The final contribution is Bolton Storyworld by Anna Zaluczkowska, an innovative transmedia experience that was developed in collaboration with staff and students at University of Bolton. The research objective was to explore the teaching of transmedia storytelling by creating three prototypes across multiple platforms, including Facebook, a geo-located website, email, text messages, an online game and live student event. What is interesting about this research is the way in which it outlines the collaborative process, drawing on Jenkins and Millard to explore contemporary screen writing practice that recognises the storyworld, as opposed to plot and character, as increasingly central in the digital age. The submission includes links to an article, a podcast and the storyworld ‘bible’ which was used to anchor the storyworld across its various platforms

Zaluczkowska, A

Leeds Beckett Repository

Submission Form Contributor’s name:	Anna Zaluczkowska on behalf of Bolton StoryworldSubmission title:	Bolton Storyworld – towards a Screenplay/Prototype for a Transmedia ProductionVimeo URL: 	https://vimeo.com/89302977 (​https:​/​​/​vimeo.com​/​89302977​)Vimeo Password:	Top of FormCriteriaWhat criteria would you suggest that reviewers use in order to assess the research (these might most easily be derived from the initial research questions)? Is this work an effective screenplay/prototype/proof of concept for a transmedia series?Viewing ConditionsPlease indicate if there are any specific viewing conditions you would like the work to be seen in i.e. screen resolution, size of image, etc., etc.:The play out of the first series of Bolton Storyworld can be experienced through the webpage.The video material is an overview of the process of production and the different aspects of production that make up the prototype.The podcast describes some of our research practices.Review ResponsesReview responses are likely to fall into the following categories :Accept work and statement for DVD and web publication.Accept work but require revsion of statement.Invite resubmission with re edit of work and/or statement.Reject both work and statement.Formative and Summative ResponsesClearly the question of re-editing finished work for many researchers will not be possible – e.g. where film prints have been struck or online edits locked off. However in some cases researchers may want formative peer review at ‘rough cut stage’. In the case of e.g. smaller scale digital productions it may be possible to re-edit the work in order to resubmit. Please tick (or underline) whether you would like a formative  or  summative response.Bottom of FormTop of FormSupporting Research Statement(Expand text boxes as necessary, but limit yourself to a maximum of 2000 words long)Research QuestionsBe as specific as you can in articulating what were trying to achieve.What were your starting points?How do these questions relate to the field as a whole?Bolton Storyworld is an online entertainment media environment that has been created and developed by students and tutors at the university of Bolton in association with Bellyfeel, a transmedia company based in Manchester.  Our aim was to produce a trial of the work, a blueprint for a more extensive production, a concept that has been referred to by Kathryn Millard (2011) as a ‘prototype’.  In creating this script/prototype we were trying to find a form or a methodology that would be appropriate for the construction of a transmedia work. The story told in Bolton Storyworld, in the interactive sequenced delivery, is similar to the X Files but instead of the FBI being in the know it is a bunch of university students who are less well equipped and informed.  The drama centres on four students, Lizzie, SpOOn, Derek and Annabel, who all attend the University of Bolton. The series follows the everyday lives of these students as they make their way through the academic year and experience testing and life-changing experiences. Of course, all is not as it seems at the University of Bolton, and the four students call on the audience’s help to uncover and investigate a series of unusual happenings. You can see all the story material for the project in the link to the story ‘bible’ (The concept of a narrative ‘bible’ in the United Kingdom refers to a document that contains all of the information on the story’s characters and settings and can include storylines relating to the programme).There are many reasons why we wanted to set up this project and these have been detailed in an article (Zaluczkowska, A & Robinson, L 2012: 257) many of which are to do with investigating and teaching the transmedia form.  However we also wanted to study how effective it would be to mix fictional stories and real events and real life stories in order to create more immersive experiences for audiences.We created 3 different prototypes that involved the creation of a diorama model of the story characters on show at the university, a geo-locative website, a Facebook page with character interactions and competitions, a live student event, an online game, and an interactive sequence delivery of series 1 of the story via email and text message. We have tried to show the extent of these prototypes in our video submission but also to detail some of the processes that took place in its construction via the podcast.Our research started by asking how we could construct a script for this new transmedia endeavour.  Our approach was to work in a writer’s group (more the American model then the British model) for a period of time to build story.  This writer’s group was made up of producers, directors and key production staff as well as writers.  Together we created a series ‘bible’ for the project in much the same way as TV writers create ‘bibles’ when working in teams on long running series.  In addition we also later created product – little snippets of visual and sonic information that would be needed to tell our stories. The real challenge then became how we would feed out this information so that it engaged audiences, building character, plot and theme.  We engaged in scheduling exercises and flow charts to try and get to grips with this practice but such scheduling only gave a rough guide to the story structure and did not help us understand how to effectively fragment the narrative. What we did discover was that it was useful to break down the story into short manageable pieces.  We started by using Facebook to test out our ideas.  Would anyone believe in these people?  It appeared they would and so we set about placing characters at events within the university (a party or a fund raising event) so that people could begin to get to know them, think that they knew them or had come across them.  We also created competitions that the characters entered material for so that students could see their work.  Finally when we had built up enough momentum we made a story event (someone disappeared in suspicious circumstances) and so started the drama. Thereafter we created visual material that would tell the story of this event.  All of this was then scheduled together for a trial delivery.  The first result was something of a mess if we are to be honest.  Many of the students were worried about being associated with a project that seemed to be very disjointed and as a result didn’t develop their involvement.  