Five transmedia projects – May 2012 edition

It feels a bit like that good ol’ ketchup effect, when you squeeze and squeeze and mutter and squeeze some more and then, with a mighty BRRFPRPRRRTTT you’ve got half the content of the bottle all over your plate. It’s a bit like the transmedia scene right now, where people have been chipping away at projects left and right and now releasing them. It’s a great feeling and something I’ve been waiting for for quite some time; we’re rapidly moving in the direction where everyone can look beyond the ”oh it’s a new transmedia project!” effect and instead focus on the content, the context and the delivery.

Below is a list of five projects I’ll be keeping an eye on this month, as they all look inspiring in their own way. These are all quite subjective, from my point of view, naturally:

Dark Knight Rises. Well, it has something to live up to, as ”Why So Serious?” still functions as a kind of a blueprint of what can be done with transmedia when looking to raise awareness and market an upcoming blockbuster. Still, this one seems not to be willing to loom in the shadow of aforementioned ancestor, but is instead developing legs of its’ own quite rapidly. Let’s see when all those graffitis around the world have been decoded… J

Try Life. This is an interactive drama that I find interesting; granted, so far it’s ”just” a ”choose the storyline” drama, but it’s well produced and the creators are promising ”a lot more to come”. The series itself is in the educational vein, helping teenagers to tackle consequences of sex, drugs and violence, under the british National Curriculum. As an example of how to use new storytelling techniques for something else than pure entertainment and marketing, it’s looking quite neat. Also, 100k+ likes on Facebook must mean someone’s interested!

Alt-Minds is Orange’s new venture and is branded ”The Very First Total Fiction”. The teaser trailer is looking slick, and I had a chat with Stephane Adamiak from Orange at MIPCube; they’re drawing on some good experiences of earlier projects and are going to have Alt-Minds play out as a paranormal thriller on social media, apps and web TV. Will be interesting to follow.

Rides: Dirty Works. So, here it is, finally – the follow up to teaser ”Home: A Ghost Story”, the first series that shows what you can do with 4th Wall Studios’ Rides-engine. It’s a well written script and good actors; overall a good story. And yes, the Rides solutions do give that bit extra to the experience, once you get used to it – even if you just experience it online. I thought I detected some glitch in the logic of the script when taking part of some of the extra content, but that might’ve been just me. Looking forward to the next episode!

Endworlds popped up on my radar a couple of months ago; it’s initially a three-part online publication with strong online presence, live treasure hunts around the globe and a lot of FB and Twitter followers. I think it looks like an innovative way of telling stories, meshing marketing with user contribution with storytelling with good strategies, and will be following how it evolves.

All in all, exciting times. Looking forward to see what other new projects will see the light of day!