Transmedia Histories Part 1: Early 20th Century: Industrialised Consumerism http://maher.filfre.net/writings/convergence.jpg http://whatworkswhere.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Transmedia-Storytelling1.jpg http://www.bang2write.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/transmedia-storytelling.jpg http://truthaboutmarika.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/transmediawordle1.jpg Lecture 3 Today… •Exploring the history of transmedia storytelling –Pre-historical histories? •Industrial history in the USA –Industrialisation --- modern advertising –Consumer culture --- licensing –Media regulation --- war propaganda Learning Objectives •EXPLAIN the core industrial developments that led to historical transmedia storytelling •DESCRIBE the practices of historical transmedia •ANALYSE the different forms, strategies and manifestations of transmedia in the past Pre-historical transmedia? •‘The narrative of Jesus Christ has been passed down across many centuries through a complex combination of the written word, drama, religious paintings, stained-glass windows, other symbolic icons, and so forth’ (Roberta Pearson) •‘Oral traditions drawn in the visual artistry of pottery and mythological narratives of Ancient Greece might be an ancient incarnation of transmedia storytelling (Derek Johnson) Historicizing the industry of transmedia storytelling •Why is transmedia a form of promotion? •Why is transmedia about branding? •Where did its production practices come from? •When did the ethos of transmedia consumerism first emerge – and how? •INDUSTRIALISATION –Mass production –Mass communication –Printing technologies –Modern advertising Transmedia Storytelling Circa 1900-1920 Transmedia Storytelling Circa 1920-1940 Transmedia Storytelling Circa 1940-1960 CONSUMER CULTURE ÓFranchising ÓMerchandising ÓLicensing MEDIA REGULATION ÓPropaganda ÓWar Films • http://www.cca.org/blog/images/oz/wizard-of-oz-1910-01.jpg http://rlv.zcache.com/the_wizard_of_oz_vintage_theatre_poster-p228642233318924746vsu7_325.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ryg61Fq6Hkc/TzBetDH9imI/AAAAAAAABGM/seVrQdKEX_w/s1600/Oz-01.jpg http://i2.argylenews.com/images/press_release_distribution_0107409_13171.gif C:\Users\Matt\Documents\Oz map.jpeg http://www.rareozbooks.com/images/1st-Lost-Princess-of-Oz.jpg BOOKS MOTION PICTURES FAIRYLOGUE TOURS COMIC STRIPS THEATRE NEWSPAPERS http://rlv.zcache.com/retro_wizard_of_oz_vintage_postcard-p239431682697621901z85wg_400.jpg http://www.halcyon.com/piglet/LFB-1915.jpg Cigarette cartons and cards http://www.adanacantiques.com/uploads/1/1/7/5/11752677/1375845750.png https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQkCMslXo_Gsk453djydaNZEbJPOMUt408ehJQHtLBHeys ScMO- http://library.duke.edu/digitalcollections/media/jpg/bnduke/med/duke_cigarette_cartons.jpg http://www.adanacantiques.com/uploads/1/1/7/5/11752677/1375845750.png The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) •‘Authors started to use maps in particular … for establishing the imaginary world as a virtual space consistent in all its details… a geography of the imagination.’ Michael Saler (2012) Printed maps as transmedia http://www.imaginaryatlas.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/ozearly.jpg http://vnmedia.ign.com/lotrovault.ign.com/fms/images/maps/5/1173850220_fullres.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ryg61Fq6Hkc/TzBetDH9imI/AAAAAAAABGM/seVrQdKEX_w/s1600/Oz-01.jpg http://i2.argylenews.com/images/press_release_distribution_0107409_13171.gif https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSA-VIV1jhOdHoe6QwNwQELQHTMbpOreksgAtom8F463mV 0_Nhy https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRqCntypS4rUG2_qiXauMM3PArvajcrQK7-zLYC8aOryv_ eZe5guw https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS-UN8BHHlotgo4ZhZYxRx95CC-ZwVBx1Z4ccm1R--rbWx T06VR https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcShg1q2EaKwYuXZOCRXFZWEveoa0VrikF3UjPk3LmyVeyo 75zhl https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSJq6ngMiiKiW36JfiVmDK2iffp0TNyLixKn5r2JLXMknw MNrjZ https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSQ01GViU3wopfVrQ_wcbd_CWcCZH4-jBfiInCic3UeCmd DQS9b http://www.timelineuniverse.net/Oz/QVMcDougallA-E1a.jpg If you can't read this, see above. http://i2.argylenews.com/images/press_release_distribution_0107409_13171.gif http://www.ozbooksstore.com/xcart/images/P/P1290269.JPG •“Certainly the comic pages expand our sense of what the characters of Oz are like … and yet Baum first thought of these comic pages purely as a way of promoting his new book.” •Peter E. Hanff, former President of The International Wizard of Oz Club The Wizard of Oz (1910) http://i.guim.co.uk/static/w-620/h--/q-95/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/7/14/1310670454604/ The-Onslaught-007.jpg http://www.cca.org/blog/images/oz/wizard-of-oz-1910-01.jpg http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/celebrity/images/Wizard/oz-giantcolorbook2.JPG https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpV29YZ7Ksw •“Mr. Baum had sought to follow the whimsical “Wizard of Oz” series with other productions along the same line, in which fairies and hob-goblins ran riot in motion pictures. The venture has Mr. Baum oppressed by the debts contracted in trying to exploit his creations and has now sought the relief of the bankruptcy courts.” •‘“Wizard of Oz” Bankrupt,’ Los Angeles Times, January 15, 1916, p.16. Transmedia as money loser? •“Promotion has almost nothing to do with developing or expanding an established narrative like the transmedia storytelling of the digital era.” David Kushner (2013) http://fransprinsdotcom1.