Transmedia vs Multimedia Antonio Serrano

              Before I get into the academic or intellectual definition of the differences, multimedia and transmedia, to me, align themselves on the same vertical/horizontal path “with the whole, being worth more than the sum of the parts” (Jenkins104).  As a quick example, taken straight from Convergence Culture, they highlight this relationship from The Matrix: Each franchise entry needs to be self contained so you don't need to have seen the film to enjoy the game, and vice versa (Jenkins98). Now again, to me, this boils down to a VERY simple formula that looks something like this 

CONTENT: The Matrix

OUTLETS: T.v. Radio Magazines Films Etc

SPECIFIC CONTENT FOR THOSE SPECIFIC OUTLETS, E.P.’S:  The video game Enter The Matrix had a different story line for the second video game - which was multiplayer - The Matrix. Contrast this example with The Animatrix. The Animatrix was a ninety-minute program of short animated films, created by some of the best animators in all over the world (Jenkins103).

              So with all of that, one could see where the distinctions and similarities lay on this transmedia vs multimedia discussion. The content is being shared on specific outlets — in other words multimedia — but then it gets told (slightly differently) to specific media consumers on specific outlets — transmedia. TA-DAH !   *I hope I was kinda right with all of this* 

            

By Any and All Means
Credit: Byran Kramer

  According to Kevin Maloney, “with multimedia you put many forms to work by telling the story and place them all on one channel”. He goes on to cite an example The New York Times uses, but to place my spin on it I’ll use Complex’s internet magazine as an example. Complex is a pop-culture-driven-entity with a focus on Hip Hop. The other day I came across an article titled “How Meek Mill Can Save Himself” (Justin Charity). Inside that link, Justin was able to draw me inside his world view by placing emoji driven images,  twitter hyperlinks,  YouTube videos and Instagram GIF’s to drive his point home. And this was all done on one website using different multimedia tools. 

     Citing a more detailed example of transmedia on the other hand, I’ll take you no further than Spiderman. Instead of being originally conceived through film — like The Matrix — Spiderman was first imagined through a comic book in 1962 (Tucker). 

Slowly but surely, as the saying goes, Spidey quickly adapted and thrived onto television cartoons. Then films. Then coloring books. Then novels. We get the point. But what makes transmedia an inspiring landscape, is how the same — or very similar story — is being told but with distinct twists and turns for each form of media. It’s an all encompassing story world that makes whichever character(s) much bigger than originally intended. 

The Swirl of Things
Credit:irmatters

Works Cited

Tucker, Reed. "The Billion-dollar Spider-Man 'cover Up'" The New York Post. NewsCorp, 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.

Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York UP, 2006. Print. 

Maloney, Kevin. "Multimedia, Crossmedia, Transmedia... What's in a Name?" Transmedia Journalism. N.p., 21 Apr. 2014. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. 

Charity, Justin. "How Meek Mill Can Save Himself." Complex. Complex Media, Inc, 2015. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.