited its fans. The story they had fought to renew had now been brought back to life through another form of media and had taught them an important lesson about transmedia; no longer will their stories be silenced by television executives (Hadlock, "Done the Impossible: The Fans' Tale of 'Firefly' and ‘Serenity'").
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| Firefly TV Series (2002-2003) |
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| Serenity film (2005) |
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| Serenity Comics (2013) |
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| Cast of Firefly in New York Comic Con Panel (2015) |
The story of Firefly does not stop at the end of Serenity’s ending credits. The fans wanted so much for the story to go on that Whedon decided to continue the story through even more mediums. A series that started in 2002 and was supposed to have ended is still alive and expanding through other forms of media. In 2013, Dark Horse comics unveiled a continuation of the Firefly storyline through Zack Whedon’s comic Serenity. The story of Firefly has even expanded outside traditional forms of storytelling.
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| Done the Impossible: The Fans' Tale of Firefly and Serenity (2006) |
Through events such as documentaries and panels in conventions, Whedon and the crew of Firefly are able to expand the story in a more formal and direct setting. In 2015, memebrs of the show reunited for a panel in the New York Comic Convention and even talked about the significance of transmedia on the storytelling of the show. When commenting on the change of media form and the audience's participation in the continuation of the stories within the media, actress Gina Torres states, "I can make something happen. I don't feel like I have to wait to go through this studio system that is so specific--that almost seemed like everest. We have a story we need to tell and we know that you [the fans] are going to be there to support it and support us" (Torres, "Firefly Panel NYCC 2015"). She acknowledges that stories like Firefly can no longer be held back by the traditional issues that most shows, books, movies, etc. have faced in the past and transmedia has made that possible. It gives the fans what they want and lets their favorite stories live on without being bound to any set media platforms.
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| Firefly Pilot Episode (TV Series 2002) |
This is what makes the Firefly series such a great example of transmedia. In the words of Jenkins, “A transmedia story unfolds across multiple media platforms, with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole” (Jenkins 97-98). Whedon’s Firefly has done Jenkins’s definition of transmedia justice. It continues its story through multiple forms of media and the story, in the words of Whedon, “keeps flying”. It shows that nothing can stop a story in this era of transmedia; not even certain media platforms. Firefly shows that a story can grow, keep expanding after its set expiration date, and that is can continue to live on for all ages to enjoy for years to come.
Bibliography
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York UP, 2006. Print.
Whedon, Joss. Firefly. 22 Sep. 2002. Television.
Serenity. Dir. Joss Whedon. Universal Studios Home Entertainment, 2005. Film.
Whedon, Joss, and Brett Matthews. Serenity. Milwaukie, Or.: Dark Horse, 2007. Print.
Done the Impossible: The Fans' Tale of 'Firefly' and 'Serenity' Dir. Tony Hadlock. Done The Impossible LLC, 2006. Film.
"How Transmedia Brought Firefly Back to Life." ENGL 359 Transmedia Fiction. 24 Nov. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Torres, Gina, Nathan Fillion, and Jewel Staite. "Firefly Panel NYCC 2015." New York City. 10 Oct. 2015. Lecture.
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