Transmedia Storytelling, Immersive Storyworlds, and Virtual Reality
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Frameless Volume 2 Issue 1 Volume 2, Issue 1 Article 5 2020 Transmedia Storytelling, Immersive Storyworlds, and Virtual Reality Trent Hergenrader Rochester Institute of Technology, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/frameless Part of the Education Commons Recommended Citation Hergenrader, Trent (2020) "Transmedia Storytelling, Immersive Storyworlds, and Virtual Reality," Frameless: Vol. 2 : Iss. 1 , Article 5. Available at: https://scholarworks.rit.edu/frameless/vol2/iss1/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by RIT Scholar Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Frameless by an authorized editor of RIT Scholar Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Transmedia Storytelling, Immersive Storyworlds, and Virtual Reality Trent Hergenrader* College of Liberal Arts Rochester Institute of Technology Abstract: This paper considers the role of virtual reality (VR) experiences in major media franchises’ storyworlds, including Star Wars, the Marvel Universe, the DC Extended Universe, Game of Thrones, and Harry Potter. The paper opens with a brief description of transmedia storyworlds and the concept of narrative extensions, which are new stories that are added to existing narratives across a range of media. To distinguish different types of experiences, I use four categories to describe fifteen VR experiences across these five major: sneak peeks, short demos, action games, and narrative extensions. For each experience, I consider the types of user interactions offered, the overall length and replay value of these experiences, cost at launch, and the overall success or failure of these experiences based on critics’ and fans’ comments and reviews. While the strategy of incorporating VR experiences into existing media franchise storyworlds is still very much in its infancy, there are identifiable trends in what kinds of experiences fans most appreciate, and what experiences generally fall flat or underwhelm fans. I conclude with some encouraging prospects for the future for sophisticated VR storytelling. Keywords: transmedia, storyworlds, virtual reality, Star Wars, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Harry Potter, Game of Thrones *Corresponding Author, Trent Hergenrader ([email protected] ) 1 Vol. 2, No. 1 - 2020 Frameless TRANSMEDIA STORYTELLING, makes transmedia expansion an economic IMMERSIVE STORYWORLDS, AND imperative, yet the most gifted transme- NARRATIVE EXTENSIONS dia artists also surf these marketplace pres- sures to create a more expansive and immer- This paper considers the role of virtual reality sive story than would have been possible (VR) experiences in transmedia storyworlds otherwise” (2007). He uses the example of across five different major media fran- comic books that are created to publicize the chises—Star Wars, the Marvel Universe, the release of a forthcoming motion picture and DC Extended Universe, Game of Thrones, also provide additional backstory and other and Harry Potter—as delivered in fifteen information to further enhance the audi- different VR applications. For each expe- ence’s enjoyment of the story. Unlike adap- rience, I consider the types of interactions tations that tell the same story but in a differ- offered, the overall length and replay value ent form of media—for example, the novel- of these experiences, cost at launch, required ization of a film, or a film’s story depicted in equipment, and the overall success or failure a comic—Jenkins sees transmedia storytell- of these experiences based on critics’ and ing as prioritizing “extensions,” where each fans’ comments and reviews. While the new form of media is additive, contributing strategy of incorporating VR experiences something new to what the audience knows into existing media franchise storyworlds is about the plot, characters, or the world of the still very much in its infancy, there are iden- story (2007). In today’s commercial mar- tifiable trends in what kinds of experiences ketplace, each extension is an opportunity fans most appreciate, and what experiences to offer more new material to a dedicated generally fall flat or underwhelm fans. There global fan base and serves as another poten- are encouraging prospects for the future for tial revenue stream for creators. sophisticated VR storytelling. Because story expansion can happen rapidly Media theorist Henry Jenkins describes and across many media, creators often shift transmedia storytelling as a process in which the focus away from specific plots and char- “integral elements of a fiction get dispersed acters to their “complex fiction worlds,” systematically across multiple delivery chan- where Jenkins argues audiences “are drawn nels for the purpose of creating a unified to master what can be known about a world and coordinated entertainment experience” which always expands beyond our grasp” (2007), as when one part of an ongoing story (2007). This phenomenon has both an eco- is shown in a film, another part in a novel, nomic function, as the desire to know more