WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.988 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:02.988 --> 00:00:18.450 align:middle line:90% 00:00:18.450 --> 00:00:22.590 align:middle line:84% I think the way in which media industries use platforms 00:00:22.590 --> 00:00:25.380 align:middle line:84% to engage audiences very much depends, actually, 00:00:25.380 --> 00:00:29.310 align:middle line:84% in terms of the context, or rather the project, 00:00:29.310 --> 00:00:31.080 align:middle line:84% or rather the entertainment that the thing 00:00:31.080 --> 00:00:34.770 align:middle line:84% that's actually being extended across different platforms. 00:00:34.770 --> 00:00:38.430 align:middle line:84% I think it's a mistake to imply that there's almost 00:00:38.430 --> 00:00:42.410 align:middle line:84% a one-size-fits-all model to how you would actually do this, 00:00:42.410 --> 00:00:42.910 align:middle line:90% you know? 00:00:42.910 --> 00:00:46.580 align:middle line:84% So I know almost a naive way of thinking about transmedia 00:00:46.580 --> 00:00:50.040 align:middle line:84% were to say, well, a film is incredibly 00:00:50.040 --> 00:00:51.660 align:middle line:84% immersive because it's cinematic, 00:00:51.660 --> 00:00:54.150 align:middle line:84% therefore it should house certain types of content, 00:00:54.150 --> 00:00:57.090 align:middle line:84% or a comic book is very good for telling 00:00:57.090 --> 00:00:59.400 align:middle line:84% the precursor of a story, or a web is the more 00:00:59.400 --> 00:01:02.340 align:middle line:84% interactive part, so it should contain something else. 00:01:02.340 --> 00:01:05.535 align:middle line:84% I think that thinking about particular affordances 00:01:05.535 --> 00:01:07.710 align:middle line:84% of a platform in terms of what it can really do, 00:01:07.710 --> 00:01:10.370 align:middle line:84% or what it can't do, is really, really useful. 00:01:10.370 --> 00:01:13.033 align:middle line:84% But ultimately, I think it depends on the themes 00:01:13.033 --> 00:01:14.700 align:middle line:84% of the project, the aims of the project, 00:01:14.700 --> 00:01:17.483 align:middle line:84% the audience of the project, and, of course, which-- 00:01:17.483 --> 00:01:18.900 align:middle line:84% which platforms are actually going 00:01:18.900 --> 00:01:20.475 align:middle line:84% to engage that particular audience, 00:01:20.475 --> 00:01:23.100 align:middle line:84% and what's going to fit in terms of the nature of that project. 00:01:23.100 --> 00:01:27.020 align:middle line:84% So for example, if we were to take a very popular example, 00:01:27.020 --> 00:01:29.100 align:middle line:84% so something like Harry Potter, for example, 00:01:29.100 --> 00:01:32.370 align:middle line:84% kind of big huge-- big huge global franchise. 00:01:32.370 --> 00:01:35.460 align:middle line:84% Looking at the way that platforms 00:01:35.460 --> 00:01:37.035 align:middle line:84% have been used more recently, I think 00:01:37.035 --> 00:01:38.910 align:middle line:84% it's actually quite interesting because there 00:01:38.910 --> 00:01:42.330 align:middle line:84% seems to have been a shift away from digital, actually. 00:01:42.330 --> 00:01:44.460 align:middle line:84% So rather than thinking transmedia has to-- 00:01:44.460 --> 00:01:48.220 align:middle line:84% has to be digital, I think what-- at least, my sense-- 00:01:48.220 --> 00:01:50.010 align:middle line:84% what the strategy seems to have been 00:01:50.010 --> 00:01:52.830 align:middle line:84% there is acknowledging that the audience for Harry Potter 00:01:52.830 --> 00:01:53.930 align:middle line:90% has grown up. 00:01:53.930 --> 00:01:57.060 align:middle line:84% So those who read the books 15 years ago 00:01:57.060 --> 00:02:00.210 align:middle line:84% when they were children, have inevitably grown up. 00:02:00.210 --> 00:02:03.730 align:middle line:84% You can see the scale, actually, in terms of the films become 00:02:03.730 --> 00:02:06.270 align:middle line:84% slightly more mature, and they become slightly darker, 00:02:06.270 --> 00:02:08.430 align:middle line:84% and the themes become a little bit more grown up, 00:02:08.430 --> 00:02:11.670 align:middle line:84% which of course reflects the way that the characters are growing 00:02:11.670 --> 00:02:12.770 align:middle line:90% up. 00:02:12.770 --> 00:02:14.340 align:middle line:84% If you continue along this scale, 00:02:14.340 --> 00:02:17.430 align:middle line:84% and you look at things like The Fantastic Beasts franchise, 00:02:17.430 --> 00:02:20.700 align:middle line:84% and a lot of the transmedia platforms 00:02:20.700 --> 00:02:23.220 align:middle line:84% and extensions around Harry Potter now, 00:02:23.220 --> 00:02:24.900 align:middle line:90% they're very physical, actually. 00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:26.850 align:middle line:84% So there's been a big push towards things 00:02:26.850 --> 00:02:31.380 align:middle line:84% like studio tours in London, or theme park attractions. 00:02:31.380 --> 00:02:35.130 align:middle line:84% There's been a move away from more web-based exercises 00:02:35.130 --> 00:02:36.630 align:middle line:90% like Pottermore. 