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/banksy-streetart-london-lifestyle.jpg http://media1.fdncms.com/atlanta/imager/consumer-culture/u/magnum/6402587/boa_consumer_1final21.jpg •‘My youngest boy collects empty match boxes. The fact that they are all of the same kind makes no difference to him, but in that he shows the true spirit of the collector and of the reader. The really great purpose of fiction is, as I see it, that it is like stepping stones of entertainment. The reading of fiction motivates one’s mind to flow to its next stepping stone, just like a collector of match boxes, and, lo, a new world will be opened to him.’ •(Edgar Rice Burroughs, 1923) • Stepping stones of entertainment •By the mid-1930s, magazines were publishing articles about how to ‘use films in business’, offering tips for how motion pictures could be integrated as part of the interiors of shops so as to increase sales •‘Coolerator consumer picture’ - Husbands Are Good For Something. The film was ‘intended to close the gap between consumers being aware of our product and them becoming specifically interested in it and thus eventually sold on Coolerator advantages’ •‘A good film is known by the merchandise it sells’ • Using films in business… •A strategy of spreading a product or service beyond the confines of one manufacturer, who issues ‘the rights to manufacture products’ under management’ (Jenkins 2006) •Licensing was the logical response to the rise of consumer culture: ‘As a professional practice, licensing is linked with the development of mass culture industries and advertising agencies at the turn of the 20th century.’ (Santo, 2009) …Turn to licensing in 1918 http://www.erbzine.com/mag1/sigpuz2.jpg TARZAN – 1920s/1930s http://www.erbzine.com/mag29/pollar02.jpg http://illustratorsjournal.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/celardo-tarzan.jpg http://img.listal.com/image/513036/300full-tarzan-of-the-apes-cover.jpg http://www.pulpfest.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/allstory_tarzan.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H_2edGj3TUM/Sar2DSk_6II/AAAAAAAAATg/bDg5LyxOcyY/s400/Tarzan,+Lord+Of+The+ Jungle+1951+-+1953.jpg http://www.erbzine.com/mag1/sopg1c4.jpg Signal Tarzan Club Button NOVELSS RADIO SERIALSS MERCHANDISES PULP MAGAZINESS MOTION PICTURESS COMIC STRIPSS The ‘Burroughsian Universe’ http://www.sffaudio.com/images08/AUDIOREALMSLandThatTime500.jpg http://www.scififx.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/erb-tarzan-pulp.jpg Tarzan merchandise http://www.erbzine.com/mag1/signalpn.jpg https://img0.etsystatic.com/045/1/5382789/il_340x270.676688752_st29.jpg http://www.halloweencostumes4u.com/mm5/graphics/00000003/3665.jpg.jpg “In the face of severe social upheaval radio must serve to preserve our population … We must know and honor the same fictional heroes, love the same songs, and realize our common interests together.” - Merlyn Aylesworth, then head of NBC, 1930 The importance of radio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIoPPD0NKhA Mass consumerism, public demand and the want of ‘more’ stories “Since those simple days of twenty years ago, when I blithely gave away a fortune in rights that I did not know existed, many changes have taken place, bringing new rights with them. Today I am closing a radio contract covering the presentation of my stories over the air. What a far cry from second magazine rights.” “Perhaps in my radio contract I shall insist upon the reservation to me of the interplanetary rights. Why not? Radio rights and sound and dialog rights would have seemed as preposterous twenty years ago.” - Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Protecting the Author’s Rights,” The Writer’s 1932 Year Book & Market Guide, p.160. Tarzan incoherence? http://www.erbzine.com/mag29/pollar02.jpg http://michaelmay.us/07blog/images/0305_brix.jpg http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Weissmuller,%20Johnny/Annex/Annex%20-%20Weissmuller,%20Johnny%20( Tarzan%20Finds%20a%20Son)_11.jpg http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_LYALd8P8fXI/TLIq3ocPnNI/AAAAAAAAAAg/ErLWqDe9Bx4/s1600/star.jpg http://img.scoop.it/D_pAzdQldzhBxTxZsKbhC4XXXL4j3HpexhjNOf_P3YmryPKwJ94QGRtDb3Sbc6KY http://blog.unl.edu/dixon/files/2012/02/01_movie_posters.jpg http://1940s.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/radio-family.jpg http://www.1900s.org.uk/1940s-images/two-knob-radio.