Layering engagement: the temporal dynamics of transmedia television

The last fifteen years have seen dramatic changes in the UK within both the television industry and televisual storytelling techniques. Rapid technological changes have not only increased the variety of screen devices, they have also changed the boundaries of the industry itself as the internet opened up distribution avenues and alternatives for viewer attention in the form of social media. The traditional pillars of the UK television industry, the major broadcasters and content providers such as the BBC and ITV, have responded to these changes by expanding their focus away from the television set and onto newer, more portable screen devices. This shift has had consequences both for the kinds of narratives emerging from television and the experiences that such narratives craft for their audiences. Increasingly, transmedia storytelling (Jenkins, 2006) techniques are becoming ‘quotidian’ (Grainge and Johnson, 2015), part of television programming’s standard repertoire of narrative techniques. This article examines the relationship between industry strategy and transmedia storytelling techniques. By considering how television studies can look to its own past and re-appropriate foundational models to understand these strategies, this article examines how the changes to television’s narratives exist in a context of both change and continuity

'We're all a bunch of nutters!': the production dynamics of Alternate reality games

Alternate reality games (ARGs) combine transmedia and pervasive storytelling, layering fictional narratives onto real world spaces and raising a number of production challenges in the process. This article will consider the key professional skills, working attitudes, and relationships that sit behind ARGs’ complex narratives by focusing on a case study example, Nottingham-based The Malthusian Paradox (TMP). It will focus on how flexibility and trust were manifested throughout TMP’s production process and shaped the dynamics of the production team. In doing so, the article will argue that emerging transmedia narrative forms that exploit the potential of digital technologies are reshaping working practices within the creative industries and requiring practitioners to evolve and revaluate their roles within the creative process

Layering engagement: the temporal dynamics of transmedia television

The last fifteen years have seen dramatic changes in the UK within both the television industry and televisual storytelling techniques. Rapid technological changes have not only increased the variety of screen devices, they have also changed the boundaries of the industry itself as the internet opened up distribution avenues and alternatives for viewer attention in the form of social media. The traditional pillars of the UK television industry, the major broadcasters and content providers such as the BBC and ITV, have responded to these changes by expanding their focus away from the television set and onto newer, more portable screen devices. This shift has had consequences both for the kinds of narratives emerging from television and the experiences that such narratives craft for their audiences. Increasingly, transmedia storytelling (Jenkins, 2006) techniques are becoming ‘quotidian’ (Grainge and Johnson, 2015), part of television programming’s standard repertoire of narrative techniques. This article examines the relationship between industry strategy and transmedia storytelling techniques. By considering how television studies can look to its own past and re-appropriate foundational models to understand these strategies, this article examines how the changes to television’s narratives exist in a context of both change and continuity

'We're all a bunch of nutters!': the production dynamics of Alternate reality games

Alternate reality games (ARGs) combine transmedia and pervasive storytelling, layering fictional narratives onto real world spaces and raising a number of production challenges in the process. This article will consider the key professional skills, working attitudes, and relationships that sit behind ARGs’ complex narratives by focusing on a case study example, Nottingham-based The Malthusian Paradox (TMP). It will focus on how flexibility and trust were manifested throughout TMP’s production process and shaped the dynamics of the production team. In doing so, the article will argue that emerging transmedia narrative forms that exploit the potential of digital technologies are reshaping working practices within the creative industries and requiring practitioners to evolve and revaluate their roles within the creative process

Intersectionality as Feminist Praxis in the UK

Intersectionality has had a profound impact on feminist theory and activism: it has created a new set of discursive structures for analysing power and been translated into activist strategies. However, its acceptance within the women's movement differs by context. In the UK it has been relatively controversial: the left fear its impact on the possibilities of solidarity, whilst the right are concerned it detracts from gender as the principle site of analysis. These differences of approach have, to some extent, revealed fissures within UK feminism. Conversely, this article draws upon original survey data to argue that intersectionality underpins student feminist activism in the UK, in particular influencing: their activities; their discursive approach to inclusion; and their ongoing commitment to theory application. In sum, there has been a normalisation of the intersectional framework amongst student feminist activists

Political Intersectionality and Disability Activism: Approaching and Understanding Unity and Difference

Social movement scholars have increasingly examined how political intersectionality helps reveal and explain whose issues and interests are marginalised or privileged within particular activist spaces and discourses. Hitherto, much of the intersectional analysis into social movements has interrogated questions of sameness, difference and power in relation to feminist, anti-racist and queer organising; this article builds upon our knowledge of social movements and intersectionality by exploring the perceptions and experiences of disability activists in the UK. The research draws upon 24 semi-structured interviews undertaken with disability rights activists, finding that a traditional emphasis on unity means that those who are multiply marginalised still experience a silencing of issues and interests of importance to them; moreover, while there is a recognition of difference, this is principally understood in relation to impairment or social class. Simultaneously, the research finds evidence of an increasing tendency amongst disability activists in the UK to engage with intersectionality, both in how they understand disability but also in terms of how they organise

Disability and Intersectionality: Patterns of Ableism in the Women’s Movement

Intersectional analysis, amongst both scholars and social movement activists, has historically focussed on gender, race and class, this has meant that other axes of oppression, such as disability, have remained relatively marginalised (Erevelles 2011). This chapter explores the extent to which disabled women and disability-related issues and interests are included within the UK women’s movement. The empirical research draws upon analysis of two large women’s civil organizations, and a women’s disability collective. The study finds that although the wider women’s movement is making steps towards including disabled women and addressing disability-related issues, including via calls for a pedagogy of intersectionality, disabled women themselves do not feel included; indeed, they perceive the wider movement to be ableist and infused with able-bodied and able-minded privilege. The chapter argues that a politics that challenges ableism is required in order to address the marginalisation of disabled women

Synesthesia: Does It Have an Effect on Memory?

Synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon involving an inducer (a stimulus) and a concurrent (elicited response). For many years, scientists have striven to explain synesthesia and whether or not there are benefits to the people who experience it. In this study, nineteen participants were asked to complete a questionnaire in an attempt to see if their synesthetic experiences gave them advantages in the area of memory. The seven questions were given in a multiple-choice or text entry format, and the questionnaire was approved by The University of Southern Mississippi’s IRB before being sent out in an electronic format. The majority of the participants reported that their synesthesia did have an effect on their memory; however, they did not believe the effect to be advantageous. Those who felt their synesthesia was an advantage largely reported that their memory recall was improved because of their synesthetic abilities. Because the majority of the participants do not feel their memory is positively impacted, the results of the study do not support the researcher’s hypothesis that synesthesia improves memory abilities. More research will need to be done in the future in order to make more conclusive results using a larger experimental population. Research into the advantages of synesthesia is ongoing