Susan Taylor Chehak  introduced Transmedia Storytelling during the Iowa Summer Writing Festival’s Eleventh Hour series. She prefaced her presentation with general comments:

• We have stories in our DNA
• Stories organize the events of our lives
• We fabricate stories according to our world view

To my mind, though, she may have slipped off the cliff with statements like:

• Storytelling gives meaning to the world
• Stories are mental imprints that mold perceptions ( I think she means that literally)

Some definitions

Multimedia – A single story told using multiple forms of media (print, audio, visual)

Crossmedia – A single story told differently through different media (think of the treatment of Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz in the Disney movie, Oz, the Great and Powerful.)

Transmedia – Multiple stories set in a story world with different stories being told by different media. Here, the audience is immersed in a fictional world, an independent reality populated with live human beings. The platform for these stories comprises interactive websites, video games, music, and more.

“The media user feels empowered to take action and get a sensible response,” Chehak said. A benign example would be choosing the path a story takes and deciding on how it ends.

The equation looks like this:

Feeling  (becomes) experience (that prompts) action (that leads to)  transformation

The transformative experience is based on the premise that your mind knows the difference between direct experience and an experience you read (because your mind is connected to your body) but your brain does not. Perceptions can be manipulated.

“This is how fiction saves the world,” Chehak said.

To quote Dorothy, “Oh my!”

The goal is deep engagement with a fictional world, one that consumes our attention. Lines blur between fiction and reality (Think War of the Worlds) she says, and between truth and deception, I say. (The War of the Worlds broadcast was the first straw that broke the trust people had in news reporting.)

The purpose is art, not commerce, Chehak says. Transmedia artists create worlds with standalone components and invite collaboration to see what people will do with it. The creator has no responsibility for the outcome, which she admits can range from engagement in an amusing activity to addiction and cynicism.

Chehak’s project is In Hollow Hill, a town where children go missing and rumors abound over their fate. Stumble across the site (when it’s more developed) and you might believe you have found the answer to what happened to your baby sister who disappeared twenty years ago. Of course, we are all more cynical now. We don’t believe what we see on the internet, do we?

I see great potential in the creative and collaborative aspects of transmedia storytelling. Some of the theory behind it I find chilling. There are  many good conversations we can have about this new playground.

• What are some of the effects of confusing art with entertainment?
• Who bears the responsibility of promoting addictive behavior in a society that cannot protect its most fragile people?