Presentation to
Ubiquitous Media Studio
Palo Alto, California
Robert Pratten
Founder, TransmediaStoryteller.com
13th October 2010

About me

and in the recent past

Current project: Lowlifes.tv
One story, three perspectives.
Told over three platforms: novella, web series, blog.

This presentation
Intro to transmedia: basic concepts
what is transmedia storytelling?
types of transmedia storytelling
why is "transmedia so popular?
Design principals for transmedia experiences
deciding what your goals are
designing to achieve the goals
how might we employ AR in an transmedia experience?

Part 1: Introduction to Transmedia

Transmedia storytelling
is telling a story across multiple media and, although it doesnt always happen, with a degree of audience participation, interaction or collaboration
...with each additional media heightening the audience understanding, enjoyment and affection for the story.

Transmedia storytelling

Story and storyworld

Types of Transmedia

Franchise transmediamultiple platforms create a collection of individual experiences

Portmanteau transmediamultiple platforms contribute to a single experience

Why Transmedia
Millennials/GenY expect it:
simultaneous multi-platform consumption of media
multiple media
More audience touchpoints to aid discovery in world exploding with content
Increased penetration of sales to existing audience
Consumers actively avoiding ads: therefore brands seeking truly engaging experiences
Exciting and fun: oceans of uncharted water to explore

Part 2: Designing your Experience

Anatomy of a transmedia project
The Story
genre, characters, location, time, plot etc.
The Experience
timing (commercial, context, practical)
platforms (media, technology, physical)
location (online, offline, geographical)
agency (interactive, affecting, collaborative)

Transmedia projects
Story
Gaming
Participation

Storytelling Cube (RaphKoster & Rich Vogel)
Control: How much freedom does the audience have to create their own experience and how much control will you have as the author?
Impact: What long-lasting impact will the audience have on the evolution of the experience?
Context: How much of the experience is based in a fictional world and how much exists in real life?

Transmedia Radar Diagram
Story (strength, depth & authorial control)
Real-world (pervasive, built around fact)
Gaming (goals, puzzles, challenges, trophies)
Participation (contribute, change, co-create)
Story = importance of narrative, depth of world & degree of authorial control
Real-world = extent to which story-experience pervades real locations & times
Participation = ability of audience to change or contribute to the story-experience
Gaming = audience has goal, use of puzzles, game mechanics (trophies, levels, leader boards etc.)

Transmedia Project Development
Story
Audience
Experience
Business
Model
Platforms
Execution

Transmedia Project Development
Story
Audience
Experience
Business
Model
Platforms
Execution
AR fits here

Part 3: Use of Augmented Reality

Approaching Augmented Reality
How might the story be best served with this platform?
What experiences can I create?
What content can I deliver?
How does it fit within the storyworld?
What business model opportunities are there?
What audiences will be excluded/ included?

Augmented reality when, where, how?
Home
Home Away
Tablet
Tablet
Public screen?

AR
Call-to-action
AR marker (offline to online)
Narrative (video, animation, audio)
Add interactivity to non-interactive media
Provide contextual story
Exploration
Provide contextual content
location-based content
Provide audience with tools
gaming
role-play

Lowlifes.tv
Lowlifes.tv is a book, video series and blog
Authorial control is the dominant feature
No game or puzzles even though theres some mystery in the storytelling and a few content clues
Experience has strong link to San Francisco with exploratory content coming from real-world sources such as wikipedia, SF crime map etc.
Theres a forum to influence future stories and the development of the character but this experience is on rails
AR & mobile used to provide additional narrative content (sub-plot in video, audio, images) that enriches ownership of paid content (book & ebook) and exploratory content (wikipedia, coalition on homelessness in SF)
Story
Real-world
Participation
Gaming

Infection: AR mobile game
Location-based mobile game in which AR is used to identify infected areas of a small neighborhood. Teams complete to clean-up the hood or infect the hoodwithin a 60 min time window: point mobile camera, see infection, zap infection, get points or see no infection, create infection, get points.
Story is used to establish the premise for the game but from then on players make their own entertainment choosing how to progress through the streets and extent of role-play
Players have no ability to change the rules of the game or contribute content
Story
Real-world
Gaming
Participation

CyberKiller
Comic book series and feature film provides strong narrative thread that ties together all aspects of content.
Game mechanics used to encourage collection of content and to establish super fan bragging rights plus puzzles and PvP used to test knowledge of storyworld to win prizes
Some participation in the storyworld in that fans allowed to submit fan fiction and upload artwork but is mostly outside canon
Opportunity for real-world LARP at meet-ups which again feeds into game
AR used to provide community with fun and role-play tools - facial-recognition overlays cybernetic endoskeleton on real faces
Story
Real-world
Participation
Gaming

Lowlifes.tv - AR marker at end of chapter reveals clue that creates suspense

AreYouAwake.tv
http://social.areyouawake.tv

Transmedia Storyteller
Robert Pratten
twitter.com/zenfilms
www.transmediastoryteller.com