Deciphering models of transmedia production: history and technological change

Abstract

In the age of convergence, transmedia has become a buzzword of the new that scholars and industry alike have come to perceive as the media production of the future. Throughout the world, people now engage with stories across multiple media, following the adventures of Doctor Who from television to the Web, exploring the Batman universe across cinema, television, comics, and so on. And yet when considered from a media production studies perspective, the cracks and limitations of today’s transmedia production models are apparent. \n \nThis paper will consider how technological change informs models of transmedia production, but also shows how these models came from the very different historical influences and technological determinants of the past. In that sense, the paper has two strands: first, I will pinpoint what media production studies can learn about today’s models of transmedia production by looking to the past; and second, I will consider how history can provide us with a better understanding of some of the limitations of today’s transmedia production models, showing how today’s industry configurations may need to change in the future. I will here touch on factors including convergence, advertising, authorship, and independence.

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