Back to School: Transmedia Entertainment Fall 2017

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Some classes are ever-green: the core texts change only a little bit from year to year. My transmedia entertainment class, on the other hand, has to be dramatically updated each time I teach it because there are so many rich developments both in terms of creative projects and scholarship that I want to bring to student attention. You can watch my approach to transmedia evolve from my first version in 2009 to this 2013 version to the one outlined below. I hope this syllabus will prove useful to others doing research and teaching in this space.

 

CTCS 482: Transmedia Entertainment Fall 2017
Tuesdays 2:00-5:50pm
SCA 316

4 units

Contact Information:

Henry Jenkins

Office: ASC 101C

hjenkins@usc.edu

TA: Laurel Rogers. Office hours on Wednesday from 1:30-3:30pm in SCA 221, or by appointment. Contact at lprogers@usc.edu

Please send all inquires regarding office hour appointments to Jocelyn Kelvin and questions

regarding the course to Professor Jenkins or Laurel Rogers.

TRANSMEDIA ENTERTAINMENT

We now live in a moment where every story, image, brand, and relationship plays itself out across the maximum number of media platforms, shaped top down by decisions made in corporate boardrooms and bottom up by decisions made in teenagers’ bedrooms. The concentrated ownership of media conglomerates increases the desirability of properties that can exploit “synergies” among different parts of the medium system and “maximize touchpoints” with different niches of audiences. The result has been a push toward franchise-building in general and transmedia entertainment in particular.

A transmedia story represents the integration of entertainment experiences across a range of media platforms. A story like Heroes or Lost might spread from television into comics, the web, alternate reality or video games, toys, and other commodities, etc., picking up new audiences as it goes and allowing the most dedicated fans to drill deeper. The fans, in turn, may translate their interests in the franchise into concordances and Wikipedia entries, fan fiction, vids, fan films, cosplay, game mods, and a range of other participatory practices that further extend the story world in new directions. Both the commercial and grassroots expansion of narrative universes contribute to a new mode of storytelling, one which is based on an encyclopedic expanse of information which gets put together differently by each individual, as well as processed collectively by social networks and online knowledge communities.

Each class session will introduce a concept central to our understanding of transmedia entertainment that we will explore through a combination of lectures, screenings, and conversations with industry insiders who are applying these concepts through their own creative practices.

In order to fully understand how transmedia entertainment works, students will be expected to immerse themselves in at least one major media franchise for the duration of the term. You

should experience as many different instantiations (official and unofficial) of this franchise as you can and try to get an understanding of what each part contributes to the series as a whole.

REQUIRED BOOKS

  • Andrea Phillips, A Creator’s Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012)

  • Benjamin W.L. Derhy Kurtz and Mélanie Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016) [Please feel free to use the Kindle version of this text, as the print version may be quite pricey.]

  • Mark J. P. Wolf, Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation (New York: Routledge, 2012).

All additional readings will be provided through the Blackboard site for the class.

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL RESPONSE

For the first assignment, you are asked to write a 5-7 page autobiographical essay describing your relationship to a media franchise that you have found to be personally meaningful. You should use this essay to identify the cultural attractors that drew you to this franchise, to discuss which variants of the franchise you experienced, and to describe any cultural activators that encouraged you to more actively contribute to the fan community surrounding this franchise. Be as specific as possible in discussing moments in the transmedia story that were especially important in shaping your engagement with the property. Where possible, make explicit reference to ideas about transmedia and engagement from the readings. This assignment is partially about getting to know you as a transmedia participant and partially about getting you to experiment with the critical vocabulary we’ve introduced so far for talking about transmedia experiences. (Due September 5) (10 Percent)

