About
Jeff Watson is an artist, designer, and Assistant Professor of Interactive Media and Games at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts.
-
Tag Archives: transmedia
Talking story with Jan Libby
Knowing that Jan Libby is a prolific and talented indie ARG designer, I asked her if she would be interested in doing a short interview about how she plans and evolves her games — and about the important role of story in the future of ARGs. We exchanged a few emails, and Jan sent me these responses — along with some great behind-the-scenes images from her upcoming indie storyworld, 36nine… Continue reading
Posted in Interviews
Tagged arg, jan libby, story worlds, storytelling, transmedia
Comments Off on Talking story with Jan Libby
Building a vast world with an indie board game: an interview with James Taylor
In this brief interview, I ask game designer James Taylor a few questions about how his latest board game engages players in consuming and producing story both within and beyond the boundaries of the magic circle. Continue reading
Masquerades disclose the reality of souls
A moving and deeply personal description of a very literary kind of transmedia storytelling can be found in the Readings section of this month’s Harper’s Magazine. Portuguese writer Fernando Pessoa “[wrote] and published in the guise of seventy-two different pseudonymous … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged fernando pessoa, masks, pseudonyms, transmedia
Comments Off on Masquerades disclose the reality of souls
Transmedia and Education: Three Essential Readings
Henry Jenkins’ New Media Literacies class has been a treasure-trove of readings and insights. Three recent articles covered in class struck me as particularly essential for anyone who’s looking to build an understanding of what multimodal communication is and how transmedia relates to education, literacy and literature. Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged david buckingham, education, gunther kress, imap, julian sefton-green, mimi ito, pokemon, transmedia, yugioh
Comments Off on Transmedia and Education: Three Essential Readings
David Bordwell on Transmedia Storytelling
Film scholar David Bordwell posts a terrific summary of multiplatform or transmedia storytelling, covering everything from key precedents in cinema and theory to the hope many of us have for the form to reach higher and do more: Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged david bordwell, future cinema, transmedia
Comments Off on David Bordwell on Transmedia Storytelling
Blueful
Hypertext/IF author Aaron Reed’s latest work, “Blueful,” uses a variety of web 2.0 services to communicate a narrative. Telling stories in this manner is something that I expect will gain popularity and sophistication in the next couple of years, especially … Continue reading
Posted in Blog
Tagged aaron reed, arg, blueful, chaotic fiction, interactive fiction, transmedia
Comments Off on Blueful
Transmedia Storytelling and Alternate Reality Games
I prepared this presentation as a primer for non-specialist audiences on the subject of Alternate Reality Games. Includes brief survey of prior art, diagrams illustrating the nature of networked fictions, and references to key scholars/innovators. Continue reading
Posted in Presentations
Tagged arg, ctin-511, imap, storytelling, talks, transmedia
Comments Off on Transmedia Storytelling and Alternate Reality Games
Transmedia Storytelling 101
Henry Jenkins, head of the Comparative Media Studies program at MIT and founding member of the Convergence Culture Consortium, has shared an excellent list of 10 key concepts in the theory and practice of transmedia storytelling. This is a great … Continue reading