Transmedia: Storytelling for the Digital Age

Ben Travers:  "In greenlighting this expansive tentpole from Ryan Murphy, FX executives, the series' showrunners, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson, and key crew members made very specific, very self-aware and very, very smart moves to ensure high awareness and maximize the potential of this project."

Simon Staffans ponders the next big thing at "the MIPs" ....

James Martin:  "There’s no denying that video is increasingly consumed in vertical, rather than horizontal format — think smartphone apps like Snapchat — to the dismay of some purists."

Simon Staffans:  "We have all heard the value of getting something to a viral stage and the need for either robust strategies for social media or an enormous amount of good luck to make that virality happen – most often a combination of the two is needed."

Chris Giliberti:  "Since the beginning of time (and the advent of humans), oral storytelling has served a critical role as the sole means of abstracting experiences and emotions in narrative form" ...

Judith Aston:  "Having just convened our fourth i-Docs symposium, it feels like an opportune moment to reflect on what is meant by ‘interactive documentary’ and why we at i-Docs have always seen it as a way of framing a set of possibilities, as opposed to being a specific medium, genre or platform."

Jake Muncy:  "ClickHole, the Buzzfeed-parodying offshoot of The Onion's satirical news enterprise, has, improbably, become a small haven for funny text-based games."

Mark Wilson:  "Museum members are growing older, but there’s hope: Millennials love experiences. And they love food."

Martin Bryant:  "While audiences around the world know the UK’s BBC best for its hit TV shows like Top Gear and Doctor Who, it has been a key force in technological advances since since it first started broadcasting almost a century ago" ....

Oakley Anderson-Moore:  "Digital distribution has thrown traditional release windows… out the window. What happens now?"

Simon Staffans:  "We won’t be creating a documentary, or a series, or a film when we're working multiplatform – we’ll be creating an experience that will stretch further than most traditional narratives can hope for."

Blooloop:  "Visitor attractions are racing to embrace Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies.  But what are the potential opportunities and possible pitfalls of VR and AR?"

Charlotte Cullen:  "How will viewers follow a story if they are able to look wherever they want? How will a director make scene cuts without making the user sick?"

Tim Merel:  "At the end of the day, business models come down to installed bases, use cases and unit economics, so let’s dip our hands in the virtual money pot and see what comes out."

Sparksheet:  "Snapchat, instant messaging, and Donald Trump were all the rage in Austin this past March. Spafax’s Matthew Fox braved the crowds at SXSW and found out what was what in content production, digital campaigns, and social media marketing. He also ate many tacos."

Brian Moylan:  "Deloitte’s annual Digital Democracy Survey was released and with it came the usual predictions of what it means for the future – but there were some surprises" ...

Stuart Dredge:  :Millions of children want to be the next Stampy or Diamond Minecart. How to do it is easy enough, but how to do it safely and appropriately is the bigger question" ...

Daniel Terdiman:  "VR hardware makers seem to know that, for now anyway, it's in their mutual interest not to tear each other down."

Simon Staffans:  "There are trends in today’s world, and there are things that could be better described as mega-trends. One of them is – building on things I’ve discussed in posts on this blog over the past few weeks, months and years – the notion of a creative society."

DRC:  The latest blog post in Simon Staffan's excellent series on storytelling for an evolving audience ....

Sandra Gaudenzi:  "VR and 360 video projects have dominated the festival landscape this year, and small and big players want to catch the train while they can. Similar to the effect of The arrival of a train at La Ciotat (1895), the illusion of “being there” is associated with a wave of enthusiasm. Immersion and empathy are the new keywords, and the hope that this time we have found a technology that will trick our senses even more than the one before, seems to provoke a mini gold rush – or maybe just a high in the Gartner’s Media & Entertainment Hype Cycle."

Leah Lamb:  "Penrose Studios is channeling the history of cinematic storytelling into augmented and virtual reality experiences."

James Clements:  "For years, games have acted as escapism. Life is Strange, however, could be described as the exact opposite. What happens when a game gets you to look at your own life instead? Well, in Life is Strange’s case, an incredibly powerful story that can bring comfort and relatability."

John Jones:  "How the latest virtual reality tech is opening up a limitless, yet uncanny, world…"