EXTENSION PAPER

Write a 5-7-page essay examining one commercially produced story (comic, website, game, mobisode, amusement park attraction, etc.) that acts as an extension of a “core” text (for instance, a television series, film, etc.). You should try to address such issues as its relationship to the story world, its strategies for expanding the narrative, its deployment of the distinctive properties of its platform, its targeted audience, and its cultural attractors/activators. The paper will be evaluated on its demonstrated grasp of core concepts from the class, its original research, and its analysis of how the artifact relates to specific trends impacting the entertainment industry. Where possible, link your analysis to the course materials, including readings, lecture notes, and speaker comments. Students will be scheduled to do a short presentation of their case studies across the semester. (30 Percent)

FINAL PROJECT – FRANCHISE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

Students will be organized into teams, which—for the purpose of this exercise—will function as transmedia companies. You should select a media property (a film, television series, comic book, novel, etc.) that you feel has the potential to become a successful transmedia franchise. In most cases, you will be looking for a property that has not yet added media extensions, though you could also look at a property that you feel has been mishandled in the past. You should have identified and agreed on a property no later than Sept. 12th. By the end of the term, your team will be “pitching” this property. The pitch should include a briefing book that describes:

  1. the defining properties of the media property

  2. a description of the intended audience(s) and what we know of its potential interests

  3. a discussion of the specific plans for each media platform you are going to deploy

  4. an overall description for how you will seek to integrate the different media platforms to

    create a coherent world

  5. parallel examples of other properties which have deployed the strategies being described

For a potential model for what such a book might look like, see the transmedia bible template from Screen Australia, available here: http://videoturundus.ee/bible.pdf

Or visit: http://zenfilms.typepad.com/zen_films/2010/06/transmedia-workflow.html. If you use either as a model, include only those segments of their bible templates that make sense for your particular property and approach. You can also get insights on what a bible format might look like from the Andrea Phillips book.

The pitch itself will be a group presentation, followed by questions from our panel of judges (who will be drawn from across the entertainment industry). The length and format of the presentation will be announced as the term progresses to reflect the number of students actually involved in the process and thus the number of participating teams. The presentation should give us a “taste” of what the property is like, as well as lay out some of the key elements that are identified in the briefing book. Each team will need to determine what the most salient features to cover in their pitches are, as well as what information they want to hold in reserve to address the judge’s questions. Each member of the team will be expected to develop expertise around a specific media platform, as well as to contribute to the overall strategies for spreading the property across media systems.

The group will select its own team leader, who will be responsible for contact with the instructor/TA and who will coordinate the presentation. The team leader will be asked to provide feedback on what each team member contributed to the effort, while team members will be asked to provide an evaluation of how the team leader performed. Team members will check in on Week Six, Week Ten and Week Thirteen to review their progress on the assignment. The instructor may request short written updates throughout the term to insure that the team is moving in the right direction.

Students will pitch their ideas to the panel of judges on November 28. They should expect to receive feedback from the instructor over the following few days, and then turn in the final version of their written documentation on the exam date scheduled for the class. (40 percent)

CLASS FORUM/PARTICIPATION

For each class session, students will be asked to contribute a substantive question or comment via the class forum on Blackboard. Comments should reflect an understanding of the readings for that day, as well as an attempt to formulate an issue that we can explore with visiting speakers. Students will also be evaluated based on regular attendance and class participation. (20 Percent)

WEEK ONE:
Tuesday, August 22

Transmedia Storytelling 101

  • Henry Jenkins, “Searching for the Origami Unicorn: The Matrix and Transmedia Storytelling,” in Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (New York: New York University Press, 2006), pp. 93-130.

If you have already read Convergence Culture, review my concepts at:

  • Henry Jenkins, “Transmedia Storytelling 202: Further Reflections, “Confessions of an Aca- Fan, August 1, 2011, http://henryjenkins.org/2011/08/defining_transmedia_further_re.html

Then dig deeper with some other scholars:

  • Colin Harvey, “A Taxonomy of Transmedia Storytelling,” in Marie-Laure Ryan and Jan- Noel Thon (eds.) Storyworlds Across Media; Toward a Media-Conscious Narratology (Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press, 2014), pp. 278-294.

    OR

  • Elizabeth Evans, “Transmedia Texts: Defining Transmedia Storytelling,” in Transmedia Television: Audiences, New Media, and Daily Life (London: Routledge, 2011), pp. 19-39.

