Transmedia: Storytelling for the Digital Age

Jess Linington:  "An excerpt from Ben Hoguet’s book Narration Reinvented - a guide to creating, designing, producing & distributing interactive narratives & transmedia works."

Melanie Arrow:  "Immersive storytelling is a technique that is finding its way into new spaces such as theatres, games, documentaries, advertising and journalism. The aim is to give people the feeling of really ‘being there’, calling on 3D gaming, virtual and augmented reality technologies in the process. Tech is making our media more entertaining, hard-hitting and unique."

V Renée:  "No one knows storytelling quite like Pixar.  Their films are entertaining on so many levels; they make us laugh, make us cry, and even make us want to become better filmmakers. But perhaps the greatest quality of a Pixar movie is its ability to move an audience, which is a direct result of the brain trust's aptitude for great storytelling."

Tim Bajarin:  "Virtual reality may be the closest to teleportation we will ever have in our lifetime."

Michelle Fitzsimmons:  "Virtual reality is more than an emerging technology. It's redefining how filmmakers tell stories, bringing a brand-new set of challenges to a medium that's been refined over the last 100-plus years."

Michel Reilhac:  "In an era where our digital culture has become superficial, virtual reality is a key to unlocking new in-depth experiences."

Mary McNamara:  "Movie or TV? The Blur between film and television gets ever fuzzier as television projects appear first in movie theaters and especially as "movies" go straight to streaming services."

Samantha Murphy Kelly:  "Facebook's first original VR film reveals true potential for the future of filmmaking."

Anrick:  "Like the cinema from the past 50 years — so much of which is still compelling, gripping and emotionally captivating today — we should design VR content to be a part of the long term virtual landscape."

Paula Chowles:  "Your clip of a rat schlepping a quesadilla has the power to out-hype a summer blockbuster. Do it right."

Christopher Boone:  "Adapting comic books for film requires the distillation of several arcs and reboots across a universe of characters and stories — how do you find the right one?"

Michael Cavna:  "Disney is thinking so far beyond sequels — first with its Marvel Cinematic Universe, next with its Star Wars galaxies — that it is now fully, successfully engaging viewers across interlocking narratives. Each time a film like “Civil War” can land with audiences — building upon and/or introducing a dozen key characters — the universe can move not just linearly, but also multilaterally."

Jon Evans:  "Even in stationary DomeVR, you can twist and turn and spin and look at a full 360 degrees of immersive environment [...] there is no clear demarcation between “story space” and elsewhere, as there is with a TV or movie or game screen. Your mind keeps telling you that everything is story space."

Meg Carter:  "The folks behind Wallace and Gromit and the digital storytelling company want to expand your idea of what interactive video can do."

Mark Wilson:  "Google has spent the past year running experiments in VR. Here's what the company has learned about what you can and can't do."

Natasha Lomas:  "VR needs content if it’s to be more than a flash in the early adopter pan.  But it’s pretty clear that in the short term at least it’s not going to have a whole lot of compelling content."

Robert Hoekman Jr:  "It can be hard for designers to take a step back and look at an app or website through users' eyes. Here's where to start."

Ricardo Fayet:  "With the growing popularity of self-publishing, there is one recurring question I get from almost every aspiring author: How much should I budget?" ....

Simon Staffans on applying lean development principles to content creation ....

Keith Stuart:  "From mid-cycle PlayStation upgrades to episodic entertainment and virtual studios, something big is happening in the way games are bought, made and sold" ....

Christy Admiraal:  "There’s no question that anyone who considers himself or herself part of a fandom will have a different read on a piece of media from someone on the outside—whether it’s due to taking in all supplemental material, shipping a certain pairing, participating in fan theorizing, or some combination thereof—but exactly how does their experience differ from a reader or regular viewer who’s never dived any deeper into non-canonical material?"

Darren Emerson:  "Unlike the wall of noise that comes from 24 hour news coverage, and commentary via Twitter and Facebook in the aftermath of a tragic event, the VR headset delivers an experience that allows the viewer space to get closer emotionally to the subject matter and create a deeper level of understanding."  [Interviewed by Jess Linington]

Megan Logan:  "An entire feature film released on Snapchat, 'Sickhouse' turned storytelling (and the traditional filmmaking model) on its head."

Megan Logan:  "When critics and creatives complain about a medium, they're often really complaining about content."

Nicole LaPorte:  "It's no secret that advances in technology are pushing VR well beyond gamers and into areas like education, medicine, and of course, entertainment. [...] But can VR be incorporated into kids' games? And more importantly, should it, given that most kids are just starting to get a handle on AR (actual reality), let alone digitally re-created reality?"