This vision document will present my own experiences with in different fields, so to reiterate these fields are primarily:

Post production – VFX, Editing.

Theatre – Lighting, Projection Mapping.

Technology – Web Development, Design

Through this document I hope to define more clearly how transmedia relates to my own practices. Because I am almost sure that I have done transmedia projects before, but to what extent was a given project really transmedia?

The first step of will be an attempt to define what makes a project a transmedia project by looking at popular definitions.

Afterwards the goal is, to take a look at some of my previous projects and then try to judge to which degree the project is transmedia or not.

Defining Transmedia

To figure out if different projects can be defined as transmedia we will have to take a look at the different definitions. Jenkins defines Transmedia as the following in his blog post Transmedia 101:

“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 of the story.” (Jenkins, 2007)

More concisely, Jenkins proposes that a fictional story where different elements of the story is told on separate platforms is transmedia. This is still a very broad definition but this basically states that any fictional story told with the use of more than one different platform is a transmedia story. As stated, the definition of what constitutes a transmedia story has evolved and tweaked by other transmedia scholars

The following definition is used in the danish the faculty “Film & Transmedia” in Denmark.
This is the school I am currently i’m doing my major from:
The definitions are from the book “Det nye mediefag” in english “New Media Theory”

Transmedia (or multiplatform or ‘integrated storytelling’, New facets are added to a story, a universe, or a concept across different media platforms, based on the affordances of each media platform. (Højer & Linnebjerg, 2017)

This definition is similar but is even broader. It is still focused on adding new details to a transmedia experience but interestingly also states that a concept or a universe can be transmedia, as long as it add details and uses the affordances of the different platforms.

From the same text, terms often related to transmedia is also defined:

Multimedia: A story, many media but only one channel (a website, an art installation, etc.) (Moloney 2014)

Crossmedia: The same content on many platforms, for example, different versions of the same advertisement on TV, in cinemas, and on social media (Gambarato 2013)

(Højer & Linnebjerg, 2017)

I think the definitions of multimedia and cross media are generally useful to keep in mind when talking about transmedia because the definitions are so generally close to each other that these, in many cases get mixed up with what transmedia is. Although based on the definitions of transmedia above it seems that defining something as tranemedia is also a matter of where you are looking at it from.

Is it all Transmedia?

While looking into Henry Jenkins more recent thoughts about I stumbled upon the text It’s “All Transmedia Now” by Ed Finn from the book “imagining Transmedia” where he reflects on transmedia in the modern landscape.
For me it relieves some of my personal frustration with the term. As the internet has become the main source of stories and entertainment for most people, the idea of transmedia is not as unique as it once was, and because of this the seems to be less clear, and therefore also less useful.

In his article Ed Finn states the following:

Imagining Transmedia tackles this question at a time when transmedia is no longer an esoteric critical term or a media strategy that only a mega-corporation could afford. Just about every story we tell now is constructed using transmedia logics: 
Just about every story we tell now is constructed using transmediydigital technologies that allow multiple audiences to share a storyspace, an imagination space, and make it their own. (Finn, 2024)

Here Ed Finn directly confronts that most things that are posted on the internet is well on its way to become transmedia as a consequence of the technology that promotes the viewer to directly engage with the content.

As an example if your local theatre group is setting up a play, they will also think about how to promote it. they decide to do a video based trailer, with short clips mimicking the aesthetics of the play. Something like this, you could already argue is transmedia, as long as the video is not just a straight up recording of the play on the stage. That I would argue, would be cross media behaviour. This example is actually not theoretical. I will now show the reference:

The 7 principles of Transmedia Storytelling
(Jenkins, 2010)

The 7 principles of transmedia storytelling are described by Henry Jenkins, in his blog and they present a good overview of elements that are commonly used in transmedia experiences.

Spreadability vs Drillability:

Spreadability refers to which opportunities the audience has to share the content and Drillability refers to how much the audience can “drill” into the details of the story to get more information. In the previous example, you could in order to make the story more drillable make a website that gives more backstory to the old characters of the play, just like the original promotional material does.

Immersion vs Extractability 

Immersion refers to how the storyworld can be wrapped into the audiences envoirment. In the example of this theatre play, immersion is already used and incorporated intentionally. The audience is literally placed on the stage where the storyworld is unfolding and could in principle talk to the characters. Extractability refers to taking objects or elements from the storyworld and taking them into the real world. In the case of media franchisees this could refer to being able to buy a wand from Harry Potter.

Worldbuilding

Worldbuilding refers to establishing the rules and look of the world that the story is taking place in. The play is documentary based and because of this the storyworld is very similar to the rules of the the real world. As worldbuilding is an essential part of any narrative this is also taken into account in the play.

Seriality

This refers to considering on how to split up a narrative into multiple parts potentially on multiple platforms. In the case of the play I already suggested how to extend the concept, and make more plays around the same theme

Subjectivity

Subjectivity is about reflecting how transmedia gives the opportunity to tell the same story, from different perspective from different characters, even on different platforms.
In relation to the play subjectivity in the transmedia sense is not used, all though the concept of having different perspectives on the same narrative is actually present. In the play the young people playing the older peoples lifes also breaks character sometimes, and tell adjacent stories from their own lives. Here they also sometimes comment on the life and choices of the older character they are playing.