All students should read:

  • Andrea Phillips, “What’s Happened to Transmedia?”, Immerse https://immerse.news/whats- happened-to-transmedia-855f180980e3

  • Henry Jenkins, “Transmedia What?” Immerse https://immerse.news/transmedia-what- 15edf6b61daa

  • Christy Dena, “Transmedia Performing Badly,” Immerse https://immerse.news/transmedias- transitions-9c28ef2c5835

  • Caitlin Burn, “Transmedia: Art Forms Created in Real Time,” Immerse https://immerse.news/transmedia-art-forms-created-in-real-time-4943648389a4

WEEK TWO:
Tuesday, August 29
A Brief History of Transmedia

  • Michael Saler, “Living in the Imagination,” “Delight Without Delusion: The New Romance, Spectacular Texts, and Public Spheres,” in As If: Modern Enchantment and the Literary Prehistory of Virtual Reality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012), pp. 25-104.

Matthew Freeman, “Up, Up and Across: Superman, the Second World War and the Historical Development of Transmedia Storytelling.” in Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television. 35. 2 (2015): 215 – 239.

  • Justin Wyatt, “Critical Redefinition: The Concept of High Concept,” in High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1994), pp. 1- 22.
  • Jonathan Gray, “Learning to Use the Force: Star Wars Toys and Their Films,” in Show Sold Separately: Promos, Spoilers, and Other Media Paratexts (New York: NYU Press, 2010), pp. 177-187.

Senior Manager, Digital Strategy, Disney Junior, Kids Digital Media, Disney ABC Television Group. He is an interactive produer and digital strategist with over 15 years experience developin innovative kids content and products for new media. Working at the cross-section of new media, kids, and storytelling, his passion is to create new ways for kids to engage with the characters and stories they love deeply. His specialities are digital strategy, product development, business development, interactive television, game design, and music & sound design.

WEEK THREE:
Tuesday, September 5
Producing Transmedia

  • Derek Johnson, “An Industrial Way of Life,” “Imagining the Franchise: Structures, Social Relations, and Cultural Work,” “From Ownership to Partnership: The Institutionalization of Franchise Relations,” in Media Franchises: Creative Licensing and Collaboration in the Creative Industries (New York: New York University Press, 2013), pp. 1-106.

  • Brian Clark, “Transmedia Business Models,” Confessions of an Aca-Fan, November 7, 2011 http://henryjenkins.org/2011/11/installment_1_transmedia_busin.html, http://henryjenkins.org/2011/11/brian_clarke_on_transmedia_bus.html, http://henryjenkins.org/2011/11/brian_clarke_on_transmedia_bus_1.html
    http://henryjenkins.org/2011/11/brian_clark_on_transmedia_busi_1.html

  • Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, and Joshua Green, “Courting Supporters for Independent Media,” in Spreadable Media: Creating Meaning and Value in a Networked Culture (New York: New York University Press, 2013), pp. 229-258.

  • Andrea Phillips, “How to Fund Production Costs,” “And Maybe Make Some Profit, Too,” in A Creator’s Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 223- 239.

Guest Speaker:

Maureen McHugh’s most recent collection of short stories, After the Apocalypse, was one of Publishers Weekly’s Ten Best Books of 2011. She has been working in interactive storytelling since 2003 when she was a writer and managing editor for the ARG ilovebees. She worked on several major interactive projects including Year Zero for Nine Inch Nails. She’s written interactive narrative for second screen and VR. She teaches screenwriting and interactive writing at USC.

