Interactive Web Show Dirty Work Is Engineered for Short Attention Spans | Underwire

By Angela Watercutter May 8, 2012

"The masterminds behind new web comedy Dirty Work know that viewers’ increasingly short attention spans lead them to check their phones, monitor their e-mail and cruise Facebook while watching shows — in fact, they’re counting on it.

“The last few years, whenever we consume any media on our televisions, on our computers, wherever it is, they’re always kind of competing,” Elan Lee, chief creative officer of Fourth Wall Studios, which created Dirty Work, told Wired. “A lot of the concept behind [this] came from the central concept of, ‘Hey, what if we could get all of those devices and all of those platforms to come together to tell one story and cooperate with each other instead of competing for your attention?’”

In some ways, Dirty Work, which quietly premiered online last week and will continue soon with two more episodes, is a lot like many TV shows. It revolves around funny twenty-somethings finding their way in the world, only in this case they clean up bloody crime scenes in the middle of the night.

But it’s not a standard sitcom: Viewers watch Dirty Work on Fourth Wall’s proprietary Rides.tv website and, if they opt in, receive text messages, phone calls, e-mails and additional videos while they’re tuned in. It’s essentially a program trying to find an audience of young people by telling a story about young people using tools they’re already playing with...."

full post here:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/05/interactive-dirty-work-fourth-wall/

'Alt-Minds' transmedia game unveiled by Orange - watch video - Gaming News - Digital Spy

By Mark Langshaw |" Alt-Minds, a transmedia game and work of interactive fiction, has been announced by Orange and Lexis Numérique.

The episodic paranormal thriller promises to bridge the gap between gaming, social networking and traditional storytelling. Players will decipher clues via a series of traditional and casual games on their computers, smartphones, tablets and social networks. Users are encouraged to work together to unravel the mystery, which centres around a series of kidnappings in Europe. <p>Jean-François Rodriguez, head of games and transmedia at Orange, said: "Our partnership with Lexis Numérique, a pioneer in transmedia fiction, has allowed us to combine gaming, online TV and social networks to create a new type of multi-media experience for our customers....

via digitalspy.ca

Full story here:

http://www.digitalspy.ca/gaming/news/a378867/alt-minds-transmedia-game-unveil...

Toolkit Case Study: The Transmedia Conspiracy of Vladan Nikolic's "Zenith" | from Indiewire

JANUARY 18, 2011 7:40 AM | BY ERIC KOHN

A scene from Vladan Nikolic's "Zenith." Image courtesy of Cinema Purgatorio.

With the Sundance Film Festival set to begin Thursday, filmmakers must decide the best approach for standing out in the crowd. A strategy worth considering is found in "Zenith," a film that has had virtually no festival exposure but begins its theatrical release Jan. 19.

Directed by Serbian-American filmmaker Vladan Nikolic, science-fiction thriller "Zenith" alternately takes place in the year 2044 and the present day. Nikolic imagines a bleak future in which science's attempt to genetically modify the human race and make everyone feel eternally happy instead turns people into cold, alienated creatures in search of physical stimuli — mainly in the form of drugs. Ed (Jason Robards III), a young dealer, discovers a series of 10 tapes recorded by his missing father, Jack (Peter Scanavino). Seen as a crazed conspiracy theorist in his own time, Jack's ramblings about a vast scheme by unseen forces to unravel the foundations of society strike Ed as eerily prescient. Under constant scrutiny, he embarks on an ominous mission to unearth more of his father's research.

Starting with the initial production work in late 2008, Nikolic hired a small team of web designers to expand the story world of "Zenith" across a variety of fictional websites and cryptic videos featuring Jack's dark prophesies. "The initial idea started with my obsession with the human mind and how we react to things," Nikolic said. "That led to this whole idea of using conspiracy theories as an anchor of the story."


full post here:

http://www.indiewire.com/article/toolkit_case_study_the_transmedia_conspiracy...

Kevin Molony on Transmedia Journalism Principles « Transmedia Journalism

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Excerpt:

"Almost Transmedia
Looking at journalism in terms of Henry Jenkins’ seven principles, all of the characteristics of transmedia as he defines it have individually been implemented in a journalism or documentary context before. Though they may not yet have been designed together in a single storyline, all the pieces of the puzzle are there already. Nothing new must be invented to apply transmedia storytelling in journalism. Many of these principles were accomplished more than 15 years ago in a single complex storyline. For the New York Times on the Web in 1996, photo editor Fred Ritchin and French photojournalist Gilles Peress produced an interactive photo essay that would allow the reader to drill deeper into the the story to see beyond traditional presentation. The result, “Bosnia: Uncertain Paths to Peace,” was multilinear, multimedia and interlinked with contextual information. This essay bears examination on its own for the ideas it implemented at such an early stage. Ritchin described it in his book After Photography..."

