According to Jenkins, a transmedia story “unfolds across multiple media platforms, with each new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole.” That is to say, every outlet through which the story is being told, be it through film, novel, or video game, should be able to stand on its own. While every individual piece of media consumed would benefit from the background provided by other incarnations of the story, one need not seek out every related piece in order to “get” the story. A good example of a cultural artifact that uses transmedia storytelling is The Matrix. Below is a trailer for The Animatrix, which is an example of storytelling across platforms, illustrating the shift from the live action film to a collection of animated stories.
It is worth noting that at the end of the trailer, there is an additional plug for the CD album, which is another platform through which The Matrix and all its related entities may continue to tell its story. With the trailer for The Animatrix, there are elements familiar to fans of the movie, with its dramatic angles, cuts, and fight scenes. In many ways, it is meant to draw in fans who already understand the source material, but it holds very little barrier for those who may have never seen the film. The announcer for the trailer declares that the stories in The Animatrix “takes the world of The Matrix to its unimaginable limits.” So while the animated stories exist within the world of The Matrix, the focus is not to continue the narrative of the films but rather continue building the world through the various lenses available through this different platform.
This look through multiple lenses is what ultimately signals a shift away from casual enjoyment to the ability to act as a cult piece of media. According to Jenkins, a cult artifact “must provide resources consumers can use in constructing their own fantasies.” The Matrix and its related entities more than deliver on this front with its various platforms and incarnations through which consumers may enter. However, for some viewers, consumers, and fans, these artifacts may go beyond the simply telling a story. In the need to gather all the information available on the world of The Matrix, fans may choose to buy, consume, and analyze every piece of media available in order to fully understand the constructed world. From an economic standpoint, this is ideal – a pool of passionate consumers willing to buy into every bit of the franchise that gets released to the public.
But when do the consumers stop buying? The Animatrix uses excellent hooks to reel consumers in, with the announcer of the trailer declaring it as a “groundbreaking collection of nine animated stories from seven visionary directors.” The phrasing of that sentence suggests new material from quality producers. It seems, then, that in order to truly sustain transmedia storytelling, the producers must 1) have source material that allows itself to be a cult artifact and gain a cult following and 2) take its audience seriously. Without the latter, the consumers become aware of the economic drive behind the storytelling and the magic of wanting to understand the constructed world is lost. According to Jenkins, new Hollywood demands that we “keep our eyes on the road at all times, and that we do research before we enter the theater.” Research, however, is only worth doing if consumers are satisfied with the story.
Justher's Comm 125 Blog 