WEEK FOUR:
Tuesday, September 12
Media Mix

  • Otsuka Eiji, “World and Variation: The Reproduction and Consumption of Narrative,” in Mechademia 5, 2010, pp. 99-116.
  • Marc Steinberg, “Media Mixes, Media Transformations,” in Anime’s Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2012).
  • Ian Condry, “Characters and Worlds as Creative Platforms,” in The Soul of Anime: Collaborative Creativity and Japan’s Media Success Story (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2013).
  • Mizuko Ito, “Gender Dynamics of the Japanese Media Mix,” in Yasmin B. Kafai, Carrie Heeter, Jill Denner, and Jennifer Y. Sun (eds.), Beyond Barbie and Mortal Kombat: New Perspectives on Gender and Gaming (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2008), pp. 97-110.
  • Mia Consalvo, “Convergence and Globalization in the Japanese Videogame Industry,” in Cinema Journal, Spring 2009, pp.135-141.

Guest Speakers:

Flint Dille is an American screenwriter, game designer, and novelist, best known for his animated work on Transformers, G.I. Joe, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, and his game-writing, The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, and Dead to Rights. Dille was the creative lead of alternate reality, geomobile game Ingress to change our relation to the city and "move us outside of our bubbles."and Transportopia, which he describes as turning the entire city of Los Angeles into a massively-multiplayer online game as an attempt

Dr. Larry Kubata was a Chaired Visiting Professor at Hitotsubashi University’s Graduate School of International Strategy, and then as a Visiting Professor at Hitotsubashi’s Institute of Innovation Research. During that time he was also a personal consultant to the President of Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, as well as President and founder of a digital production company in Japan in partnership with one of the original team members at George Lucas’ ILM. Now, as a tenured professor in Global Media Studies at Komazawa University in Tokyo, Dr. Kubota’s interests have focused on global “transvergence” — how cultures are encountering one another and forming entirely new species through digital media technologies.

WEEK FIVE:
Tuesday, September 19
Transmedia Logics: Learning, Activism, and Play

  • Meryl Alper and Becky Herr-Stephenson, “T is for Transmedia,” Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Annenberg Innovation Lab white paper. http://www.joanganzcooneycenter.org/wp- content/uploads/2013/03/t_is_for_transmedia.pdf
  • Fleming, Laura. “Expanding Learning Opportunities with Transmedia Practices: Inanimate Alice as an Exemplar,” in The National Association for Media Literacy Education’s Journal of Media Literacy Education. 5.2 (2013): 370-377.

  • Henry Jenkins, “Transmedia Logics and Locations,” in Benjamin W. L. Derhy Kurtz and Melanie Bourdaa (eds.) The Rise of Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp.220-240.

  • Henry Jenkins, Sangita Shresthova, Liana Gamber-Thompson, and Neta Kligler-Vilenchik, "Superpowers to the People!: How Young Activists Are Tapping the Civic Imagination," in Eric Gordon and Paul Mihailidis (eds.) Civic Media: Technology/Design/Practice (Cambridge: MIT Press), pp. 295-320. 

  • Julia Sonnevend, “Global Iconic Events: The Five Dimensions,” in Stories Without Borders: The Berlin Wall and the Making of an Iconic Event (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp.20-34.

With a career spanning graphic novels, screenwriting, video games and augmented-reality, Dan Goldman is the creator of critically acclaimed works such as Shooting War, Red Light Properties, and the Priya's Shakti series. As founder of the narrative lab, he produces "stories galvanized for social change": research-driven fictions to be used as tools/weapons by their activist partners in the field to have maximum impact.

WEEK SIX:
Tuesday, September 26
Multimodality and Intertextuality

  • Gunther Kress, “Reading Images: Multimodality, Representation and New Media,“ http://www.knowledgepresentation.org/BuildingTheFuture/Kress2/Kress2.html

  • Victor Kaptelinin, “Affordances,” The Encyclopedia of Human Computer Interaction, https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer- interaction-2nd-ed/affordances

  • Dena, Christy. “Beyond Multimedia, Narrative and Game: The Contributions of Multimodality and Polymorphic Fictions.” New Perspectives on Narrative and Multimodality. Ruth Page (ed.). London: Routledge, 2009. 181-201.

