Stories have always been fundamental parts of what makes us human; the art of storytelling has been always evolving, growing, morphing. Whether they come to us in the form of 140-characters, a hardcover collectible classic or an IMAX screen, they are all stories, therefore part of our humanity.
We can come a long way form the elder sitting by the fire telling stories to the villagers. Today we have TVs, mobile devices, Movie screens, literature, stages. But each medium has it’s own limitations and freedoms. And many stories have been adapted from one medium to the other. Classic novels turned into movies, or blogs turned into books, TV series turned into Movies. The permutations are endless. Even news articles have been turned into feature film.
When I observe all this, I can't help but think that - regardless of this working enough to sustain a profitable business - the permeability of the story to exist across several mediums at the same time, not only allows us, but demands from us, to use its full potential and let the story breath into a cross-media existence.
What the hell am I talking about?
It's easy. I believe that the events and rules that we create to the specific reality of any story, at least the good ones, can and should be applied across different mediums, at the same time, telling, unveiling and intertwining several elements of such a story. Sure, they should stand alone as their own piece, as much as a single episode of a TV series stands alone and with the full series - including all TV seasons, movies, and merchandise related to that specific "Story".
I’m not really sure myself on the production aspect of it. I would assume that making an episode of, for example, Fringe it’s expensive, and it takes a lot of resources. Holding the cast and the creative team up for creating more content from it, would be difficult, and costly. What would be perfectly doable, is to make a web series that follows a parallel story line about Massive Dynamic (the powerful corporation constantly linked to Fringe Division Cases) and some of their internal issues, crossing many times with the main Fringe plot. Add to that a mobile phone application that has video files on all the main characters of the series, that gets updated as the series unveils, in any of the platforms, something new about each character.
And this is a very specific example on a very specific series that I know. I could go on about many more ideas I have had for this kind of multi-platform systematic story telling approach.
So, what happens with money here? Where is the business? I will develop more on that in future posts. I am working on a proposal for that. Something that makes sense. No one has come up with something that makes sense to me (not even me). Everything seems unsustainable. Let's explore how we can make the stories, the sub stories, and everything around it, work in art, in vision, and in business.
So I ask you, as a content creator, as a content consumer, how much more of any story would you like to have in other mediums?
I agree.
ReplyDeleteThe possibilities are endless.
I would love to be part of a multi medium project.
And to watch one!!!
You're basically saying that the strong points of any story can translate across mediums. It's not news, nor even new.
ReplyDeleteThe other part is media tie-ins, such a vlogs, games, blogs as characters, etc.
I'm not sure what the question is.
@Digitalis > Thank for reading. It might not be something new, true. My point and question would be, why is it that Main Stream is not harnessing , the once that really have the possibility of launching a multi-platform story. The concept seems there in the back of people mind, more as an afterthought than as a tool. I think. And they are more used as marketing tools than as story telling tools. But if you know of a story that was main stream and multiplatform created, let's explore it. That is exactly what I am looking for.
ReplyDelete@Vicente, Thank you for reading man. The best way to be part of a multi medium project would be to come up with one. right? keep it up man!
ReplyDeleteTrue Blood: book series, now tv series, character interviews. (One example of a LONG line of books/tv - Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. which all have games, book series, etc with different storylines. There are literally tons of examples in this category.)
ReplyDeleteX-files - which became books, online games, scavenger hunts for prizes - all with different storylines.
All these other mediums have been very lucrative, so they're far from merely afterthoughts or advertising for the television program.
How about Project Greenlight? More reality show, but that was totally cross platform.
Now for most (not all) of these, one platform came first. Money.
Limited resources to push a product, whatever it may be. For franchises, there are different teams for each aspect, and while you can get certain things on the cheap (particularly when preying on the desires of aspiring filmmakers), keeping up on all of those is a big job.
Eventually, people will have to be paid, or the project will fizzle. At least from one angle. There's just not enough of a single person to do everything all at once, and how long can you get a team to donate all of their time and talents?
@Digitalis, First, thanks so much for keep challenging me.
ReplyDeleteYou are totally right about everything you say. True Blood, Starwars, StarTrek. Sure have cross all over the place! Most of this came after one of their mediums where successful. The book series in True Blood, became a series, but as far as I understand (I have not read the books) this are adaptations, not other parts of the story. On Star Wars and Star Trek, it is a perfect example of what I would like to see done more often. Different aspects of this worlds, different parts of the story. Not just adaptations.
About Project Greenlight, totally cross platform! yes! and although it was based on a reality show idea, they executed very well.
I guess it all comes down to business sustainability. Ideally, everyone should get payed. Ads, or subscriptions should pay for every element of a story that is developed. I am an independent content creator. I understand the difficulties of pulling off any project with limited resources. I am completely aware of human power limitations, and resources limitations. But I am also aware of the technologies prices going down, and the possibilities of reallocating costs from productions (which in my opinion, a lot of this cost goes to wast and is never shown in the screen, but that is another conversation).
I think what we see different here, is that you see it as something that goes on over time (and that is how it is regularly done)... I would like to see develop and execute a cross platform story that is delivered at the same time, in different devices, with different level of the story being exposed.
Thanks again for your comments! They help me think!