Cross-Media Communications: an Introduction to the Art of Creating Integrated Media Experiences Drew Davidson et al. Published: 2010 Categorie(s): Tag(s): crossmedia transmedia media studies mass 1 Title Cross-Media Communications: An Introduction to the Art of Creating Integrated Media Experiences Copyright By Drew Davidson et al. & ETC Press 2010 ISBN: Library of Congress Control Number: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NonDerivative 2.5 Li- cense (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/) Design & composition by John Dessler and Chris Bell Thank You. This project is the result of the combined efforts of some amazingly tal- ented people. A big thank you to Alice Robison for her curricular and in- structional design with all the exercises and questions, and to Angela Love and Eun Jung Lee for the wonderful cross-media interpretative il- lustrations and information graphics associated with each chapter, and to John Dessler and Chris Bell for layout and formatting. My greatest ap- preciation for their creativity and generosity which helped make this textbook even better. And thanks to all the contributors (listed below in alphabetical order by last name) who shared their ideas and insights to provide a book full of interesting perspectives. And to the students who created art and music for the CMC Media Files to help with the Cross- Media @ Play exercises. And to my wife, who's my sharpest critic and greatest support. Clark Aldrich Bob Bates Jim Bizzocchi Jan Bozarth Ed Covannon Patrick Curry Monique de Haas Christy Dena 2 Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen Tracy Fullerton James Paul Gee Rodney Gibbs Max Giovagnoli Jo-Anne Green Dan Irish Henry Jenkins Heather Kelley Jay Klein Kurt Lancaster Brenda Laurel Donna Leishman Angela Love Toby Miller Michelle Riel Katie Salen Warren Spector Helen Thorington David Todd Adam Greenfield David Gurwin William Uricchio Steffen P Walz 3 Preface Introduction Cross-media Communications are integrated, interactive experiences that occur across multiple media, with multiple authors and have mul- tiple styles. The audience becomes an active part in a cross-media experi- ence. It is experiences that occur across the Internet, video and film, broadcast and cable TV, mobile devices, DVD, print, and radio.The new media aspect of the “cross-media experience” typically involves some level of audience interactivity. In other words, it’s an experience (often a story of sorts) that we “read” by watching movies, dipping into a novel, playing a game, riding a ride, etc. This textbook was written with Freshman-level Courses in mind. The overarching goal is to provide an overview of cross-media design and development. It is meant to be interdisciplinary and introductory in concept and implementation. Purpose One of the goals of writing this book is to present an informed next- generation look at mass media and mass communications in a time of significant change. Cross-media is not necessarily a new phenomenon, but its time has come to truly flourish. Advertising has always tried to incorporate a unified message across multiple media. Transmedia is a field that explores and creates experiences across multiple media. In the mid to late 90’s the internet boom promised the incorporation of cross- media interactivity into transmedia experiences, but with the dot.com bust those promises have only now come into fruition. Currently, the technology is ubiquitous enough and the culture is more connected than ever. This has enabled more and more interactive cross-media experi- ences to begin being designed, developed and experienced. We are enter- ing an era where our media experiences will be integrated together and we will be able to interactively participate in these experiences. An inspiration for this book comes in part from my involvement with the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) at Carnegie Mellon University. The ETC (http://etc.cmu.edu) is a professional Master’s pro- gram in which students work on semester long projects with interdiscip- linary teams working together to create interactive media experiences. I believe a strength of the ETC is that it has a cross-media focus on how entertainment technologies can be applied across a variety of fields and disciplines. 4 Organization The text of the book is arranged into four sections: Introduction Media Genres Concepts Together, these sections provide a solid overview of cross-media com- munications, one that builds from a general introduction to a specific ex- amination of the media and genres of cross-media to a discussion of the concepts involved in designing and developing cross-media communica- tions. Each section further divides into chapters, with a total of 13 chapters across the four main sections. Features There are several educational features throughout the book. Cross-Media @ Play exercises follow each of the 4 sections and make use of CMC Media Files available for download on the ETC Press web- site. These exercises help guide readers through a semester-long project that relates to the all the topics and to the media found in the CMC Me- dia Files. This media is meant to prime brainstorming, and students are encouraged to create their own media as they work through the project. This project shows how cross-media can be applied. Cross-Media @ Work images are information graphics and interpretive illustrations of each chapter, providing students opportunities to reflect on the readings from a more visual perspective. Information Graphics visualize each section and related chapters. Interpretive Illustrations summarize each chapter and the book as a whole. In both cases, students are encouraged to think about how these images resonate with the text. Each chapter starts with learning objectives and key terms and ends with a chapter summary and related questions, all to help encourage act- ive engagement with the readings. Throughout the text there are specific examples, case studies, founda- tions, and professional perspectives with experts in the field to better il- lustrate the nature of cross-media. CMC Media Files The CMC Media Files help show how cross-media can be applied, with art and music for the Cross-Media @ Play exercises, and also the Cross-Media @ Work information graphics and interpretive illustrations that complement the chapters in the text. The CMC Media Files are available for download at: http://www.etc.cmu.edu/etcpress/files/cmc-media-files.zip 5 You can also search the web for some good media examples or create your own. A Creative Commons search (http://search.creativecommons.org/) is a great way to find images that you can use for these exercises. Section 1: Introduction This section provides a solid introductory look at cross-media commu- nications. The first chapter offers definitions of the terms involved and the process of creating cross-media. The second chapter has a historical look at the development of cross-media and its context in our culture. Chapter 1 – Terms and Process The first chapter offers definitions of the terms involved and the pro- cess of creating cross-media. This will enable students to engage with the language used when discussing cross-media and how it’s created. Chapter 2 – History and Context The second chapter has a historical look at the emergence of cross-me- dia and its context in our culture. This chapter helps place cross-media on a timeline. Section 2: Media We’ll start with media in general. Of course, it seems obvious that cross-media communications necessarily involve various media, but it will be useful to examine the media more closely so that we can see their various strengths and think about how they could best fit together to complement each other in a cross-media experience. This section of the book covers the variety of media that are typically involved in cross-media communications. The chapters are organized in- to the four primary types of media in order to examine the characteristics of each and how best to integrate them into a cohesive and engaging ex- perience. We start with textual, then proceed through electronic, to digit- al, and end with environmental. Examples of each are provided to illus- trate our discussion. Chapter 3 - Textual Media Books, magazines, comics. This chapter focuses on the continual im- portance of printed media and its ability to ground cross-media experi- ences. We’ll dig into discursive media like books, magazines and comics. We’ll explore the continual importance of printed media and its ability to help ground cross-media experiences Chapter 4 – Electronic Media Television, movies, music. This chapter takes a look at the electronic media and their impact on our popular culture. These media are being adapted in interesting new ways for cross-media experiences. We’ll dive 6 into the electronic media. We’ll look at the broadcast history of television and radio and their impact on our popular culture. We’ll see how these media are being adapted in interesting new ways for cross-media experiences Chapter 5 – Digital Media Games, web, interactive media. This chapter looks at how crucial the computer is to cross-media. Cross-media truly blossoms with digital me- dia. From the analog realm of electronic media, we then move into the binary world of digital media; video games, the internet and the world wide web, and other forms of interactive media. We’ll see how important digital is to cross-media communications. Cross-media experiences truly have a chance to blossom with the advent of digital media Chapter 6 – Environmental Media Theme parks, performance, merchandise, mobile. This chapter looks at experiences that surround us as we make our way through our daily lives. Along with the virtual worlds of digital media, we will also cover various environmental media found in the real world.