Jenkins' "Transmedia Storytelling 101" - Cloverfield ARG

Last week we discussed Jenkins’ “Transmedia Storytelling 101.” It was a very straightforward reading, probably because it used current examples of media works unlike the previous readings. Jenkins states that transmedia storytelling is “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.” In the article Jenkins says that these stories are expansions of classically constructed narratives that “may add a greater sense of realism to the fiction as a whole.” He says here that transmedia storytelling adds new elements, characters and worlds that go beyond the actual storyline of the original text in order to make it more realistic for fans.

One example of this idea comes from none other than the monster movie “Cloverfield.” Since the movie takes place through the eyes of a character’s camcorder experiencing the monstrous event first hand, it would realistically be impossible for the camcorder owner in the movie to know where the monster came from and what it was seeking as it destroyed New York City. In the movie we only experience the characters trying to escape from the monster. In order to creative buzz, the marketing team at Paramount Pictures put a lot of work into creating a viral marketing campaign/alternate reality game that fans could utilize to learn more of a back-story to where the “Cloverfield” monster came from. Paramount executives created several viral marketing websites such as slusho.jp, tidwave.com, tagruato.jp, Jamieandteddy.com, 1-18-08.com, and character profiles on myspace.com. Fans had the opportunity to learn (or perhaps only speculate) where the monster came from and why it attacked New York City.

By following the ARG I speculate that the monster was awoken by the Deep Sea Drilling company, Tagruato, at the Chuai drilling station located off the coast of Connecticut. Instead of drilling for oil, I believe they were hiding a secret about the drilling of deep sea nectar, the primary ingredient in Slusho slushee drink (Slusho is a subsidiary of Tagruato). As they dug into the ocean floor, the monster was awoken and then decided to destroy the drilling station (seen in the viral news video below). The monster then decided to wreak havoc on the closest land-mass (New York City). However, this is only speculation and the team involved with the movie has yet to confirm or refute this theory.

By creating these viral marketing websites, “Cloverfield” fans had to opportunity to speculate and create a storyline beyond the primary work (the movie) in order to add a sense of realism to the storyline as a whole.

Jenkins' "Get a Life" - Jericho/NutsOnline.com

Last week’s reading, entitled “Get a Life” by Jenkins, discusses the lives of crazed fans that are obsessed with various media texts. In explaining media fandom, Jenkins talks about the relationship between fans and producers of television shows. He says, “The history of media fandom is at least in part the history of a series of organized efforts to influence programming decisions – some successful, most ending in failure.” Here, Jenkins states an example of fandom where fans of popular television shows band together to form a mass network to get a show that was cancelled back on the air. Usually these “organized efforts” fail in influencing network executives and producers to bring a show back to life. However, some movements have worked in reversing network decisions.

The most recent example that this idea applies to is the CBS show Jericho.
http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=1d118607-738d-4471-9278-1807ac88f4ab

The article above illustrates Jenkins’ idea of fandom. Fans of the popular series were upset when CBS executives decided to pull the plug on the show after putting it on hiatus for a few months and then playing it against American Idol’s timeslot. The fans thought that the network never gave the show a chance and therefore decided to take action. The fans formed a grassroots effort by sending 25 tons of peanuts to CBS offices in New York and Los Angeles. Nutsonline.com was formed and allowed Jericho fans to gather and donate money to send shipments of peanuts to CBS offices. (The nuts were symbolic of a phrase used in the season finale of the show). After dozens of deliveries of nuts, CBS finally issued a statement announcing that Jericho would return to this year’s mid-season lineup. It began airing on February 12 and fans couldn’t be happier. This situation applies to Jenkins’ argument in that the influencing of programming decisions plays a part in the history of media fandom.

Flickr Project: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23721570@N02/sets/72157603904150901/show/

Last Wednesday we completed the Flickr assignment during class. It was fun coming up with an idea to tell a story through pictures. We decided to do a funny story about a girl buying items from the IU bookstore and getting the items for free because she was the 1 millionth customer. Not much preparation went into the project other than charging my camera and making sure I had the proper cable. When we took the pictures in the bookstore, it was very easy to do because there were not too many customers in the store. When we returned to the computer lab it was very easy to upload the photos onto Flickr. It allowed us to easily select which photos we wanted and what order we wanted to put them in. Our project came out very well: click here to view it.


Flickr is a creative tool to share user-created content with others. It enables anyone with a digital camera to post pictures they take and share them with friends, family or just about anyone with access to the internet. Users can create photo sets that can be used to showcase photographic talent, review an event, or tell a story to others. Flickr is unique in that everyone who is a member of the website can view each others photos by subject of the photo, popularity, and other search options. This is what makes Flickr different from Facebook and other private viewing photo collection websites.