  • Mathias Stork, “Transmedia Synergies – Remediating Films and Video Games,” Mediascape, Fall 2015, http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/Winter2013_TransmediaSynergies.html

  • Matt Hills, “Sherlock’s Epistemological Economy and the Value of ‘Fan’ Knowledge: How Producer-Fans Play the (Great) Game of Fandom,” in Louisa Ellen Stein and Kristina Busse (eds.) Sherlock and Transmedia Fandom (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012), pp.27-40.

Guest speaker: Geoffrey Long is a storyteller, scholar, designer, worldbuilder and consultant, as well as a doctoral student in the Media Arts & Practice program at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. Geoffrey was most recently the Creative Director for the University of Southern California’s World Building Institute and World Building Media Lab. Prior to that, Geoffrey served as the Creative Director and a Research Fellow for USC’s Annenberg Innovation Lab and the Lead Narrative Producer for Microsoft Studios and cofounder of its Narrative Design Team (where his projects included the HoloLens, the Xbox One, SmartGlass, Quantum Break, Adera, Ruse and Halo).

WEEK SEVEN:
Tuesday, October 3
Transmedia Engagement

  • Christy Dena, “Emerging Participatory Culture Practices: Player-Created Tiers in Alternate Reality Games,” Convergence, February 2008, pp. 41-58.

  • Ivan Askwith, “Five Logics of Engagement,” Television 2.0: Reconceptualizing TV as an Engagement Medium, Master’s thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007, pp. 51- 150. http://cmsw.mit.edu/television-2-0-tv-as-an-engagement-medium/

  • Andrea Phillips, “The Four Creative Purposes for Transmedia Storytelling,” “Interactivity Creates Deeper Engagement,” “Uses and Misuses for User-Generated Content,” “Challenging the Audience to Act,” and “Make Your Audience a Character, Too,” in A Creator’s Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 41-54, 110-126, 137-148, 149-182..

  • Alice Marwick, Mary L. Gray and Mike Ananny, “Dolphins are Just Gay Sharks”: Glee and the Queer Case of Transmedia as Text and Object.” in Television and New Media. 15.7 (2014): 627-647.

  • Louisa Ellen Stein, “Fandom and the Transtext,” in Benjamin W.L. Derhy
    Kurtz and Mélanie Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp.71-89.

WEEK EIGHT:
Tuesday, October 10
World Building Part 1

  • Goodman, Nelson. “Words, Works, Worlds.” in Erkenntnis 9. (1975): 57-73.

  • Derek Johnson, “Sharing Worlds: Difference, Deference, and the Creative Context of Franchising,” in Media Franchises: Creative Licensing and Collaboration in the Creative Industries (New York: New York University Press, 2013), pp. 107-152.

  • Mark J. P. Wolf, “World Structures and Systems of Relationships,” in Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation (London: Routledge, 2013), pp.153-197.

  • Henry Jenkins, “The Pleasure of Pirates and What It Tells Us about World Building in Branded Entertainment”, Confessions of an Aca-Fan, June 13, 2007 http://henryjenkins.org/2007/06/forced_simplicity_and_the_crit.html

  • William Proctor and Matthew Freeman, “The First Step Into a Smaller World’: The Transmedia Economy of Star Wars,” in Mark J. P. Wolf (ed.) Revisiting Imaginary Worlds: A Subcreation Studies Anthology (New York: Routledge, 2017), pp.221-243.

Guest Speakers:

Jeff Gomez, as CEO of Starlight Runner, has worked with The Walt Disney Company (Pirates of the Caribbean, Fairies, Tron Legacy), 20th Century Fox (James Cameron’s Avatar), Sony Pictures Entertainment (Men in Black 3, The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Coca-Cola (Happiness Factory), Mattel (Hot Wheels animation universe), Showtime (TV network) (Dexter), Microsoft (Halo), Hasbro (Transformers), Nickelodeon (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Ubisoft (Splinter Cell), Pepperidge Farm (Goldfish), and others as a Transmedia Producer. Jeff Gomez is a writer and Transmedia Producer for the super heroic universe of Lucha Libre, an innovation of Mexico's AAA wrestling league for Mark Burnett's OneThree Media, in association with Robert Rodriguez and Factory Made Ventures for the Comcast El Rey television network.

