Understanding Transmedia Story Telling; The Wizard of Oz as pioneer
Transmedia storytelling has emerged as the buzz word of the moment. It is, I believe, more than a buzz word and one that more people need to understand.
I don't claim to be an expert but thought it would be interesting to consider this 21st century concept from a unique angle, that of an early 20th century property; the Wizard of Oz.
But first, what is transmedia storytelling? Expert, Jeff Gomez defines it as "The art of conveying messages themes or storylines to mass audiences through the artful and well planned use of multiple media platforms."
Quoting from Wikipedia, Henry Jenkins, defines it this way in his Convergence Culture: "Transmedia storytelling [is] storytelling across multiple forms of media with each element making distinctive contributions to a fan's understanding of the story world. By using different media formats, transmedia creates ‘entry points' through which consumers can become immersed in a story world."
So, here is what it means to me. With licensing, the creator licenses the rights to a property and lets people, as long as they are true to the visuals, pretty much do what they want. With transmedia storytelling,however, every platform (whether toy, movie, video game, virtual world, etc.) contributes to the greater story. In other word, the original creator allows others develop stories as long as they stay within the macro vision for the property. The reader can engage any one format and find it fulfilling but the more he or she engages the more they understand and experience.
It was while writing this that my eye drifted to my bookcase and upon several Oz books I own. I have kind of a thing for the Wizard of Oz. No, not the movie, though I like it, but the books...all forty of them. Yes, most people don't know it but there were actually forty books in the series written over 50 years by a number of official "Oz Historians." All of the books (some of course more than others) have that Oz charm that combines fear, fun and fantasy.
So as my eye hit that Oz book it suddenly hit me that author L. Frank Baum, and after his death, his estate were, I believe, pioneers in transmedia storytelling.
There were stage plays, books, Sunday comic strips, toys, board games, amusement parks, dolls, an annual television event since 1956 and movies. Lots of movies; here is a list which I found on Wikianswers:
Wizard of Oz (1910) - based on a 1902 stage musical - Silent film
Land of Oz (1910) - Silent film
Dorothy and the Scarecrow in Oz (1910) - Silent film
The Patchwork Girl of Oz (1914) - Silent film
His Majesty the Scarecrow of Oz (1914/1915) - Silent film
Wizard of Oz (1925)
The Land of Oz (1932)
The Wizard of Oz (1939)
In other words, the Oz world was communicated by all the available platforms of the time. The more you read and see, the more you immerse yourself.
So, why is world of Oz, a pioneer of transmedia storytelling, not even remotely in the same league as other transmedia pioneers like Disney and Star Wars; that in my next blog.
Gerry commented:
It might be a decent exercise to map out how the Wizard of Oz story might be developed and produced today as a full-scale transmedia project. The storyline is ultra rich in terms of characters, core and sub-plots, with plenty of creative potential across various platforms. Add to this marketing(film, books, licensed products, etc.)we begin to envision transmedia fir for a Hollywood blockbuster. Tim Kring is doing interesting things with transmedia in TV and publishing, I think.
Matthew Warneford commented:
Great post Richard.
We've just started work on an Oz virtual world for 3D film Dorothy of Oz. Have you heard of Disneys Club Penguin virtual world - they attract over 6 million unique players each month. The Oz virtual world will be similar, but we want to inject narrative into the game.
Today, I get more immersed in a book than a virtual world - the book has a narrative while most worlds are just a collection of games and spaces. We want to try and change that. We want to take kids on adventures, let them play through the stories, like we might have done with those old make your own adventure books.
We dont have the answers yet, its a new medium, and I thought it was fitting that Oz is helping to pioneer.
If you're interested, I've written a post about narrative and adventures in casual MMOs
Matt
drew stein commented:
While there are some interesting points being made I think we are missing the essence of what trans-media storytelling can be. Let's start with the OZ books, and now let's create a marketing vehicle that not only promotes it but ads to its value - enter trans-media is the form of a ARG (Alternate reality game) that works across multiple modalities including street theater, call centers, the book itself, Facebook, twitter, Geo-caching web sites and virtual worlds, all containing clues that move the game/story/promotion forward. Now that is trans-media and I think the subject of my ext blog
Cannon commented:
I think that as creators with understanding of the dynamic relationship between artist and consumer, we understand that the consumer will tell their own story anyway. The way consumers interact with a story is powerful. Letting them tell us about that interaction by adding to the worlds we create deepens that world. It simultaneously broadens it as a new voice adds appeal to other consumers.
A great example relating to Oz, is that of people watching the movie while listening to Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon. Somebody, somewhere, had this experience, they shared it with others and it became an entire new way to interact with the content of the story.
poburke commented:
One of my favourite films and I had no idea there were so many iterations of it - thanks.
I take your point on one hand, but on the other I would say this is (at most) crossmedia ant not transmedia.
Terminology is forever evolving and replacing itself of course. For this to have been transmedia at the time though I think there would have to have been some user interaction and, as other comments have posted, a preconceived cohesive approach to telling the story across multiple spaces rather than replicating it sequentially and opportunistically.
As you say - Interesting though!
Paul | poburke.com
Geoffrey Long commented:
Actually, from what I understand The Wizard of Oz developed in a similar fashion to Superman - although not as carefully orchestrated as contemporary transmedia franchises, Oz's adaptations into different media added new ideas and interpretations of the story world, which then made it back to the core narrative. (In Superman, the idea that Clark Kent worked at the Daily Planet came from one medium, a handful of his powers came from another, and so on. We see the same thing with Batman now, with the character of Harley Quinn first appearing in Batman: The Animated Series and then later being incorporated into the comics and the videogames.) There's much more about this in Mark Evan Swart's excellent OZ BEFORE THE RAINBOW.
Fred Trust commented:
You can learn a lot about all 40 Oz books on www.RareOzBooks.com website. In addition, currently is over 19 various Oz realted production at works. List of them can be found at www.rareozbooks.com/oz-movies.html
TransmediaStoryteller commented:
But how many of the Wizard of Oz products expand the storyworld rather than re-hash the same basic story under a different title?
A "re-imaging" of an earlier property is not transmedia, right?
Robert
www.transmediastoryteller.com