00:02:36.630 --> 00:02:38.850 align:middle line:84% And instead, of course, things like The Cursed Child, 00:02:38.850 --> 00:02:43.140 align:middle line:84% a Broadway-- a theatre show, of course, very, very physical. 00:02:43.140 --> 00:02:46.230 align:middle line:84% And all of this is transmedia, of course. 00:02:46.230 --> 00:02:49.802 align:middle line:84% Each one has a function in terms of extending the story. 00:02:49.802 --> 00:02:51.510 align:middle line:84% There's something very specific, I think, 00:02:51.510 --> 00:02:54.090 align:middle line:84% about what theatre can do as a platform, 00:02:54.090 --> 00:02:56.303 align:middle line:84% or what a studio tour can do as a platform. 00:02:56.303 --> 00:02:58.470 align:middle line:84% But I do think it's very interesting that, actually, 00:02:58.470 --> 00:03:01.860 align:middle line:84% that the physicality of it reflects actually the more-- 00:03:01.860 --> 00:03:03.727 align:middle line:84% the way that the audiences are growing up. 00:03:03.727 --> 00:03:06.060 align:middle line:84% Going to a theatre play, you would associate potentially 00:03:06.060 --> 00:03:08.477 align:middle line:84% with an older audience, so it's a way of catering for that 00:03:08.477 --> 00:03:10.610 align:middle line:90% particular kind of audience. 00:03:10.610 --> 00:03:13.790 align:middle line:84% And that, I think, has been incredibly successful. 00:03:13.790 --> 00:03:16.380 align:middle line:84% So I suppose that the first point there is-- 00:03:16.380 --> 00:03:19.980 align:middle line:84% is mirroring or matching the themes, and the tone, 00:03:19.980 --> 00:03:23.140 align:middle line:84% and the idea, and the aims of the fiction, 00:03:23.140 --> 00:03:26.227 align:middle line:84% or the entertainment, or the project of the transmedia, 00:03:26.227 --> 00:03:27.810 align:middle line:84% and thinking, actually, which platform 00:03:27.810 --> 00:03:31.090 align:middle line:84% is going to engage a particular audience the strongest? 00:03:31.090 --> 00:03:33.580 align:middle line:84% If that happens to be digital, maybe a younger audience, 00:03:33.580 --> 00:03:34.710 align:middle line:90% that makes sense. 00:03:34.710 --> 00:03:37.500 align:middle line:84% If it's an older audience, then I think equally, 00:03:37.500 --> 00:03:40.800 align:middle line:84% physical platforms, and maybe a combination of the two 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:44.490 align:middle line:84% seems to work very, very well based on-- based on the case 00:03:44.490 --> 00:03:45.988 align:middle line:90% by case specifics. 00:03:45.988 --> 00:03:47.530 align:middle line:84% I think the other-- the other point-- 00:03:47.530 --> 00:03:50.340 align:middle line:84% a different point to make in terms of the digital 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:54.300 align:middle line:84% is, I think, particularly kind of in the US and UK, again, 00:03:54.300 --> 00:03:57.435 align:middle line:84% thinking quite big transmedia examples, 00:03:57.435 --> 00:03:59.310 align:middle line:84% there's been this really interesting strategy 00:03:59.310 --> 00:04:03.900 align:middle line:84% to use very online or digital centric transmedia 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:07.860 align:middle line:84% platforms to actually reinforce old media. 00:04:07.860 --> 00:04:10.253 align:middle line:84% So rather than almost naively thinking 00:04:10.253 --> 00:04:11.670 align:middle line:84% that actually what's going on here 00:04:11.670 --> 00:04:15.120 align:middle line:84% is a drive away from old media towards new media, so 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:17.432 align:middle line:84% television towards web, for example. 00:04:17.432 --> 00:04:19.140 align:middle line:84% I think actually what a lot of transmedia 00:04:19.140 --> 00:04:22.830 align:middle line:84% does is it uses the online, uses the digital, 00:04:22.830 --> 00:04:26.100 align:middle line:84% as a way of actually reinforcing and holding 00:04:26.100 --> 00:04:28.110 align:middle line:90% onto the value of the old media. 00:04:28.110 --> 00:04:29.638 align:middle line:90% So an example-- 00:04:29.638 --> 00:04:31.180 align:middle line:84% I think there's a number of examples, 00:04:31.180 --> 00:04:34.510 align:middle line:84% things like Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, for example. 00:04:34.510 --> 00:04:36.220 align:middle line:84% So if you look at actually what-- 00:04:36.220 --> 00:04:39.670 align:middle line:84% what constitutes that transmedia package, 00:04:39.670 --> 00:04:42.690 align:middle line:84% it's things like apps, things like story syncs, for example, 00:04:42.690 --> 00:04:44.660 align:middle line:90% where audiences-- 00:04:44.660 --> 00:04:46.410 align:middle line:84% they watch an episode of The Walking Dead, 00:04:46.410 --> 00:04:48.330 align:middle line:84% and they kind of-- they have post quizzes, 00:04:48.330 --> 00:04:49.950 align:middle line:84% and they ask you to put your opinion 00:04:49.950 --> 00:04:53.100 align:middle line:84% on whether a character made the right choice, thematically, 00:04:53.100 --> 00:04:55.065 align:middle line:90% or morally, for example. 