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Transmedia Storytelling: Narrative worlds, emerging technologies, and global audiences

Approx. 26 hours to complete

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Course Summary

This course teaches the art of transmedia storytelling, which is the practice of telling a single story across multiple platforms and formats. Students will learn how to create compelling narratives that engage audiences through various media channels.

Key Learning Points

Learn how to develop and implement a transmedia storytelling strategy
Explore different media formats and how they can be used in a transmedia narrative
Understand how to engage and build an audience through multiple platforms

Learning Outcomes

Develop a comprehensive transmedia storytelling strategy
Create engaging narratives across multiple platforms
Understand how to build and engage an audience

Prerequisites or good to have knowledge before taking this course

Basic understanding of storytelling principles
Familiarity with various media formats

Course Difficulty Level

Intermediate

Course Format

Self-paced
Online
Video Lectures

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Description

Transmedia storytelling is the practice of designing, sharing, and participating in a cohesive story experience across multiple traditional and digital delivery platforms - for entertainment, advertising and marketing, or social change.

Have you ever read a book, seen a movie, watched a television show, or played a game that centred around different aspects of a larger story or universe? You may be familiar with popular examples of such universes like Star Wars, Marvel, and The Walking Dead (to name a few). How do the professionals develop such expansive narratives? How do they ensure that each element stays true to the original story? How do they innovatively use different technologies to share the stories, grow audiences and create an active and involved community of fans? More and more, we are also engaging with elements or franchises of larger and more complex stories across a much more diverse range of platforms like interactive web experiences, social media communities, mobile devices, theme parks, and even augmented and virtual reality. A major challenge that current and future storytellers face is being able to engage different audiences in a story that is seamlessly told across all of these different platforms. WHAT WILL I LEARN? This course will help you to design a strategy for developing and telling your own transmedia story. You will learn about what it takes to: • Shape your ideas into compelling and well structured narratives and complex story worlds • Identify, understand, and engage different audiences in your stories • Create cohesive user experiences across different platforms • Evaluate existing and emerging technologies to share your story with the world, and help your audience participate in the larger storyworld you create The course provides you with a unique, authentic, and industry relevant learning opportunity. You will have access to current theory, industry examples and advice and undertake learning activities that will equip you with the tools you need to start developing your own ideas. WHO WILL MY INSTRUCTORS BE? You will learn effective transmedia design strategies from leading UNSW Australia Art & Design academics. You will also examine case studies that demonstrate how amazing ideas, technology and audience contributions can be brought together to create dynamic storyworlds. You'll see examples of major, successful transmedia storytelling projects involving movies, digital entertainment, gaming, virtual reality and more. In collaboration with our industry partner X Media Lab, the course will give you inside access to the personal stories, insight and advice of the following innovative transmedia storytelling professionals from Hollywood USA, Canada and Australia. • Susan Bonds, 42 Entertainment, Los Angeles, USA • Flint Dille, Screenwriter, Game Designer and Novelist, Los Angeles, USA • Cindi Drennan, Illuminart, Australia • Tom Ellard, UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia • Catherine Fargher, Dr Egg Digital, Sydney, Australia • Hal Hefner, 3AM Creative, USA • Brian Seth Hurst, StoryTech, Los Angeles, USA • Henry Jenkins, School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, USA • Mikey Leung, Digital Storytellers, Sydney, Australia • Alex Lieu, 42 Entertainment, Los Angeles, USA • Geoffrey Long, Annenberg Innovation Lab, University of Southern California, USA • John McGhee, UNSW Art & Design, Sydney, Australia • Joseph Narai, Transmedia Entertainment, Sydney, Australia • Jeff Nicholas, The Uprising Creative, Los Angeles, USA • Sergio Paez, Graphic Artist working in animation, TV, video games, and film. Co Founder, StoryboardArt, California, USA • Steve Peters, No Mimes Media, Los Angeles, USA • Stuart Samuels, Stuart Samuels Productions, Toronto, Canada • Charles Santoso, Concept Artist, Sydney, Australia • Seth Shapiro, New Amsterdam Media, Los Angeles, USA • Scott Snibbe, Eyegroove, San Francisco, USA • Tracey Taylor, The Pulse, Sydney, Australia • Robert Tercek, Public Speaker, Digital Media Strategist, and Executive Leader for Creative Ventures and Business Innovation, • University of Southern California, USA • Kevin Williams, Founder & Director of KWP Ltd and DNA Association, UK • Brent Young, Super 78, Los Angeles, USA • Maya Zuckerman, Transmedia SF, San Francisco, USA COURSE CONTENT DEVELOPMENT Karin Watson, Iman Irannejad, and Dr. Simon McIntyre.

