Skip to main content
Donate

Coming Up: Transmedia Storytelling

By Holly Willis
March 15, 2010
Support Provided By
convergence

Worldbuilding, mythmaking, over-design: these are just some of the terms that characterize the emerging world being dubbed "transmedia storytelling," a concept best explained by Henry Jenkins, who in 2006 described transmedia in a book titled Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. The book outlines the cultural shifts that affect media production, highlighting, for example, the increased role of fans, who now form social and creative communities around certain kinds of works (such has the Harry Potter franchise). Jenkins notes that the aesthetic goals of convergence culture projects include serving as "cultural attractors" by bringing people together, and as "cultural activators" by providing opportunities for participation. Works that combine attraction and activation might also offer raw materials for continued fan remix, as well as a means for monitoring and amplifying these activities so that fans gain recognition from peers. Even in this very simple, four-part elaboration, it's clear that the work of "authoring" in convergence culture is vastly different from simply writing a great book or movie script. Jenkins, along with his colleague Denise Mann, will host an all-day symposium tomorrow at USC titled Transmedia, Hollywood: S/Telling the Story to talk about the implications of this new form of creativity, asking, for example, if this is an entirely new way of thinking about storytelling, as well as, simply, how do you imagine, design and create these sprawling story worlds that move from one medium to the next? (Image: from the cover of Convergence Culture

the details
Transmedia, Hollywood: S/Telling the Story
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
University of Southern California
School of Cinematic Arts
Free to students; $25 general public

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.
By Marisa Kendall, CalMatters