00:04:55.065 --> 00:04:56.940 align:middle line:84% And actually what a lot of these platforms do 00:04:56.940 --> 00:05:00.960 align:middle line:84% is they are contingent on you as an audience watching 00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:03.900 align:middle line:84% an episode of television live, watching it actually 00:05:03.900 --> 00:05:05.550 align:middle line:90% as it's being broadcast. 00:05:05.550 --> 00:05:07.560 align:middle line:84% And the nature of things like these apps, 00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:09.690 align:middle line:84% they actually encourage you, or they demand you 00:05:09.690 --> 00:05:11.430 align:middle line:90% to actually watch them live. 00:05:11.430 --> 00:05:15.990 align:middle line:84% If you go to the outside 24 hours after the-- 00:05:15.990 --> 00:05:19.000 align:middle line:84% television episode, you can't engage with the discussion. 00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:21.120 align:middle line:84% All of a sudden, it's died, or you've 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:22.620 align:middle line:84% heard spoilers, and all of a sudden, 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:25.420 align:middle line:84% that transmedia extension doesn't become relevant. 00:05:25.420 --> 00:05:28.290 align:middle line:84% So this, I think, taps into kind of discussions 00:05:28.290 --> 00:05:30.570 align:middle line:84% around second screening, and people 00:05:30.570 --> 00:05:32.820 align:middle line:84% kind of using multiple devices whilst they're 00:05:32.820 --> 00:05:35.332 align:middle line:84% engaging with-- particularly, with entertainment. 00:05:35.332 --> 00:05:37.290 align:middle line:84% But I just think it's a very interesting point, 00:05:37.290 --> 00:05:39.720 align:middle line:84% that actually, really what a lot of transmedia 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:42.930 align:middle line:84% is doing is not so much encouraging audiences 00:05:42.930 --> 00:05:46.680 align:middle line:84% to migrate, or to move from old media to new media, 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:50.773 align:middle line:84% or to completely prioritise the shift towards the digital, 00:05:50.773 --> 00:05:53.190 align:middle line:84% which might make sense, you would think, would be logical, 00:05:53.190 --> 00:05:55.107 align:middle line:84% by the fact that digital is more interconnect, 00:05:55.107 --> 00:05:56.750 align:middle line:90% it's more transmedial. 00:05:56.750 --> 00:05:59.250 align:middle line:84% Actually, I think the strategy seems to be much more around, 00:05:59.250 --> 00:06:02.400 align:middle line:84% how can we bring the old media and the new media together? 00:06:02.400 --> 00:06:04.110 align:middle line:84% So there actually-- there's a harmony, 00:06:04.110 --> 00:06:07.677 align:middle line:84% there's an equality between these different media. 00:06:07.677 --> 00:06:10.260 align:middle line:84% I think that's a very useful way of thinking about transmedia, 00:06:10.260 --> 00:06:13.850 align:middle line:84% because old media continues to have real relevance 00:06:13.850 --> 00:06:16.320 align:middle line:84% as a platform in terms of what television can do, 00:06:16.320 --> 00:06:18.720 align:middle line:84% what radio can do, what print can do, 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:19.980 align:middle line:90% actually is very specific. 00:06:19.980 --> 00:06:21.000 align:middle line:90% And it's very unique. 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:23.520 align:middle line:84% And a lot of those values can't actually 00:06:23.520 --> 00:06:26.260 align:middle line:84% be carried over into the digital, or if they can, 00:06:26.260 --> 00:06:27.455 align:middle line:90% not quite as well. 00:06:27.455 --> 00:06:28.830 align:middle line:84% So I think thinking of transmedia 00:06:28.830 --> 00:06:31.170 align:middle line:84% as something that holds onto different platforms, 00:06:31.170 --> 00:06:33.420 align:middle line:84% whether it's old, whether it's new, whether it's film, 00:06:33.420 --> 00:06:35.070 align:middle line:84% whether it's web, and acknowledging 00:06:35.070 --> 00:06:36.840 align:middle line:84% that there is a value in equality 00:06:36.840 --> 00:06:39.450 align:middle line:84% between using those two things simultaneously. 00:06:39.450 --> 00:06:42.030 align:middle line:84% I think that very much seems to be a driving 00:06:42.030 --> 00:06:45.930 align:middle line:84% strategy of actually what a lot of big transmedia companies 00:06:45.930 --> 00:06:48.720 align:middle line:84% and corporations are doing in terms of holding 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:50.490 align:middle line:90% onto their audiences right now. 00:06:50.490 --> 00:06:53.540 align:middle line:90% [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:06:53.540 --> 00:06:54.635 align:middle line:90%