Outline

What is Transmedia Storytelling?
Key Concept - Welcome to Transmedia Storytelling
Professional advice on getting started
Graduate Certificate and Master of Visualisation, Simulation, and Immersive Design
Brian Seth Hurst - Conspiracy for Good
Susan Bonds - Why so serious? Transmedia promotion for The Dark Knight
Henry Jenkins - The Matrix. An example of a transmedia world
Mikey Leung - The Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair
Scott Snibbe - Biophilia, a transmedia story of music, technology and nature
Key Concept - What is transmedia storytelling?
An industry perspective of transmedia storytelling
Henry Jenkins - The benefits of a transmedia approach
Henry Jenkins - The importance of collaboration in the creative process
Commercialism
Copyright and transmedia storytelling
Geoffrey Long - The future of the term 'transmedia'
Henry Jenkins - What defines a successful transmedia project?
Key Concept - The anatomy of story
Henry Jenkins - How a transmedia strategy enriches a story
Tom Ellard - Important elements of story
Tom Ellard - Story structure and the hero’s journey
Tom Ellard - The role of memory, imagery and emotion in understanding story
Henry Jenkins - World building
Course Overview
Important note about the assignments in the course
Join the transmedia storytelling MOOC community!
Meet your academic instructors
Meet our industry partner - X Media Lab
Meet the industry contributors
Learn how immersive and visualisation technologies are changing storytelling
Special thanks and acknowledgements
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 1 Lesson 2 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 1 Lesson 3 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson

Creative Ideas Generation - Building a Storyworld
Key Concept - The premise and six word stories
Narrative and story
Charles Santoso - Six word stories
Key Concept - Three tools for creating content
Developing and communicating ideas
Charles Santoso - Conceptual blending
Stuart Samuels - What is an idea?
Key Concept - Developing your conceptual story idea with content
The importance of a strong central narrative
Charles Santoso - Creativity techniques
Sergio Paez - The role of visual storytelling
Mikey Leung - Planning and testing your story
Key Concept - Working creatively in storyworlds by using constraints
Building a storyworld
Charles Santoso - Storytelling and seed ideas
Susan Bonds - The process of developing a transmedia story
Mikey Leung - Using storyworlds in transmedia social campaigns
Module 2 Lesson 1 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 2 Lesson 2 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 2 Lesson 3 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 2 Lesson 4 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson

Understanding a Transmedia Audience
Key Concept - An introduction to the audience
Audience in transmedia storytelling
Connecting audience with story
Henry Jenkins - The collective intelligence of a transmedia audience
Key Concept - Understanding the audience using ethnography
The changing nature of audience
Mikey Leung - Identifying and engaging your audience
Henry Jenkins - Developing strategy for engaging multiple types of audience
John McGhee - Identifying and understanding user groups for virtual reality (VR) medical visualisations
Key Concept - Understanding the audience using participatory design
Mikey Leung - The potential of transmedia storytelling for audience engagement
Maya Zuckerman - Rapid prototyping
Cindi Drennan - The Departure. A case study of engaging a community in participatory design
Module 3 Lesson 1 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 3 Lesson 2 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 3 Lesson 3 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson

