Transmedia and Lost

Ilya Ryvin

Proposal Paper

LOST represents a moment of narrative transition in television, one where show runners are starting to understand that they are not restricted to one medium. In fact, Executive producers like Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse understand that by spreading their narratives across a number of different platforms, they are creating a new brand of television narrative. Perhaps the most significant change is that transmedia narratives like LOST are putting new demands on their audiences, where show runners are encouraging their audiences to actively engage and explore the media they consume.

I will explore the evolution of popular narratives on television, and the factors that ultimately contributed to that evolution. I will look at the complexity of stories being told, how new and emerging technologies affected these stories, and how all of this ultimately put a new level of demand on mass audiences to be more engaged and active with their media. Nevertheless, due to the nature of transmedia storytelling, I will obviously have to mention movies, videogames, comics, etc, but my focus will remain in television.

Of course, I also plan to explore what transmedia storytelling is. Using Jenkins’ definition as a starting point, I plan to show that the definition is still in flux and that a number of different academics have a number of different views. The idea is to give my audience a better understanding of transmedia storytelling, but also to create my own working definition of what transmedia storytelling truly is.

That definition, however, will not be complete without examples. Using LOST as my case study, I plan to show how the show runners created an effective transmedia text. Specifically, I plan to emphasize how the producers of LOST encouraged audiences to be active and participate. My main reason for using LOST as a case study is that LOST was a mega hit, both critically and commercially. It was not a small fringe program, but a show embraced by a mass audience, not all of whom were hardcore fans. This distinction is important to analyze because the show managed to have a broad enough appeal while offering an experience that promoted active engagement.

The purpose of this study is to ultimately present a model that will guide transmedia producers in creating successful transmedia narratives in the future. Drawing examples from LOST, I plan to offer a number of suggestions that producers can consider when developing their narratives that perhaps were lacking in past transmedia works.

Methodologically, I will first need to tap into the available literature on transmedia storytelling. I will look at the works of Henry Jenkins, Christy Dena, Geoffrey Long and other noted academics and practitioners of transmedia to get an idea of what similarities, but more importantly differences, exist when defining transmedia. Because I want to explore the level of active engagement that fans had with LOST, and how show runners encouraged and nourished that engagement, I will look for interviews, articles, and instances within the show itself that show that encouragement. Doing this, I hope to develop my model for an effective transmedia framework, by looking what worked within the LOST franchise that past media producers perhaps failed to realize.