Full Post here:

http://transmediajournalism.wordpress.com/contexts/transmedia-journalism-prin...

Transmedia Case Study: How I Met Your Mother

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BY MEGHAN – FEBRUARY 15, 2011

Who doesn’t love How I Met Your Mother? It’s almost impossible not to laugh at Barney’s womanizing ways, idolize Lily’s style, imitate Robin’s tough-girl attitude, snuggle up to Marshall’s marshmellow-ness and sigh at Ted’s hopeless romantic tendencies (whether in frustration or envy is up to you)....

So how did the show use transmedia to keep the world of HIMYM going?

In addition to the traditional TV show that chronicles Ted’s wife-hunt and the lives of him and his friends, the show’s writers have done a brilliant job of interweaving books, websites, products and phone numbers into the script and then into the audience’s reality.

Examples:

1. Ongoing references to Barney’s pick-up guide, The Playbook, and his code-to-live-by, The Bro Code, are not only interwoven into the show’s script and story, but are also physical books (authored by Barney/Neil Patrick Harris) that fans of the show (or fans of picking up women) can buy at the local bookstore. Now every move, maneuver and manipulation that has served Barney well with the finer sex is available for purchase.

2.HIMYM has done a great job of taking the show’s antics, jokes and interests into the real world through live and searchable websites. Everything from celebrating Not a Father’s Day (a Barney-created holiday for the childless) and Slap Count Down (a website created by Marshall as a scare tactic) are real and functioning websites that audiences can visit and even purchase products from..."

Read full post here:

http://meghangargan.com/millennialmusings/?p=386

Joi Ito's Near-Perfect Explanation of the Next 100 Years - Technology Review

Mims's Bits

Joi Ito's Near-Perfect Explanation of the Next 100 Years

"One hundred years from now, the role of science and technology will be about becoming part of nature rather than trying to control it."

Christopher Mims 05/13/2012

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Joi Ito (Photo: Joi Ito)

"Steelcase asked 100 thinkers to describe their wish for the next 100 years, and MIT Media Lab director Joichi Ito hit it out of the park with this 150-word bon mot:

One hundred years from now, the role of science and technology will be about becoming part of nature rather than trying to control it.

So much of science and technology has been about pursuing efficiency, scale and “exponential growth” at the expense of our environment and our resources. We have rewarded those who invent technologies that control our triumph over nature in some way. This is clearly not sustainable.

We must understand that we live in a complex system where everything is interrelated and interdependent and that everything we design impacts a larger system.

My dream is that 100 years from now, we will be learning from nature, integrating with nature and using science and technology to bring nature into our lives to make human beings and our artifacts not only zero impact but a positive impact to the natural system that we live in...."

Prometheus, Dark Souls, And Storytelling In Video Games Vs. Film - Forbes

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Excerpt from Forbes:

Alyssa Rosenberg flags a fascinating interview over at io9 with Prometheus screenwriter Jon Spaihts.

“Storytelling in games has matured tremendously in the past decade,” Spaihts tells io9′s Charlie Jane Anders. ”Some really great work has been done. But the design requirements are totally different, almost the opposite of filmic storytelling.

“The central character of a game is most often a cipher – an avatar into which the player projects himself or herself. The story has to have a looseness to accommodate the player’s choices. This choose-your-own adventure quality is a challenge for storytellers and, I fear, militates against art.

“A filmmaker is trying to make you look at something a certain way – almost to force an experience on you. Think of the legendary directors, whose perspective is the soul of their art. It’s the opposite of a sandbox world. It’s a mind-meld with a particular visionary....”

Read the full post here:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/05/13/prometheus-and-storytelling-i...

Fuel and McDonald’s launch kids virtual world » Kidscreen

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By Jeremy Dickson

Excerpt:

"Ottawa, Canada and L.A.-based youth digital brand builder Fuel and its partner McDonald’s Europe have announced the official launch of their free kids’ virtual world Happy Studio, an online media experience based on the fun of Happy Meals.

The site, which already has 1.8 million registered users since a beta version launched in August 2011, and can also be accessed through mobile devices, includes interactive and educational games and fun activities featuring many licensed characters from McDonald’s Happy Meals and a range of entertainment IPs (Tom and Jerry, Tin Tin, Puss N Boots)...."

Read more: http://kidscreen.com/2012/05/10/fuel-and-mcdonalds-launch-kids-virtual-world/...