Additional Post-Transmedia

I appreciated the classes discussion of ‘transmedia’ which allowed me to better understand what a transmedia piece was and why it would be advantageous for one to create and present a subject with transmedia. When first approaching the term ‘transmedia’ I remembered that ‘trans’ is a latin stem meaning ‘across’. So I saw transmedia as the means of representing media across different types of media. This is true, but it doesn’t fully encompass the full extent of the term. Transmedia involves various media particular to a subject, but the different media is not a recreation of the original idea’s text but a means to extend and explore the subject further. Each media has something different to offer than another media choice. It is not a simple retranslation of content into a different media form but the use of different media to bring something new and further explore the subject matter. 

I great example of a transmedia piece which we explored was the website Highrise. Highrise brought the audience into a highly interactive and explorative enviroment which  could branch into many options of how to consume the content. The website was a branch of additional and repetitive information which could be viewed in the film Highrise. The website offered different means of viewing the film, such as viewing segments that were linked to parts of an interactive tour. The website also offered the option of reading and exploring virtual stills of various highrises and how the degeneration of these buildings are affecting our communities. This website was not just simple a recreation(translation) of the film but a means to present additional information in a highly interactive manner. 

We discussed how the choice of a transmedia website brings the interactive element of media into the presentation of the subject matter. This interaction allows the audience to become more involved in the subject and the manner in which they become involved. As Gaudenzi discussed, there are several general types of interaction commonly used between the audience and the creator's content. These include the conversational (user’s navigation of content), hitch-hiking (user’s navigation of content but with pre-determined pathways), participative (user’s navigation of content contributes and organizes content), and experiential (user’s navigate real space in time). These different types of interaction allow the audiences to become more involved in a subject and create a pro-active approach for a audience member in their participation on a subject. This makes transmedia an excellent choice of presentation for subjects which wish for people to have the opportunity to become involved with the subject or issue directly.