Students Notes 01 - Interactive Narratives

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UCSF – Fac. Filosofía y Humanidades – Lic. Medios Digitales – TDI 2 – Prof. E.

Quintana

Students' Notes 01

Blue Pencil: Experiences in Transmedia


by Rafael Antunes (2014)

Technological developments brought about several transformations in the ways we


communicate and tell stories. In this context, challenges to the production of narratives
vary, one of them being how can we fulfill audiences expectations in an ever more screen-
fragmented environment.

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We tell stories across multiple media because no single media satisfies our curiosity or
our lifestyle. We are surrounded by an unprecedented ocean of content, products
and leisure opportunities. The people to whom we wish to tell our stories have
the technology to navigate the ocean and can choose to sail on by or stop and listen.
Technology and free markets have allowed unprecedented levels of customization,
personalization and responsiveness such that a policy of “one size fits all” is no
longer expected or acceptable. Telling stories across multiple media – transmedia
storytelling – allows content that’s right-sized, right- timed and right-placed to form a
larger, more profitable, cohesive and rewarding experience. (Pratten, 2011)

In this context, it puts up the challenge for the production of narratives that could
meet the expectations and lifestyle of the audience, and asks how well are media
corporations prepared to respond to sophistication of narratives and changes of the
behaviours of the audience. What new kinds of narratives are emerging to meet the
expectations and lifestyles of the audience?

The transmedia approach is such a powerful storytelling technique because it


enables the user to became involve in the material in a extremely deep way and
sometimes in a manner that eerily simulates a real - life experience ...By spanning a
number of media, a project can became far richer, more detail, and multifaceted.
(Miller 2008)

The Blue Pencil project took place be- tween October 2011 and December 2012.
The project aimed to develop not just a transmedia strategy, but also a historical approach
to censorship in Portugal and aesthetic, artistic and commercial concepts. For the
development of the Blue Pencil project, a study was made for a transmedia narrative that
had censorship as the central theme. The premise was to create an object of
entertainment with educational crossings to make a historical contextualization of
censorship during the Estado Novo in Portugal. We don’t want to leave this work on a
theoretical analysis of the possibilities of transmedia narratives, but to implement a project
that would meet the initial premise, for which a protocol between the Universidade
Lusófona and Impresa group was established for the concretization of the project. The
proposal develops a transmedia narrative that adds different platforms and technologies
that have narrative and dramatic crossings.
UCSF – Fac. Filosofía y Humanidades – Lic. Medios Digitales – TDI 2 – Prof. E. Quintana

Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction


get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of
creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium
makes it own unique contribution to the unfolding ofthe story. (Jenkins 2007)

From a central core consisting of a short fiction film based on real facts, the narrative
spans to a documentary with personalities that were pursued by censorship, and to a
website with archive material, a selection of books with the respective censorship and
connection to the Universidade Lusófona online store, and an online game that
challenges the writing on sensitive issues related to censorship. The process of creating
and producing the project began with the planning and organization of information to build
a coherent universe that creates streams of consumption across the various platforms of 2
the project. The screenplay of the film and the documentary were worked to create
classical narratives, but at the same time they contained elements that made narrative
bridges with other platforms. Based on the book O Que a Censura Cortou, by José Pedro
Castanheira, edited by Expresso, we worked on the screenplay of the film and the
documentary in a way that retained a connection between them. The objective was to
create two scripts, in which censor- ship that was included in a fiction film was related to
the documentary through the stories of the interveners. This process proved to be very
productive in introducing new fictional elements as they related to the script of the
documentary, and vice versa, making the narratives stronger and more coherent.
The necessity of having scripted narratives that contribute to the whole while being more
than the sum of their parts opened doors for the audience to get involved in the project.
An- other of the requirements was to create separate narratives that could be consumed
individually without affecting the consistency and integrity of the narrative. The website
was another of the platforms used to provide a context through documents and
biographies, to complete the information conveyed in the movies. The material that could
not be included in the movies even though it was related to the events narrated in the
film and documentary went onto the website, to allow the audience to find out more
information about the events. The site also has links to the online store, where all the
books discussed in the film, together with censorship of them, are available. With the aim
of developing convergence between media and in order to propose a business model that
creates synergies be- tween businesses by attracting new investors and financiers for the
project to enable the participation of the audience in the text, we developed a game that
allowed the audience to write text on the topic of media and censor- ship, trying to
overcome an algorithm that censors certain keywords. The game provides the player the
perception and requirement to write in a censorship regime. To attract participation in the
game, we developed a contest where the best texts were selected and published in an
eBook. This also resulted in a project with the school library network that took the theme
of censorship to schools, encouraging students to reflect on censorship.
The project reached more than 600 schools and has received 104 works about
censorship from various schools. In a transmedia project, the narratives are autonomous,
but refer to the same universe, all narrative and dramatic bridges need to be considered
before execution of the project, so that it maintains its coherence and can create flows
between plat- forms. Table 1 presents some of the narratives bridges designed to make
the connection between platforms.
UCSF – Fac. Filosofía y Humanidades – Lic. Medios Digitales – TDI 2 – Prof. E. Quintana

