DMS Blog #1

You Have to Cover all Bases to Reach Your Dream

The dream of becoming a professional football player has been with me for as long as I can remember. Forgetting the fact that I shared that dream with probably one in every three children in England, growing up it was a realistic dream for me, and I let everybody know. I grew up playing FIFA 98 on the PC at my dad’s work, and I could probably recite every line of my childhood favourite movie, “Bend it like Beckham”. I had a collection of what were called Tazo’s’, and they featured all of my favourite football players and could be found in packets of crisps. When Christmas rolled around I tuned my vocal chords into the yearly recording of a Christmas carol by the England Football team, but what I didn’t know was that this was the way of the future. Or as Henry Jenkins says in his review of Transmedia Story Telling, “Transmedia, multiplatform, or enhanced storytelling as it is sometimes called represents the future of entertainment.” (Jenkins,2003)

“Let's face it: we have entered an era of media convergence that makes the flow of content across multiple media channels almost inevitable.” (Jenkins,2003)Does this mean that we, as a society, as consumers, have developed a situation where it is inconceivable for a movie to be profitable all by itself, does it need to have the accompanying game, soundtrack, toys and accessories? This idea of globalizing and commercialising products has soon become reality, due to the ease of accessibility and high demand. Transmedia Storytelling practices are described as the notion of designing different points of access for a particular product, and hence opening the potential consumer market to incorporate a larger population.(2007) It creates a sense of belonging, and the content becomes ever-present and addictive, generating lifestyles adapted too, by the consumer, for the product.

A classic example of these practices in place, incorporates the film trilogy The Matrix. After the release of the first chapter in a series of three films, the proceeding two films were preceded by ‘Enter the Matrix’ – the game- ‘The Animatrix’ – Series of animated cartoons- along with a small range of comics, possessing critical information, key interactions and the introduction of minor characters. Fans were bemused as to wether or not they were required to purchase every single product to understand the remaining two parts to the trilogy. As Ivan Askwith explains in his blog related to Advertising and Transmedia Storytelling, this was just one perception of the sudden delving into cross media promotion. Ivan claims that the vast majority of people see it in one of two ways: an enormous, yet sudden enhancement in digital storytelling – whereby the viewer/listener/reader can decide how highly involved they would like to be-. (2009) Although it could also be a major advance in the way in which to exploit consumers, “You mean I have to buy the game, four comics and watch an animated series, just to understand what is going on in the second film?” (Askwith,2009)

So, how does Transmedia Storytelling affect our everyday lives or our individual aims and goals? It may seem as though after what I have said so far, this idea that Transmedia Storytelling is the only possible in the commercialisation of a product, for a example a movie or a game. However, that is not the case, with these supposed worlds also being created and ever-present in the news, advertising and public relations professions.

My desired and planned profession is to become a professional athlete in the sport of football, and in today’s modern society these athletes are sometimes seen and treated as products. As stated earlier, although the idea of Transmedia Storytelling is relatively modern, I believe it has been around at least since I was young. Football, in itself has become part of the Transmedia Storytelling arena. Crazed fans adapt and change their lifestyle based around their favourite club or player, fans constantly want to be updated on the latest football news; either through the television updates, newspapers or even the internet and social networking sites such as Twitter. Weekly events include magazines dedicated to the sport, specific football newspapers and even fantasy leagues where you can manage your own football team. There seems to be a new football movie out every year to accompany the annual FIFA football game. When we talk about creating further access points to broaden the market along with the above, we have football players posing for calendars, enticing the female market, along with celebrity endorsed cosmetics and further products.

It is safe to say, that the sport of football at any level has created opportunities to incorporate a larger consumer or participatory market, by creating further entry points for a wider audience to incorporate the sport within their lives.

 If it wasn’t already, in the past few years Football has quickly become part of the rapidly growing Transmedia Storytelling era. Question is, have you got the latest version of the FIFA football game to accompany your weekly ‘Football International’ magazine? If not, you may just be missing out on that one piece of information.

Reference:

Jenkins,H.(2007).Transmedia Storytelling 101. Retrieved October 18,2010, from http://www.henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html.

Jenkins,H.(2003). Transmedia Storytelling. Retrieved October 18,2010, from http://www.technologyreview.com/biotech/13052/.

Askwith,I.(2009). Further Reading on Advertising and Transmedia. Retrieved October 18,2010, from http://www.bigspaceship.com/blog/think/further-reading-on-advertising-transmedia/.