Diana Williams is a member of the Lucasfilm Story Group, the team charged with developing narrative cohesion and connectivity within the Star Wars universe. She is also the creative development executive for ILMxLAB (http://www.ilmxlab.com/), a laboratory for immersive augmented and virtual entertainment. The recently launched division that combines the talent of Lucasfilm, ILM and Skywalker Sound, ILMxLAB focuses on compelling storytelling, technological innovation and world-class production that will reinvent the way stories are told and experienced.

WEEK NINE:
Tuesday October 17
World Building Part 2

  • Geoffrey Long, “Creating Worlds into Which to Play: Using Transmedia Aesthetics to Grow Stories into Storyworlds,” in Benjamin W.L. Derhy Kurtz and Mélanie
    Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp.139-152.

  • Henry Jenkins, “‘All Over the Map’: Building (and Rebuilding) Oz,” Film and Media Studies: Scientific Journal of Sapientia University, 9, 2014, 7-29.

  • Dan Hassler-Forest, “Game of Thrones: Quality Television and the Cultural Logic of Gentrification,” https://tvseries.revues.org/323

  • William Proctor, “Schrodinger’s Cape: The Quantum Seriality of the Marvel Multiverse” in Matt Yockey (ed.) Make Ours Marvel: Media Convergence and A Comics Universe (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2017), pp.219-348.

Guest Speaker:

Mark Warshaw is a co-creator and executive producer of the Amazon original series Lost in Oz and an executive producer of Hulu’s Emmy-nominated series East Los High. Warshaw was co-founder and co-president of The Alchemists Storytelling Company from 2008 to 2014. During that time, the US and Brazilian-based company helped develop East Los High, created Coca-Cola’s global storytelling policy, and consulted and produced for studios and Fortune 500 companies around the globe. Prior to that, Warshaw co-created and produced the first two seasons of the Emmy-winning transmedia experience for the NBC TV series Heroes. From 2001 to 2007, Warshaw wrote, produced and directed on the WB/CW TV series Smallville. He also co-created and produced the digital experience for the series.

WEEK TEN:
Tuesday, October 24
Immersion and Extractability

  • Henry Jenkins, “He-Man and Masters of Transmedia,” Confessions of an Aca-Fan, May 21, 2010, http://henryjenkins.org/2010/05/he-man_and_the_masters_of_tran.html

  • Henry Jenkins, “Harry Potter: The Exhibition, or What Location Entertainment Adds to a Transmedia Franchise,” Confessions of an Aca-Fan, December 14 2009. http://henryjenkins.org/2009/12/harry_potter_the_exhibition_or.html

  • Mark J. P. Wolf, “Immersion, Absorption and Saturation,” in Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation (New York: Routledge, 2012), pp.48-51.

  • Andrea Phillips, “Bringing Your Story Into the Real World,” in A Creator’s Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 209-222.
     
  • Matt Hills, “The Enchantment of Visiting Imaginary Worlds and ‘Being There’: Brand Fandom and the Teritiary World of Media Tourism,” in Mark J. P. Wolf (ed.) Revisiting Imaginary Worlds: A Subcreation Studies Anthology (New York: Routledge, 2017), pp.244- 263.

Guest Speaker: Two-time Emmy Award winner Seth Shapiro is a leading advisor in business innovation, media and technology. He has worked with clients including The Walt Disney Company, Comcast, Intel, IPG, NBC, Showtime, RTL, Telstra, DIRECTV, Universal, Slamdance, Goldman Sachs, NGOs, and a range of new ventures.

WEEK ELEVEN:
Tuesday, October 31
Seriality and Complexity

  • Jason Mittell, “Transmedia Storytelling,” Complex Television http://mcpress.media- commons.org/complextelevision/transmedia-storytelling/h

  • Neil Perryman, “Doctor Who and the Convergence of Media: A Case Study in Transmedia Storytelling,” in Convergence, February 2008, pp. 21-40.