and a third part in a comic book. Jenkins about the world leads consumers to make states that the growth in transmedia story- multiple purchases across many media, as telling “reflects the economics of media con- well as a narrative function in that it allows solidation or what industry observers call for many different artists in many different ‘synergy’” where “a media conglomerate has forms of media to create their own origi- an incentive to spread its brand or expand its nal extensions, making transmedia story- franchises across as many different media worlds “transauthorial” as they transcend platforms as possible” and that “the current sole authorship (Wolf 2012). Jenkins’s configuration of the entertainment industry student Sam Ford expanded on transmedia 2 Transmedia Storytelling, Immersive Storyworlds, and Virtual Realitye storytelling with his work on immersive sto- independent, self-contained narrative unit ryworlds by studying soap operas and pro- and also as part of a complex web of inter- fessional wrestling, both known for their connected stories. In the ideal scenario for serial storytelling where individual plot a narrative extension, the dedicated comple- lines can run for years (2007). Unique fea- tionist fan feels rewarded when they catch tures of storyworlds include their long-term subtle references to stories depicted other continuity, or the idea that each story must media, while more casual fans still enjoy the contain some sense of the stories that came story without even knowing that there were before it and also connect to stories yet to references they missed. Recently, creators in come (2007). Serialized stories in immer- these major media storyworlds have begun sive worlds also have the benefit of refer- to explore the possibilities for narrative encing each character’s extensive personal extensions in a new medium: virtual reality. backstory and a deep history of events in the world (2007). Thus much of the pleasure MAJOR MEDIA FRANCHISES AND of consuming transmedia storytelling in VR EXPERIENCES immersive worlds is derived from audience Many fans seek ways to be active partici- members gaining new knowledge about the pants in their favorite fictional worlds. The world while simultaneously being rewarded world’s most popular tabletop roleplaying for the knowledge about that world that they game, Dungeons & Dragons, has its origins already possess. in the desire of gamers to create charac- Today’s fans of major franchises can expect ters and playable scenarios that resembled stories to be told across many media and to the types of adventures they read about in access these narratives on different devices. the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, Edgar Rice To use just one example, the Star Wars vid- Burroughs, and Fritz Leiber, among others eogames Star Wars: Battlefront and Star (Peterson 2012). Instead of being passive Wars: Battlefront II connect to separate Star receptors of narratives, players of tabletop Wars novels, and those novels in turn refer roleplaying games become virtually embod- to moments and characters depicted in the ied in the game world, even if only in the franchise’s films and television programs. theater of the mind. Many fans today engage One can read the novel Battlefront: Twi- in a practice known as cosplay, or costumed light Company without having seen any Star play, and attend conventions and other pop Wars films or having played the videogame. culture gatherings dressed as their favorite However, readers more familiar with the Star fictional characters. An even greater group Wars storyworld will recognize moments in of fans experience their favorite fictional the novel that are drawn from the film The worlds through videogames and other types Empire Strikes Back; they will notice ref- of tabletop games. Thus it should come as no erences to weapons and tactics common in surprise that immersive VR experiences set the videogame; and the most dedicated fans in transmedia storyworlds are an attractive will catch allusions to characters who only prospect for fans and creators alike. appear in A New Dawn, another Star Wars The Star Wars franchise, acquired by the novel. Each extension—videogame, novel, Walt Disney Company in 2012, has been film, TV show—operates both as its own 3 Vol. 2, No. 1 - 2020 Frameless the most aggressive when it comes to devel- Beasts and Where to Find Them (Jan 2018) oping VR experiences, having published and Beyond the Wall (May 2019) respectively. eight titles. They have also been the most ambitious in terms of experimenting with I have organized the fifteen games into four new approaches. They were the first trans- loose categories based on their common fea- media storyworld to launch a VR experi- tures. The categories are: sneak previews; ence in December 2015 with Jakku Spy, a short demos; action games; and narrative free nine-part story that served as a teaser extensions. In the analysis of each expe- for the upcoming film The Force Awakens, rience, I considered their date of release; with a new story unlocking each day in the how the experience connects to the story- run up to the film’s premier.