Transmedia Essay|Responsive

Transmedia Essay

For this module I’ve decided to create a one minute long 2D animation that could be submitted to a film or animation festival. As final piece is simple and colourful, with adorable characters, it target audience would be mostly children. One of the tasks we were asked to do, was to, hypothetically, think how we could expand our projects by additional media – e.g. games, comics, plushies, etc.

The story is loosely based on a Greek mythology and one of the Illiad poems, written by Homer. This project was also an extension of a work I did during Access to HE course couple years ago. In a sense, this short animation is already a piece of transmedia, an extension of an existing work. For this project I had to revisit all major elements, like character and beast designs, style, re-write script to make it more suitable for animation (as work I did earlier was in a comic format). The style also slightly changed also this time I wanted to make my final piece bright and colorful. I’ve decided to change story a bit and make it more relevant to today’s times. Also I wanted to aim it at young children so had to avoid violence and any type of gore scenes.

This piece of animation concentrates on a specific task that is performed by a main character (Odysseus) and his crew. However, other side quests are mentioned in this animation – in a form of photos. That way I’m able to expand it to a series of short stories, that will explore different events that happens to characters. There are enough points in the plot of this animation, which could be used as a starting point for new stories. There is no explanation on why Odysseus started his unusual quest or why he got so interested in taking selfies and not doing something else. Moreover, this animation could be interpreted as an ending of a whole set of stories, as Odysseus presents his other achievements.

Exploration of other characters and their stories could be another route to take. It is a popular trend lately, with games like Last of Us, releasing a DLC, which concentrates on a different character or event. Also, with stories like that, the time period between a main and additional event happens is short and easy to understand by viewer.

Since my first animation is loosely based on a Greek mythology, an each seasons of series could happen in different time periods or be based on different set of myths or believes. A good example could be transferring an existing system to the world of a Norse mythology, with Loki (he is a bit of mischievous character) travelling across vast dimensions and taking selfies with, e.g. fenrir. Additional content could be created by spin-off series, were characters from various mythological words meet together. A good examples of that can be Avengers movies, where superheros from different comics (in a sense brands of its own) fight evil, or a recent Doctor Who episode that involved all Doctors in one quest.

Futher content could also concentrate on explaining historical events in fun and interesting way, a little bit like a Horrible Histories. Overall idea would stay same, but seeing kings and knights getting obsessed with technology thats typical for our time, could be rather interesting to watch.

With it colourful style, this story could be also made into a series of comics – either short, 3-4 panel strips or a book with full page layouts. It could also be transformed into a visual novel or motion comic.

This story could also be used for creating a set of colouring books, aimed mostly to young kids. Set of a book that explains basics of math or teach children alphabet would be possible and well suited within existing style and world. It even could be easily turned into a clickable and interactive book app for children, that can be released on tablets, since most parents give their kids devices like really early.

Another media that this piece could be transferred to are browser or mobile games. As mentioned before, aesthetics of this work allows making it into a funky, quick game, similar with its style to Angry Birds or LocoRoco. It also ties up nicely with the previous idea of educational book app.

The merchandise, like a plush toy and a set of figurines, could be another idea for a world extension. Moreover, items like that can be made quite easily with a use of websites like Society 6, and would reach wider audience. Society 6 not only help with selling prints and stretch canvases, but allows users to put their work on mugs, t- shirts, hoodies, phone and laptop cases, clock and, quite recently, shower curtains. It also takes off the pressure of finding the right print house or factory from the author, especially if it is made only on a small scale.

After looking at all these ideas I'm confident with the potencial that my little project have as a piece of transmedia. It was a good exercise, planning and thinking about these other venues that could create an additional fan base. Moreover, I'm hoping to actually expand this Cyclop versus Odysseus idea a bit futher and transfer it into other platforms, wherever it's motion comics or a very basic game.