Transmedia navigation is best described as being able to follow the thread of one story through several different media platforms (Jenkins, 2009). In an article by Gianluca Fiorelli, he discusses the concept if transmedia storytelling, which is, in many aspects very similar to transmedia navigation, but it possesses six important characteristics. These consist of: spreadability/drillability, immersion/exractability, world building, seriality, subjectivity, and performance (Fiorelli, 2015).
Spreadability refers to the importance of digital platforms and websites. Immersion is pretty straightforward because with all storytelling, one strives to immerse the audience, but this also strives to extract certain aspects from the audience’s everyday life. World building refers to the construction of the fictional world surrounding the story, though it does not always have to be fictional. Seriality means the consecutive release of components, it is not merely one thing, but rather multiple episodes spread across media platforms. Subjectivity is important as in modern society; we require multiple viewpoints of a story. The last characteristic is performance which refers to the fact that those participating in the storytelling become a part of the performance Fiorelli, 2015).
A good example of transmedia storytelling is the web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. This is a YouTube based show that is a modernization of Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice. It spans for 100 episodes of varying lengths and garnered a lot of critical attention as it was one of the first big, and successful, examples of transmedia storytelling.
The producers of the web series chose to not only post videos on YouTube from the perspective of the protagonist, Lizzie Bennet, but also added other characters’ points of view by creating YouTube channels for the likes of Lizzie’s younger sister Lydia. They created Twitter pages for each character and made websites that were referred to in the show that you could actually visit.
The show gained a lot of success, even winning an Emmy award, demonstrating the power and entertainment value of transmedia storytelling. However, without the ability to navigate through the different media platforms, one would be unable to glean the whole story. Though it is possible to simply watch the original videos, without the additional sources, it falls flat and lacks background information. Therefore, Jenkins’ concept of transmedia navigation is crucial to keeping up with where the entertainment industry seems to be going.
Works Cited
Fiorelli, G. (2015, January 8). The Complete Guide To Transmedia Storytelling. Retrieved December 7, 2015. from
Jenkins, H (et al). (2009) "Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century". The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. The MIT Press. Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The Lizzie Bennet Diaries. (2013). Retrieved December 7, 2015, from
No comments:
Post a Comment