There is a very specific thread connecting each of the different assets in my transmedia project together and normally it would be left for the audience to discover, chase and find the information within the stories for themselves. It is worth discussing the different ways that stories are connected however.
The main arc that is used to introduce the world, the main characters and overall giving the most information out in the least amount of time is the graphic novel platform. Providing visuals of the the world and a narrative featuring five or six main characters, this was chosen to provide the main arc because of its accessibility, familiarity and tried and tested success. It's important to note that transmedia storytelling does not have to be expensive and it is not only large studios with large budgets that can create a transmedia project - on the other hand it is accessible for virtually everyone.
The main story arc introduces the characters that some of the other media within the project will include so it is important to showcase the characters from the start. Furthermore, some notable events happen within the graphic novels first issue that are seemingly unimportant, but are linked directly to some of the other media that will be used to enrich the audiences experience in other ways. From this perspective, it was important to me to attempt to use a range of media that furthers the story but also creates enjoyment for audience members. So, not necessarily vital elements will be used but they will encourage immersion and create another connection to the fictional world. One example of this is when Jesse, Thomas, Lucy and Neva visit the town nearest to the house they move to, Lucy enters a camera shop and is seen leaving with a Polaroid camera. I saw this as an opportunity to think about her character in a more personal way and by taking some Polaroid photographs of an environment very close to Oregon where they live, I felt like I was writing not just from imagination but as if I were writing from experience. The Polaroids in terms of an artifact sense, can be distributed as an add on to the graphic novel when it is bought or through other means of marketing a collection of physical items as a set.
Another factor to consider was the different senses that could be tapped into. Visual media would be easy to stockpile but I felt something else was needed in order to 'bring the world to life' even more. Several ideas for audio segments have been listed within the transmedia production bible including radio broadcasts, podcasts, audio diary entries but I chose to write the scripts for and include three converging phone conversations that take place at the time of the event within the fictional timeline. The phone calls indicate that communications have been lost and this is also reinforced in the graphic novel - creating cohesion across platforms. I think this combined with the graphic novel does all for a sense of desperation, and hopefully it was portrayed effectively the struggle the characters have been placed into.
As I previously mentioned the Polaroids provided a physical, tangible object that would be looked at and examined by audience members. The imagery featured within the photographs is of the environment the story is set and brings it to life in a different way. By seeing various examples of the same environment through drawing and photography, the world feels to me at least, to be even more authentic and overall easier to comprehend from familiarity.
To emphasise and develop certain elements of the story visually I decided to produce a couple of illustrations that could have been scenes from outside of the events shown in the graphic novel. Ideas included, an illustration of the dinner party that the Hart family attend on their first night moving into their new home, furthermore, a more detailed illustration of the walk to the supermarket could have been interesting to see for the audience as well as providing some information about the mood of the characters. The illustrations I did decide to do however were geared more towards the diagram format than an illustration, and included a more detailed drawing of the pickup truck which is featured a lot throughout the graphic novel and will be seen a lot more at the story advances. The other I produced was a detailed floor plan of the house Jesse, Lucy and Thomas move to. These illustrations will both feature as double page spreads at the relevant times in the graphic novel, for example the house plan will be shown on the page following the page when the family first enters the house to illustrate the layout. This in a way is my attempt at producing a 'map' which can be seen often in transmedia universes and illustrate the environment in a different way to other methods of being shown - it also makes an otherwise fictional house feel like it has some purpose.
Finally, short stories were something I wanted to include due to their simplicity and ability to describe and convey a story in a level of detail that can't be found anywhere else. The descriptions of feelings, surroundings, movements etc makes for quite visceral storytelling and can bring the story to life event more when combined with the other platforms. The two ideas I had in mind to produce was the back story of Jakob Iversen, and a story set several decades in the future about a woman who although not explicitly mentioned will be hinted at through the vague descriptions and subtle references to the character that will be built up and familiarised to the audience through the other platforms. By doing this, questions are also raised by the audience in terms of what happened in the timeline between this and the last event that was shown explicitly - all open for speculation by the audience.
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