Crossmedia
Encyclopedia
Cross Media is a media property, service, story or experience distributed across media platforms using a variety of media forms. It refers to the journey or linkages across devices and through forms and is most evident in branded entertainment, advertising, games and quest based forms such as Alternate Reality Game
s where there are a range of dependencies between the media placed across devices and fragments there-of. There are potentially four main categories or levels of cross-media:
A good simple example of this is the world first Forget The Rules
which was a weekly short form drama delivered simultaneously on TV, Broadband Web and 3G mobile.
. It could be a flash game strongly based on a radio drama or a book back story delivered through posters in train stations. The most obvious incarnation is the ubiquitous 'making of' feature that may be delivered only via video web portals.
A good recent example is the various transformations of a property called Thursday's fictions. This started as a stage production, was published as a book, then was turned into a surreal dance film, and more recently had a Second Life presence created for it. Each version played to the strengths of each platform but none were dependent on each other contextually or from a user journey perspective.[1]
A very strong example of this is the 30 second Mitsubishi Super Bowl XXXVIII
TV ad which showed objects being thrown out of a truck in front of two trailing race cars, an accident avoidance test. It paused on a cliff-hanging moment (as two cars were thrown out) and invited the audience to go to SeeWhatHappens.com. Millions did.
s are a key part of the mix in driving the inhabitants of the 'experience' across devices or around the narrative fragments (whether advertorial, entertainment or dramatic). Although likely to be heavily authored the cross-media triggers and invitations are part of the experience in terms of the audience creating their own bridges. The best examples of this are Alternate Reality Game
s and it incorporates elements of the first three levels but is likely to be dynamic in that producers will have to be constantly bridge building in response to where audiences are travelling.
in which the storyline will invite the receiver to cross-over from one medium
to the next. Making it possible to transform from one-dimensional communication (sender -> receiver(s)) to multi-dimensional communication (sender(s) <-> receiver(s)). Good crossmedia communication will enhance the value of communication: The level and depth of (message) involvement will be more personal and therefore more relevant and powerful. Advantages can be:
1. Financial
profits
can be gained through equal or decreasing costs for the same or better communication effects with single medium communication. It is possible to shift costs for communicating from the sender to the receiver if the story is attractive enough for the receiver to want to interact with it.
2. Deepening relations between story (teller) and "receivers" on several levels of communication
Examples are: Pop Idol, Big Brother, Popstars the Rivals
Some context to the "crossmedia field"
The shifting balance in the powers between sender - medium - receiver, makes for communication to start crossing over from:
- Only senders (Formerly Known As MassMedia) sending out communication to 'receivers' (Formerly Known As Audience) reacting to, interacting with, participating in and co-creating with the information (story) presented to receivers. Receivers become senders, senders become receivers.
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
s where there are a range of dependencies between the media placed across devices and fragments there-of. There are potentially four main categories or levels of cross-media:
Cross-media 1.0 – Pushed.
The same or minor variations of content placed or pushed onto different platforms in different forms. E.g.: A minor re-edit of the audio from a TV programme for a podcast or a script adapted for a website and in its simplest form exactly the same content delivered on multiple platforms such as mobile, TV and broadband web. The user in this case could create their own cross-media linkages by watching half of the episode on mobile and the rest on broadband. This level does not have strong cross-media triggers but may promote the same content on another platform.A good simple example of this is the world first Forget The Rules
Forget The Rules
Forget the Rules is an Australian short form episodic comedy drama cited by many as the first scripted drama in the world to simultaneously broadcast over broadband, mobile phones and TV. It is a good example of the push model of Crossmedia...
which was a weekly short form drama delivered simultaneously on TV, Broadband Web and 3G mobile.
Cross-media 2.0 – Extras.
This is content produced alongside a main production and delivered on different platforms from the main production. This 'extra' cross-media content is naturally different from the main property and not necessarily dependent on it - temporally or editorially. For example it could be a mobile video-captured behind the scenes of a feature film, destined and delivered in segments on the mobile phoneMobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
. It could be a flash game strongly based on a radio drama or a book back story delivered through posters in train stations. The most obvious incarnation is the ubiquitous 'making of' feature that may be delivered only via video web portals.
A good recent example is the various transformations of a property called Thursday's fictions. This started as a stage production, was published as a book, then was turned into a surreal dance film, and more recently had a Second Life presence created for it. Each version played to the strengths of each platform but none were dependent on each other contextually or from a user journey perspective.[1]
Cross-media 3.0 – Bridges.