An interesting impact of sites like Flickr is that web users now have the ability to participate in citizen-based photojournalism. This type of public journalism through photos allows people to capture "news" stories and instantly send them to the internet community. News in this context can be considered either a big local event that occurred or simply something trivial someone has discovered and wishes to share with the world. Flickr allows citzen based photo journalists to break news to the world faster than newspapers, television or radio. This is due to the fact that now anyone can break the news rather than just people in the broadcast/print journalism profession. This is mentioned in the Rebecca's Pocket blog post. Now that people know Flickr exists, people that own digital cameras are more inclined to document what they see and post it to break the news on the internet.

Photoshop for Democracy - Super Tuesday Coverage

In Wednesday’s article “Photoshop for Democracy,” Jenkins tells us that we are experiencing a new convergence culture in that corporate media and new media are merging. He makes the argument that we are in a “transition where the political role of the Internet is expanding without diminishing the power of broadcast media.” By this statement, he is saying that the Internet is beginning to play more of a role in politics. However, this does not mean that the power of broadcast media politics is declining. Rather, they are “converging” in a way of reaching a wider demographic of people.

An example of this is seen in one of my favorite blogs: TV Squad.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/02/06/20-random-thoughts-about-super-tuesday-coverage/

TV squad is a blog that has stories about television shows, events on television and real world information about the television business/industry. The blog post above demonstrates the increasing role of politics on the Internet in that people are blogging about politics in general.  In this post we can read reactions to network election coverage.   Reading this we can also conclude that people who continue to watch broadcast political coverage like to blog and comment about it on the Internet. This blog post can serve as information to network election coverage watchers in offering opinions on which broadcast station to watch.  Avid readers of this blog may also read this post and decide to check out the coverage on television.  In conclusion, this blog post relates to Jenkins' idea because there has been an increase in political talk on blogs while also the people blogging continue to watch broadcast political coverage on television.

How to Recognize the Future When It Lands on You - iPhone

In Monday’s reading, “How to Recognize the Future When It Lands on You,” Rhinegold talks about the shift to mobile devices in the world around us. Specifically, he says that people "cooperate in ways never before possible because they carry devices that possess both communication and computing capabilities.” What he is talking about is that for the first time, wireless devices are becoming “smarter” and can do more things. This technological ability is giving technology consumers a new way to communicate and interact with media on-the-go.

The best example of this in the real world is the iPhone. (See video below…a report on the newest iPhone updated software). Released last June, the iPhone is like a miniature Macintosh computer in your pocket. Its interface is very nice and comes with a variety of features. Among the most popular features, the Internet opens up a new way of mobile communication for iPhone users. They can blog, post on forums, and look up information anywhere. For example, last week in class a professor didn’t know the meaning of a word. A girl in the class instantly read the definition from her iPhone before the professor even thought of looking it up on his personal computer.  Never before have students had the ability to access the internet in their pocket at a moments notice.

Let’s not forget this is also a cell phone. Texting has become more popular than ever on the iPhone, especially after the latest software update. Now, iPhone users can send mass text messages to dozens of people (rather than just one at a time like in the past software). Mass texting provides a new way of communication for mobile users in that information can reach many people directly at the click of a button.  As we learned in class, mass texting can be used to notify people of meetings or last minute announcements.  Just last week I received a mass text that I was invited to a party (just hours before it began.  Never before have been people been able to reach so many people in such a short time with assurance they will get the message instantly.

In conclusion, the iPhone is a real life example of Rheingold's idea that people now have the ability to communicate and spread information in ways that have never been possible.

Electronic Community: Fox Attacks Bloggers

Our past reading, “Electronic Community: From Birth to Backlash” outlined the creation of the Internet as a web community. I found it very interesting to learn about USENET and IRC chat as an early means of communication during the rise of the Internet. One argument I found particularly interesting, and I bet many people would question the validity of this statement, is “…the Internet is doing just fine…In the short time Blogger has been available, it has fostered an interconnected community of tens of thousands of users. These people don’t simply surf the Web. They are now empowered to create it” (p. 31).
Most people my age agree that the Internet and blogging are a great way of exercising the use of free speech. Blogs also serve as literature to read as a digital medium. For example, although I do not post very often, I like to read blogs about television, movies and technology. However, according to the video below, FOX News loathes blogging and sees it as an injustice to many industries due to its obscene language. The video was created by “Fox attacks”, a blog (interestingly enough) that dedicates itself to hating FOX news for hundreds of reasons. ¬After viewing the video, I feel like FOX is too harsh on the blogosphere and takes it too seriously. They shouldn’t become offended by the foul language found on blogs.