Performance

As stated earlier is about creating opportunities for the audience to contribute to the storyworld. Traditionally an example would be fan fiction mashups of existing content, like on TikTok etc. In the context of the play I suggested that the viewer could share stories of grandparents in while interacting with the promotional material.

Again, today it is all transmedia….

Looking at this play through the lens of these 7 principles it again becomes apparent that most media created in the modern world, are using transmedia.
Looking at this the point of Ed Fins article become even more clear. Here is an other excerpt from the article:

Just about every story we tell today is constructed using transmedia logics—unfolding across multiple platforms and channels, powered by digital technologies that enable diverse audiences to share a storyspace and an imagination space, making it their own. (Finn, 2024)

It is not by choice but it seems to have become second nature to think about the concepts in transmedia of creators, when producing content.

Example and small aside – David Dobrik on Youtube

While thinking about the omnipresence transmedia today, I thought of the Vlogs the youtuber David Dobrik creates, as an other example as transmedia as second nature. David creates vlogs about him and his friends that were very successful around 2016 – Link to Youtube channel

These videos are on the surface nothing revolutionary and are basically vlogs following the activities of him and his friends. But David works with transmedia elements through many different aspects of his As the content is online first through Youtube the spreadability is already built into the platform and the content, and as his vlogs are basically about his friends and him who are also social media personalities, the vlogs become “drillable” as the users can go to the channels of the people in the vlogs for deeper information of the main narrative of the vlogs. The world are also part of a storyworld with worldbuilding as the vlogs are documentary like, but they are also interjected with scripted skits, and through these, the friends become characters in the show, more than they are real people, not performing. At their peak the vlogs came out every Wednesday like a TV show, and through this the vlogs achieve seriality. But the most interesting part of the vlogs is how subjectivity naturally emerged because of the vlogs popularity. Because the friend group of the vlogs and many of them lived together the other members began to post their own videos from the same days the vlogs took place at. As a result, if you also watched the videos from other members you got to see the events of the main narrative (David Vlogs) from the other “characters” perspective.

As a conclusion this is an other example of modern media becoming transmedia without it being a deliberate effort.

Transmedia elements are everywhere – But not deliberately

In relation to this the introduction to this vision document reflected on the “usefulness” of the term transmedia now that you could argue that all media now has elements of transmedia in it.
In the the paper “Transmedia Brand Storytelling” the authors interviewed working professionals and their relationship to transmedia.

Many professionals engage with transmedia storytelling in their daily work, even if they don’t explicitly use the term. As one senior creative from the UK explains:

“We don’t use the word transmedia, but it’s something we do in our jobs every day. To be able to speak to a customer, you need to be able to tell the same story across many different platforms.”

Other practitioners describe how transmedia concepts emerge organically, rather than following a specific industry model. A creative director from Canada reflects on this approach:

“It wasn’t anybody’s intention to ‘create a transmedia campaign.’ Nobody was even using the language. We were just looking for a really different approach and a different way of getting people interested and excited.”

Some professionals see transmedia storytelling as interchangeable with integrated marketing communication (IMC) or 360-degree campaigns, as illustrated by the following insights:

“When I talk about transmedia, or what we call integrated planning, we look at storytelling as the ability to spread a centralized idea.”

— Lead Planner, Australia

“I would describe transmedia storytelling as an integrated marketing campaign that is centered around content, tells a brand story, has a point of view, and expresses brand values.”

— Brand Manager, Canada

Blurring the Lines Between PR, Advertising, and Content

While some practitioners avoid the term “transmedia,” they recognize its role in a convergent media landscape that blends PR, advertising, and content:

“[Transmedia storytelling is] using a diverse mix of channels—especially digital and traditional media—to get our brand story out there.”

— PR Director, Canada

Audience-Centric Storytelling

Many see transmedia as an evolution of brand storytelling rather than a separate discipline. This evolution emphasizes audience engagement:

“We think [transmedia storytelling] is a tool we can leverage to put people at the center of the story and say, ‘You have the power to influence the people immediately around you.’”

— Communications Manager, Australia

For some, transmedia storytelling is simply the way storytelling exists today rather than a distinct methodology:

“There’s not a separate transmedia type of storytelling. It’s actually the storytelling that exists today.”

— Mixed Reality Agency CEO, US

The Role of Audience Participation

While transmedia emphasizes audience engagement, practitioners rarely highlight user-generated content or interactive brand experiences in their initial descriptions. However, the increasing role of audience participation continues to shape the future of transmedia branding. (Sutherland & Barker, 2023)

These quotes from different companies working in marketing also show how transmedia is integrated in branding strategies and content creation. None of them actually use the term transmedia but they all work with transmedia tools. The term it self just does not seem to be that useful as a communication tool.

This paper and these quotes about transmedia is not meant to be negative towards transmedia, only to show, that because many elements of transmedia has become so universal that they are hard to talk about.

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The next section will continue to reflect on personal projects and the transmedia elements within them: