I’ve been a judge on plenty of awards ceremonies, both public and private (internal to an organisation or corporation). I’m always surprised (and disappointed) when I assess the material submitted for a ‘cross-media’ or ‘transmedia’ or ‘multi-platform’ etc project. Why? Because nine times out of ten the assets provided are for one media. I cannot tell you the amount of times I’ve been given the trailer to a game or film to assess an entire franchise with. So what I’m really looking forward to seeing more of is pitch videos that describe the entire experience, not just one medium, and ultimately, for the audiences, trailers for an entire experience. A fan-made video I saw recently excited me to this possibility (see The Matrix Trilogy – sans the other transmedia elements – below).
We’re seen some great videos created to describe the experience of alternate reality games and extended reality experiences etc too, such as the Why So Serious campaign for The Dark Knight, The Art of the H3ist campaign video, and the online narrative for True Blood. All of these describe the experience across all the media.
Art of the Heist Campaign Video from Baldwin& on Vimeo.
True Blood Case Study from Campfire on Vimeo.
There are many examples of these types of videos that explain the transmedia-native experience. But you’ll also notice that these videos don’t include the feature film or TV show they’re a part of either. They can’t, that is not their role. These transmedia experiences deserve their own videos as well. But I’m keen to start seeing more media-encompassing videos. I have seen some good pitch videos but they are not for public display, and I’m sure I’ve come across other on the Internetz. Do you have ones to share?