The Transmedia User Experience
Key Concept - User experience in context
Tracey Taylor - Group interactive experiences
Henry Jenkins - Orientation. Unifying a transmedia story experience
Key Concept - Getting a grip on experience
Tom Ellard - Advice about audience engagement
Catherine Fargher - Evaluating user engagement
Key Concept - Designing the transmedia user journey
Henry Jenkins - Continuity and expectation in the transmedia user experience
Designing cohesive experiences for multiple audiences
Tom Ellard - Translating stories across different media
Steve Peters - Ethics in transmedia storytelling
Catherine Fargher - Designing for participation
Module 4 Lesson 1 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 4 Lesson 2 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 4 Lesson 3 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson

Using Creative Technologies
Key Concept - Creative technologies and the transmedia experience
Joseph Narai - Location based storytelling
Henry Jenkins - Low tech transmedia strategies
Key Concept - Choosing the right technologies to tell your story
Brian Seth Hurst - Choosing a technology platform
Henry Jenkins - Examples of technological affordances and audience experience
Cindi Drennan - Projection mapping. Affordances, constraints and audience
Joseph Narai - UNSW Business School Virtual Reality (VR) Marketing
Tracey Taylor - A rich multimedia project
Key Concept - Experiencing technology in context
Tom Ellard - Choosing the right platform for your story
Cindi Drennan - Illuminart. Permanent interactive projection mapping
Cindi Drennan - Illuminart. Harts Mill
Key Concept - Considerations for using current and emerging technologies for storytelling
Managing expectations of emerging technologies
Discussion and applications of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
John McGhee - The future of virtual reality (VR) technologies
Geoff Long - The future of technology and storytelling
Module 5 Lesson 1 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 5 Lesson 2 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 5 Lesson 3 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson
Module 5 Lesson 4 Useful links and resources
Key points to remember from this lesson

Stories from Industry - Professionals’ Career Journeys and Advice
Susan Bonds, 42 Entertainment. Los Angeles, USA
Flint Dille, Screenwriter, Game Designer and Novelist. Los Angeles, USA
Cindi Drennan, Illuminart. Adelaide, Australia
Tom Ellard, UNSW Australia | Art & Design. Sydney, Australia
Catherine Fargher, Dr Egg Digital. Sydney, Australia
Hal Hefner, 3AM Creative. USA
Brian Seth Hurst, StoryTech. Los Angeles, USA
Henry Jenkins, School for Communication and Journalism. University of Southern California, USA
Mikey Leung, Digital Storytellers. Sydney, Australia
Alex Lieu, 42 Entertainment. Los Angeles, USA
Geoffery Long, Annenberg Innovation Lab. University of Southern California, USA
John McGhee, UNSW Australia | Art & Design. Sydney, Australia
Joseph Narai, Transmedia Entertainment. Sydney, Australia
Jeff Nicholas, The Uprising Creative. Los Angeles, USA
Sergio Paez, Lucasfilm. California, USA
Steve Peters, No Mimes Media. Los Angeles, USA
Stuart Samuels, Stuart Samuels Productions. Toronto, Canada
Seth Shapiro, New Amsterdam Media. Los Angeles, USA
Scott Snibbe, Eyegroove. San Francisco, USA
Tracey Taylor, The Pulse. Sydney, Australia
Robert Tercek, School of Cinema-Television. University of Southern California, USA
Kevin Williams,Founder & Director of KWP Ltd and DNA Association
Brent Young, Super 78. Los Angeles, USA
Maya Zuckerman, Transmedia SF. San Francisco, USA

Summary of User Reviews

This course on Transmedia Storytelling has received positive reviews from users. Many have praised the comprehensive and well-structured content which covers various aspects of transmedia storytelling.

Pros from User Reviews

The course covers various aspects of transmedia storytelling in a thorough manner.
The instructors provide useful examples and case studies to explain the concepts clearly.
The assignments and quizzes help learners to apply the concepts and assess their understanding.
The course is suitable for both beginners and professionals in the field of storytelling.
The course videos and materials are of high quality and engaging.

Cons from User Reviews

Some users felt that the course could have included more practical exercises.
A few users found the pace of the course to be slow.
Some learners felt that the course did not cover some advanced topics in-depth.
A few users felt that the course was too theoretical and lacked practical applications.
Some learners felt that the course was too long and could have been more concise.

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