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4d/BatmanComicIssue1,1940.png U.S. 1940s Office of War Information (OWI) http://www.americainwwii.com/images/2008/uncle-sams-comics/owi-logo.jpg http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/24/57/25/5436772/3/628x471.jpg Rosie the Riveter http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/We_Can_Do_It!.jpg http://laborfilms.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/rosieriveter.jpg http://patienttalk.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/rosie-the-riveter.jpg http://goldenagecomics.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/action-comics-93-february-1946.jpg http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/e/e3/Action_Comics_51.jpg http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/e/e5/Action_Comics_7.jpg http://images.wikia.com/marvel_dc/images/7/77/Action_Comics_046.jpg •‘More Americans spend more time listening to radio programs than they spend doing anything else, except working and sleeping.’ •– William C. Ackerman, Columbia Broadcasting System, 1945 • •As of 1940, 82.8% of American families owned a radio. As of 1944, 88.9% of American families owned a radio. •As of 1945, 90% of American families owned a radio. •– Decennial Census • The Adventures of Superman http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/8b/Beckcollyerjoan.jpg/300px-Beckcollyerjoan.jpg C:\Users\Matt\Documents\Superman Radio poster.jpeg http://www.supermanhomepage.com/images/radio-audio-music/i-radio.gif http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/Images/pings/Superman-Ad-1-tb.png •‘“Superman is going over there to Germany, Italy and Japan, and he’s going to clean them up!” insisted Donenfeld, presiding genius of the Man of Steel.’ •‘I have hopes that he’ll bring Hitler and Mussolini to this country and set them down in New York’s East Side. He’ll sweep the world for democracy!’ • •– Harry Donenfeld, quoted in “The Laugh’s on You and Me,” The Washington Post, October 22, 1940, p. 19. • http://www.comicbookmovie.com/images/users/uploads/15871/Perry-White-771377.jpg http://supermanica.kinlok.nu/wiki/images/b/b3/Perry_White.jpg http://blogintomystery.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/spjo75e.jpg http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/design/files/2013/06/first-daily-planet1.jpg http://images.moviepostershop.com/i-wanted-wings-movie-poster-1941-1020143616.jpg http://brookfieldfilmsociety.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/desperate-journey-original.jpg Superman (Paramount, 1941-1943) http://thecomicscode.weebly.com/uploads/2/6/1/5/2615983/2575587.jpg http://whatculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/7-500x250.jpg http://trueclassics.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/superman-fleischer-brothers2.png?w=700 http://es.globedia.com/imagenes/noticias/2012/2/11/letras-vinetas-superman-fleischer-studios_3_1088 530.jpg http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11/118094/2816075-17.jpg http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/science/assets_c/2013/06/kryptonite-nofly-thumb-570x258 -124735.jpg http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/images/reviews/177/1239269576_6.jpg Superman in comic books Superman in cinema https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjdnCC6n4xk •‘A hero that can fly elicits a stronger sense of power, pride, and protective reassurance.’ • •– The Office of War Information on Superman editorial • •‘Parents who haven’t been keeping up with Superman may not be aware of the high moral tone pervading his exploits, or aware that a serious-minded government committee, led by the OWI including educators and psychologists, instruct on editorial policy.’ • •– Catherine Mackenzie, “Movies – and Superman,” •The New York Times, October 12, 1942, p.22. •‘[…] market tie-ups’ […] Superman’s radio serial opens up an opportunity for theatres playing Superman shorts, who can try for promo announcements at breakdown time.’ • •– “Planet? Radio Wave? No – It’s Superman!,” Variety, June 24, 1942, p.12. • •‘Superman’s popular cartoon stories will be used in connection with the radio program as well as with the mags and newspaper features.’ • •– “Inside Stuff – Radio,” Variety, February 24, 1943, p.30. • • Like The Dark Knight Rises (2012)? http://www.perpetualgeekmachine.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/The-Dark-Knight-Rises-2012-3.jpg http://b.vimeocdn.com/ts/355/105/355105089_640.jpg http://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/dark-knight-rises-viral-gotham-observer.jpg What to take away from today… •Transmedia storytelling is not necessarily dependent on contemporary convergences •Instead, transmedia is a product of mass industrialization and consumer culture •Transmedia is about crossing borders, but it also needs strong industrial regulation •Transmedia’s history suggests that it has a clear socio-political function… more to come!! What’s coming up…? •Lecture 4: •‘Transmedia Histories Part 2: Brand Hollywood’ • •Screening: •The Greatest Movie Ever Sold (2011)