ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: VISUALIZING TRANSMEDIA NETWORKS: LINKS, PATHS AND PERIPHERIES Marc Nathaniel Ruppel, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Dissertation directed by: Professor Matthew G. Kirschenbaum Department of English ‘Visualizing Transmedia Networks: Links, Paths and Peripheries’ examines the increasingly complex rhetorical intersections between narrative and media (‘old’ and ‘new’) in the creation of transmedia fictions, loosely defined as multisensory and multimodal stories told extensively across a diverse media set. In order to locate the ‘language’ of transmedia expressions, this project calls attention to the formally locatable network structures placed by transmedia producers in disparate media like film, the print novel and video games. Using network visualization software and computational metrics, these structures can be used as data to graph these fictions for both quantitative and qualitative analysis. This study also, however, examines the limits to this approach, arguing that the process of transremediation, where redundancy and multiformity take precedence over networked connection, forms a second axis for understanding transmedia practices, one equally bound to the formation of new modes of meaning and literacy. VISUALIZING TRANSMEDIA NETWORKS: LINKS, PATHS and PERIPHERIES by Marc Nathaniel Ruppel Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 Advisory Committee: Professor Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, Chair Professor Derek Hansen Professor Kari Kraus Professor Brian Richardson Professor Nancy Struna This dissertation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License. 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Notice — For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. ii For Ken K., a truly beautiful mind. iii Acknowledgments In choosing to study transmedia, my path was by necessity interdisciplinary, winding and weaving its way through departments as varied as English, iSchools, American Studies, drama, computer science and comparative literature. I’ve consequently been fortunate to work with numerous faculty and students who are, unfortunately, far too numerous to list individually here. So, instead, I’ll start with those who supported my initial gestures towards this dissertation, steps that began with a gracious dose of humility. And so, I start by thanking Joe Fradin, Bruce Butterfield and Paul Johnson for having the gall to give me C’s and D’s on papers that they knew I could have done more with; to Carole Knuth and David Lampe, whose guidance, warmth and intellect remained with me at every step; to Aimable Twagilimana who pushed me towards this end through mentoring and lived example; and to Marilou Awiakta, whose work reminds me every day of the beauty we are each capable of. I’m forever grateful that I can call all each of you both mentor and friend. This thesis, however, would most likely not exist in its current form without the constant presence of Christy Dena as both a creative inspiration and, just as importantly, an invaluable outlet for the shared frustrations and difficulties in shaping a new field, one that, for all of our theoretical hedging and haggling, we knew needed to be considered on its own accord. I was lucky to find Christy way back at the beginning of my jump into transmedia studies, and I’m even more fortunate to know she’ll be there as the field continues to grow. In this regard, I also need to thank (in no particular order) a whole bunch of others who I’ve had inspired contact with along the way: JC Hutchins, Andrea Phillips, Jeff Gomez, Lance Weiler, Janine Saunders and David Varela. And to all of the others out there who continue to stimulate with their work in transmedia, and all the audiences who continue to passionately help them to realize it, I thank you for giving me something to think about for the rest of my life. To that end, I also owe a massive debt to all of those at the University of Maryland, who not only didn’t dissuade me from taking on transmedia as a research focus, but actually and enthusiastically encouraged me to do so. To my first UMD colleague and friend, Jason Rhody, whose work and support are foundational to my time here; to Joseph Byrne and Tanya Clement, my cohorts in this first wave of Maryland digital humanities work; to Beth Bonsignore, a source of constant inspiration and a huge future figure in transmedia learning; to Greg Metcalf, whose teaching and ideas were massively influential; and to all the others who I’ve been lucky enough to share time with at UMD. Also, to Darryll Pines, Mark Lewis and Ken Yu of UMD’s Aerospace Engineering Department, and to Claudia iv Meyer and Jeff Rybak of NASA. Your support throughout the years gave me a chance to build both a life and a career in Maryland. I imagine that many theses have multiple points of origin but, as it currently stands, the genesis of this project has one: the classroom of Martha Nell Smith where. Thank you for shoving me head-on into this field. To Neil Fraistat, whose assistance and insistence that I could do more and I could do it better was a constant source of inspiration and motivation. To Brian Richardson, whose optimism and exuberance for what I was doing (even when I didn’t realize I was doing it) played a vital role in helping me think through the narrative underpinnings of this study. To Derek Hansen, whose enormous contributions to the network aspects of this thesis and my work in general are too numerous and too substantial to list. To Kari Kraus, for all of the collaboration and talks we’ve had over transmedia, ARGs and everything else. I expect that Kari’s forthcoming book, Hopeful Monsters: Computing, Counterfactuals, and the Long Now of Things, will introduce the world to her unique mode of genius. And to Matt Kirschenbaum, who has acted as my advisor since the 8-bit days of yore when I first set foot at UMD. For giving me enough rope to hang myself, standing by quietly as you watched me actually do it, meeting me at the designated resurrection point with a bag of healing potions and then hinting that I don’t even need them, I thank you deeply. More than anything else at UMD—the classes, the research, even the dissertation itself—the greatest product of my time here is that I can leave here knowing that, quite simply, I studied with one of the best. Finally, thank you to all of my friends and family whose own special brand of patience and support allowed me to push through the difficult times. Thank you, Jane and Colene, for giving me a second family. To my big sisters, Beth and Kelly, for making me feel like I was doing something that made you proud. To my little sisters, Julie and Kim, and my amazing niece, Maya, for your laughter, constancy and belief, and all the big and little ways you cheered me on. To my father, Irving Bruce, and my mother, Marilyn, for giving me everything I could ever ask for in my parents. On so many levels, without constant support from the both of you, this never happens. And to Tracy and Harper, my motivation, my love, my life. This is yours as much as it is mine. There is nothing I am more proud of than having the privilege of calling you my family. v Contents Dedication….ii Acknowledgements….iii Contents….v List of Tables….ix List of Figures….ix Chapter One: INTRODUCTION….1 (re)Defining Transmedia….8 The Roots of Transmedia Practices….11 (Inter) Disciplinarity….17 Approaches to Transmedia Research….20 Commodity-based Approaches….21 The Principles of Operation Approach….26 Defining (Transmedia) Networks….34 Sites….37 The Structure of this Thesis….46 Chapter Two: LINKS….51 Migratory Cues: A Working Definition….61 Source/Target Completion….64 Directionality….70 Paratexts of Connectivity: External Cues….71 Direct External Cues….80 vi Narratives of Connectivity: Internal Migratory Cues….86 Specific: Story-Level Cues….88 Intersectional Cues….89 Direct Internal Cues….98 Intermedial Cues….107 Sequence, Causation and Seriality….116 Conclusions: Differentiating Edges, Scalar Interpretations….123 Chapter Three: PATHS….136 Directed Networks Defined….138 Of Networks and The Net….140 The Language of Visualization….145 NodeXL….155 NodeXL Population for Transmedia Projects….158 Skeleton Creek and Transmedia Network Topologies….168 Sequential Topologies and Time ….176 Triads and Structural Holes….178 Personal Effects: Dark Art: A Different Perspective on Network Motifs….191 The LOST Experience ARG and Network Coherence….196 The Pragmatics and Poetics of In- and