Askwith, Ivan D. “Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV as an Engagement Medium.” Thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. . Askwith argues that television is at a crucial point, one where the medium is moving away from passive audience engagement towards more interactive audience engagement. With this change, he believes that television needs a new conceptual model where audiences are invited, in a variety of ways, to interact with the television programs they watch. He uses Lost as a case study to show what can be done through this new expanded multi-platform model and how this model draws out audience participation. Askwith concludes that Lost was ahead of its time, and while an almost ideal example of audience engagement, Lost failed to explore all the possibilities of a true engagement medium.
Dena, Christy. “Transmedia Practice: Theorising the Practice of Expressing a Fictional World across Distinct Media and Environments.” Diss. University of Sydney, 2009. Christy’s Corner of the Universe. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. . Christy Dena’s PhD dissertation explores the nature of transmedia practice in general terms, focusing on how transmedia developers design fictional worlds and express those worlds across different medium. She uses the semiotic theories of multimodality and domains of practice to explore the skills employed in the design stages of transmedia works. The goal of the paper is to show that transmedia is unique in its own right and that it needs its own methodologies for study and evaluation.
Jenkins, Henry. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York: New York University Press, 2006. Print. Media Analyst Henry Jenkins argues against traditional ideas of convergence, that a “black box” will unite all methods of media delivery. Jenkins contends that the digital age is instead a combination of media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence. The work is highly qualitative, drawing on a number of case studies and examples throughout the text. Of particular importance is the chapter, “Searching for the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling.” It explores The Matrix franchise through the lens of transmedia storytelling to show how the Wachowski brothers built a universe across a variety of platforms. It is an excellent introduction to the ideas of convergence and media in the digital age.
Jenkins, Henry. “Getting Lost.” Web log post. Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 25 Aug. 2006. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. . Jenkins replies to comments posted by Ian Bogost, Jane McGonigal, and Jason Mittel to Jenkins’ blogpost, “A Response to Ian Bogost.” He discusses both Twin Peaks and Lost, but focuses primarily on breaking down Lost. He concludes that Lost functions like a narrative puzzle and that producers actively invite fan engagement to solve that puzzle. Jenkins mentions the similarities between fan engagement in Lost and the reality program, Survivor.
Jenkins, Henry. “Hollywood Goes “Transmedia”.” Web log post. Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 12 Dec. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. . Jenkins discusses the ratification of “Transmedia Producer” by the Producers Guild of America. He notes that there is already disagreement over the guidelines identified by the PGA, namely the requirement to spread a transmedia narrative across a minimum of three platforms, thereby ignoring transmedia works that operate on only two platforms. He concludes that the definition is still very much in flux, and what constitutes a transmedia project will continue to evolve.
Jenkins, Henry. “Revenge of the Origami Unicorn: The Remaining Four Principles of Transmedia Storytelling.” Web log post. Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 12 Dec. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. . Jenkins continues the ideas he posed in “Revenge of the Origami Unicorn: The Remaining Four Principles of Transmedia Storytelling.” He focuses on immersion vs. extractability, worldbuilding, seriality, subjectivity, and performance. He offers a number of examples for each principle, concluding that these principles do not represent a conclusive list and that there is room for future development. Video links to the conference are also available.
Jenkins, Henry. “The Revenge of the Origami Unicorn: Seven Principles of Transmedia Storytelling (Well, Two Actually. Five More on Friday).” Web log post. Confessions of an Aca-Fan: The Official Weblog of Henry Jenkins. 12 Dec. 2009. Web. 18 Oct. 2010. . Jenkin’s updates his thinking about transmedia storytelling as described in his book, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. The points made in this post are a summation of a lecture Jenkins held at the Futures of Entertainment 4 conference held at MIT. He focuses on two principles, spreadability vs. drillability and continuity vs. multiplicity. Jenkins also mentions opposing theories of transmedia storytelling posed by Christy Dena and Frank Rose. Video links to the conference are also available.
Johnson, Steven. Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. New York: Riverhead Books, 2005. Print. Johnson argues that today’s popular culture has actually grown more complex, and that complexity is in turn making us smarter. He examines how his theory plays across several mediums, primarily focusing on video games, films, and television. He notes that television programming has evolved through the implementation of the “multiple threading” and the disappearance of “flashing arrows, ” resulting in television shows that demand more from their audiences. Although not a scholarly work, this book can be enjoyed by both academics and general readers.
Long, Geoffrey A. “Transmedia Storytelling: Business, Aesthetics, and Production at the Jim Henson Company.” Thesis. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. Web. 19 Oct. 2010.
. Long explores Barthesian hermeneutic codes, negative capability, and migratory cues to see how transmedia stories guide audiences across multiple platforms. He presents a number of case studies, but his main focus is Jim Henson’s Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal. He proposes a number of principles transmedia producers can follow based around the framework analyzed in these two case studies.
Mittell, Jason. “Narrative Complexity in Contemporary American Television.” The Velvet Light Trap Fall.58 (2006): 29-40. Web. 19 Oct. 2010. . Mittell argues that over the last two decades, American television programming has grown in narrative complexity. He explores the history of television, and analyzes the impact technology had on programming. Citing a number of programs, including The X-Files, Buffy, 24, Seinfeld, etc., Mittell shows how they created complex narratives while making distinctions between episodic and serial narratives. The Velvet Light Trap is a film and media studies journal edited by graduate students at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and The University of Texas at Austin.