The truest form of cross-media where the story or service structure is specifically authored to drive the audience using strong Call-To-Actions, across media devices to continue the journey. The content placed on the other platform is critical to staying in touch with the experience and the narrative bridges tease you towards investigating or moving to another media form/platform. Obvious examples include a TV show that ends suddenly and gives you a URL to explore more. It may be an SMS that teases and points you towards a live concert in a city square which then leads you to a TV show, then to a podcast then to subscription emails. The trigger, or bridge, is the critical component of this in motivating the cross-media action.A very strong example of this is the 30 second Mitsubishi Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII
Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game played on February 1, 2004 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas to decide the National Football League champion following the 2003 regular season....
TV ad which showed objects being thrown out of a truck in front of two trailing race cars, an accident avoidance test. It paused on a cliff-hanging moment (as two cars were thrown out) and invited the audience to go to SeeWhatHappens.com. Millions did.
Cross-media 4.0 – Experiences. (transmedia)
An aggregation of the first three levels this is also where the content is distributed across many platforms in a non-linear way and is producer ‘hands-off’- in that they have created an environment, much like a game, that the participant/s ‘lives’ inside of, following their own path and therefore personalizing the experience. A cross-media 4.0 property is co-creative, collaborative play with the audience across many devices, which evolves and grows a life of its own. Story EnvironmentStory environment
A story environment is a physical, adaptive, augmented 3D reality or virtual space that can become host to narratives. Distinct from a story world, these environments can be in close proximity and even overlapping, and may have quite different narrative themes...
s are a key part of the mix in driving the inhabitants of the 'experience' across devices or around the narrative fragments (whether advertorial, entertainment or dramatic). Although likely to be heavily authored the cross-media triggers and invitations are part of the experience in terms of the audience creating their own bridges. The best examples of this are Alternate Reality Game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
s and it incorporates elements of the first three levels but is likely to be dynamic in that producers will have to be constantly bridge building in response to where audiences are travelling.
Crossmedia communication
Crossmedia communication is communicationCommunication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
in which the storyline will invite the receiver to cross-over from one medium
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
to the next. Making it possible to transform from one-dimensional communication (sender -> receiver(s)) to multi-dimensional communication (sender(s) <-> receiver(s)). Good crossmedia communication will enhance the value of communication: The level and depth of (message) involvement will be more personal and therefore more relevant and powerful. Advantages can be:
1. Financial
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
profits
Profit (accounting)
In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...
can be gained through equal or decreasing costs for the same or better communication effects with single medium communication. It is possible to shift costs for communicating from the sender to the receiver if the story is attractive enough for the receiver to want to interact with it.
2. Deepening relations between story (teller) and "receivers" on several levels of communication
Examples are: Pop Idol, Big Brother, Popstars the Rivals
Some context to the "crossmedia field"
The shifting balance in the powers between sender - medium - receiver, makes for communication to start crossing over from:
- Only senders (Formerly Known As MassMedia) sending out communication to 'receivers' (Formerly Known As Audience) reacting to, interacting with, participating in and co-creating with the information (story) presented to receivers. Receivers become senders, senders become receivers.
Further reading
- Signer, Beat: Fundamental Concepts for Interactive Paper and Cross-Media Information Spaces, May 2008, Hardcover, 276 pages, ISBN 3837027139 (10), ISBN 978-3-8370-2713-6 (13)
- Wedia White Paper www.wedia.fr
External links
- Crossmedia Communication
- http://www.axmedis.org/ cross-media content production and protection, see AxmedisAxmedisAXMEDIS was initially created as a research project partially supported by the European Commission under the Information Society Technologies programme of the Sixth Framework Programme . It stands for "Automating Production of Cross Media Content for Multi-channel Distribution". Now it is under...
] - http://xmf.axmedis.orgCross Media Finder Portal by using AxmedisAxmedisAXMEDIS was initially created as a research project partially supported by the European Commission under the Information Society Technologies programme of the Sixth Framework Programme . It stands for "Automating Production of Cross Media Content for Multi-channel Distribution". Now it is under...
open model and tools] - Crossmedialog (Dutch)
- Crossmedia Experience Learning Laboratory (research group)
- Cross-Media Entertainment
- PICNIC 06 - Cross Media Week
- Reynolds DeWalt Cross-Media Blogs
- Cross Media Development Lab Australia
- 1st Intl. Cross Media Interaction Design Conference
- TSS Cross Media Group
- 4Dconcept XMS - Cross Media CMS
- Evado - Cross Media CMS
- Wedia XMS - Cross Media CMS
- Tristit - Cross Media
- MXM:MediaCrossMedia - Cross Media Conference Series