  •  Mark J. P. Wolf, “More Than a Story: Narrative Threads and Narrative Fabric,” in Building Imaginary Worlds: The Theory and History of Subcreation (London: Routledge, 2013) pp. 198-225.

  • Elena Levine, “‘What the Hell Does TIIC Mean?’: Online Content and the Struggle to Save Soaps,” in Sam Ford, Abigail De Kosnik, and C. Lee Harrington (eds.) The Survival of Soap Opera: Transformations for a New Media Era (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 2012), pp. 201-218.

  • Andrea Phillips, “Conveying Action Across Multiple Media,” in A Creator’s Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 93-102.

  • Frank Kelleter, “Five Ways of Looking at Popular Seriality,” in Media of Serial Narrative (Ohio State University Press, 2017), pp.7-36.

Guest Speaker: Javier "Javi" Grillo-Marxuach is best known as one of the Emmy Award- winning producers of Lost, and as creator of the comic book and television series The Middleman. Javi currently co-executive produces the Jim Henson Company's upcoming ten- hour prequel to the classic film The Dark Crystal for Netflix. He is also co-host (with fellow writer/producer/Puerto Rican, Jose Molina) of the Children of Tendu podcast, an educational series which aims to teach newcomers how to navigate the entertainment industry with decency and integrity. As part of his ongoing efforts to support and encourage emerging writers, Javi is not only an avid participant of the WGA's Mentor program, but also teaches (also with Jose Molina) a monthly seminar for mid-level writers at the Writers Guild, and worked to institute the Grillo-Marxuach Family Scholarship, which provides financial aid and mentorship to students attending the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts Masters Degree in Screenwriting with a focus on the Latino experience.

WEEK TWELVE:
Tuesday, November 7
Continuity and Multiplicity

  • William Uricchio and Roberta E. Pearson, “I’m Not Fooled by That Cheap Disguise,” in Roberta E. Pearson and William Uricchio (eds.), The Many Lives of the Batman: Critical Approaches to A Superhero and His Media (New York: Routledge, 1991), pp. 182-213.

  • Sam Ford and Henry Jenkins, “Managing Multiplicity in Superhero Comics,” in Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin (eds.), Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009), pp. 303-313.

  • Shawna Kidman, “Five Lessons For New Media From the History of Comics Culture,” in International Journal of Learning and Media 3.4 (2012): 41-54.

  • Benjamin Kurtz , “Set in Stone: Issues of Cannocity of Transtexts,” in Benjamin W.L. Derhy Kurtz and Mélanie Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), 104-118.

WEEK THIRTEEN:
Tuesday, November 14
Subjectivity And Performance

  • Henry Jenkins, “‘We Had So Many Stories to Tell’: The Heroes Comics as Transmedia Storytelling,” Confessions of an Aca-Fan, Dec. 3, 2007 http://henryjenkins.org/2007/12/we_had_so_many_stories_to_tell.html
     
  • Andrea Phillips, “Online, Everything is Characterization,” in A Creator’s Guide to Transmedia Storytelling (New York: McGraw-Hill, 2012), pp. 83-92.
     
  • Sam Ford, “WWE’s Storyworld and the Immersive Potentials of Transmedia Storytelling,” in Benjamin W.L. Derhy Kurtz and Mélanie Bourdaa (Eds.) Rise of the Transtexts: Challenges and Opportunities (New York: Routledge, 2016), pp.169-186.
     
  • Matthew Weise and Henry Jenkins, “Short Controlled Bursts: Affect and Aliens,” in Cinema Journal, Spring 2009, pp.111-116.
     
  • Guest Speaker: Jay Bushman is a producer and writer, known for The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (2012), Welcome to Sanditon (2013) and The Lydia Bennet!! (2012).

WEEK FOURTEEN:
Tuesday, November 21 - Teams work on Final Presentations

WEEK FIFTEEN:
Tuesday, November 28 (LAST DAY OF CLASS) - Final Presentations