Implementation
The project is based on an exhibition agreement between the Universidade Lusófona and
the Impresa group. In transmedia storytelling, planning release dates is essential to the
coherence of the project, and necessary to get the audience to follow the narrative
through the various platforms. Each platform has its own release, with narrative hooks and
links to lead consumers to the next contents on the same platform or on alternative
platforms.
 Display of teasers to promote television project (SIC , SIC Noticias).
 Launch of the Facebook page. During execution, photographic material was
collected from the various phases ofthe project for this purpose.
 Launch of the site. 3
 Release of books in the Online Store of Universidade Lusófona.
 Launch of José Pedro Castanheira’s text Confidential Mario Bento in the digital
version of Express magazine.
 Launch of the game and contest.
 Presentation of the project group Impresa and Universidade Lusósfona for the
school libraries.
 Release of the fiction movie on television (SIC).
 Launch of puzzles on the Facebookpage.
 Screening of the documentary on a cable channel (SIC Noticias).
 Debate on freedom of the press (Turin theatre).
 Best submitted articles published in Express magazine.
 Launch of Kobo eBook
 Project entered into festival circuit.
 Theatre opening.
 DVD, Express, Online StoreUniversdade Lusófona;

Objectives of the project


 Stimulate a consumer base that follows the narrative through the various
platforms.
 Reach a committed, active, and partici patory audience.
 Encourage participation and content creation.
 Reach a wider audience that is disseminated by various platforms.
 Prolong the life of the content
 Increase the audience on platforms that have been losing competitiveness.
 Distribution of effort and cost for several platforms.
 Finding new financing and business models.
 Create an experience that can be re- warding for advertisers, partners, producers
and consumers.
UCSF – Fac. Filosofía y Humanidades – Lic. Medios Digitales – TDI 2 – Prof. E. Quintana

Conclusion
Among the key concepts for the realization of the Blue Pencil were the convergences that
the project had established, serving as a working model and study for future projects of
this nature. The project made synergies between companies, where economic
convergence was established, benefiting both the project design phase as well as the
promotion and display.

Transmedia storytelling reflects the economics of media consolidation or what industry


observers call “synergy.” Modern media companies are horizon- tally integrated – that
is, they hold interests across a range of what were once distinct media industries. A
media conglomerate has an incentive to spread its brand or expand its franchises across 4
as many different media platforms as possible. (Jenkins 2007)

The project emphasized the synergy achieved with the Impresa Group for consult-
the files of Expresso magazine, which served as the foundations for both narrative fiction
and documentary to, providing documents that have been integrated in all extensions of
the project. The project was designed to be viewed on multiple platforms, leaving the
university with their implementation for various platforms and Impresa with the display and
promotion. Collaboration with ZON was also essential, through initiatives for the
promotion and development of new multimedia content, helping with funding and
providing a theatre for the premiere of the project on April 23rd.
The premiere was thought to be not only an event to present the project, but at the same
time to mark the April 25th revolution of the carnations. The event achieved all the
project’s goals, having been attended by 350 people, and having been reported on in
various organs of national press. As established during the planning of the project, it was
launched across multiple channels, with teasers that promoted all extensions of the Blue
Pencil (film, documentary, website and game) universe with presented on various
platforms.
The project has grown organically, to be distributed across multiple platforms,
where each narrative was autonomous while contributing to the same universe. The film
was exhibited on the open channel SIC on April 24th, making a bridge for the
documentary, which aired on April 25th in SIC Notícias. For analysis of hearings,
annexed, we note that the movie displayed in SIC achieved a 15.9 share, surpassing the
share of RTP with 3.7, behind TVI with a 21.2 share, demonstrating that a product of
fiction can compete with reality shows and talk shows that were displayed at the same
time. More significant was the result achieved by SIC Noticias, with the screening of the
documentary, which managed 1.2 percentage points more than usual for the same time
display. These results prove the convergence between the two platforms, with and
increasing audience reached by the migration of the public, who followed the narrative to
another platform. There was also a significant increase in participation in the game on the
website, proving further convergence results. The project will also fulfil your educational
goal, with a debate organized following the screening, featuring Professor José Bragança
de Miranda and Dr. José Pacheco Pereira on censorship and its mechanisms in Turin
theatre. The school project with SIC Esperança, for presentation of the documentary in
various schools, aimed to introduce the theme of freedom of press, and reached 600
schools, drawing 104 participations of the schools.
UCSF – Fac. Filosofía y Humanidades – Lic. Medios Digitales – TDI 2 – Prof. E. Quintana

The Blue Pencil project demonstrated, through its practical results, that trans- media
narratives in different technologies and platforms do not compete with each other, and that
all media are present and well established in society. Technologies and traditional plat-
forms can coexist with new platforms. In these narratives, the relationship between
platforms and technologies is intensified through adding and creating a more rewarding
experience for consumers. The Blue Pencil project is an academic, non-commercial
purpose, but aimed to show that we can find new ways of funding and business
models with content available on greater number of platforms and with longer exposure to
advertisers, attracting new audiences for platforms that have been losing
competitiveness. The Blue Pencil project also succeeded in proving the importance of
collaboration between businesses and the University, through the agreement signed be-
tween the University and the Impresa group. 5
The University can develop proposals for con- tents that are then tested in various
media, contributing to the study and research of new content that may offer solutions for
media companies. The power of transmedia storytelling lies in its cohesion, and
integration between various platforms. The characters portrayed, as well as parts of their
history, re- emerge on multiple platforms. On each plat- form, the narrative benefits from
what the plat- form does best in terms of expression and communication. Thus, the
transmedia narrative is focused on linking complementary elements, each of which is
conveyed by the complementary platform that best enhances their expressive features,
opening pathways to a shared universe.

References:

Jenkins, Henry. http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_stor ytelling_101.html. March 22, 2007.


http://henryjenkins.org.

Miller, Carolyn Handler. Digital Storytelling: A creator's guide to interactive entertainment. 2008.

Pratten, Robert. Getting started in a transmedia storytelling. 2011.

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