Those remaining persisted and analysed the outcomes and processes and set about finding additional ways to develop the project. Much of the original material was remixed and re edited in this version although some new material was also added.  The next iteration was much more story focused.  We made Sp00n the leading character and had the story run from her perspective.  Here we were falling back on tried and tested film and TV story structures and character arcs.  We started at the call to action and worked back to reveal the mystery and then sought audience help to solve that mystery.  This structure, although more coherent and story focused, didn’t engage audiences in the same way.  Further analysis through interviews and audience studies suggested that what was missing was the more participative elements of the previous iteration. This in turn led us to a 3rd version where the gaming mechanism and story structure where better inter-related. What resulted (and what you can see in the submitted work) was restructured, re written and worked more effectively.  We discovered that a gaming element central to the main character’s story helped engage audiences and drive the story from Sp00n’s POV. This strong drive left us room to be able to introduce tangential material that participants could either discover or ignore. A more tightly controlled editorial practice produced work with higher production values.  Taking a number of the production responsibilities outside of the university and housing them within Bellyfeel who acted as the showrunner for the project better facilitated these activities.  We were able to hire students to work for this production company.  It's a sad fact but working within the university isn’t seen by students to represent a professional environment.The resulting material was much more akin to a prototype development rather than a screenplay although both can be considered as a blue print for the production. Scharge suggests ‘Prototypes tend to be physical models of a product’ (2000:7) and our taster is really a physical manifestation of part of the product that was designed as much for collaborators and participants in the development process as it was for the small audiences that we attracted.  We followed established design practices as suggested by Donald Norman in The Design of Everyday Things and altered our work as a result of feedback to ensure that players could understand the navigation of our stories and that all story actions had immediate results for audiences.  We introduced some constraints so that audiences didn’t become frustrated by following any wrong paths. But we also wanted to give control to the user by letting them decide where to put their focus.  Laurel, B (2013, 33) argues that human–computer interfaces and activities are about ‘creating imaginary worlds that have a special relationship to reality – worlds in which we can extend, amplify and enrich our capacities to think, feel and act’.  This was at the heart of our intentions. We were interested in discovering new design practices for the interactive medium as part of investigations into the storytelling practices of the transmedia form. ‘A transmedia story – unfolds across multiple platforms, with each text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole’ (Jenkins 2003). Our work closely followed that of Janet Murray (2012) who investigates the affordances of digital media in an evolving medium.  From the very start of our project we were keen to ensure the project used all the aspects of digital media – those that are afforded by the computer, so we built in opportunities for maps and navigation, for archives and information, for games and controls and for activities that offer participation.  We wanted to use the medium to its full.  In so doing we are contributing to what Murray describes as ‘Inventing the Medium’ and finding new and useful design processes and practices for the medium that utilise the spatial, encyclopaedic, procedural and participative affordances of the computer.  While this was a useful starting point in the end we revised and altered our practices so that we were only using those techniques that we considered to be most effective.  The other wider work that was carried out was not wasteful or wasted as we were able to use much of it to provide context and background in our world building so that our storyworld became convincing. The concept of a storyworld is central to the idea of transmedia production as Jenkins suggests ‘When I first started, (in the business) you would pitch a story because without a good story, you didn’t really have a film. Later once sequels started to take off, you pitched a character because a good character could support multiple stories. And now you pitch a world because a world can support multiple characters and multiple stories across multiple media. ‘(Anonymous screenwriter, quoted in Jenkins 2006: 57)ContextWhat work already exists in the relevant fields of practice?How do you expect to be able to advance on work that already exists?How does this work fit into your own personal research trajectory?Is it part of a body of work?  Please include a bibliography / filmography at the end.Millard (2011: 148 - 150) describes many film and TV projects where prototypes of different types have been used to sell or raise funding for an idea.  They include mapping ideas, creating proof of concept videos, presenting the story in different forms such a comic books and the digital video prototype made for Time in the City (2008) by Terence Davies and Liza Ryan Carter.  In much the same way and working with Liza Ryan Carter we have written work, revised it, filmed it, edited it and re edited in a process of discovery until we arrived at something that we could be happy with and could form the basis of a complete project.  Dominic Mitchell has suggested that in his series In The Flesh (2012) he often designed aspects of his series, such as a leaflet on the effects of medication for Zombies, as part of his writing work to give a fuller picture of the world of the series.  We have gone much further with this approach and designed a whole range of objects and events that have built our world, enough to sustain a longer running version of the idea. Murray suggests that many of the conventions associated with older media have been disrupted leaving us confused about which conventions to employ.  Our work in devising this prototype is a contribution to the designer’s task – ‘It is the designer’s task to work at all three levels of media making – inscription, transmission, and especially representation – to accelerate the collective project of inventing a new medium by creating and refining the conventions that will bring coherence to new artefacts and enhance their expressive power’ (Murray2012:15). The design and processes inherent in our prototype are an attempt to contribute to the invention of the interactive transmedia form.  In creating Bolton Storyworld we have been looking at portraying the student experience in a novel way, asking for student feedback in helping develop the story and its content and analysing the meaning created from this endeavour. However we had all imagined something much more interactive would result from this project. The prototype offers participation but that participation is controlled and dictated by the various authors involved.The work on Bolton Storyworld has been highly collaborative in nature and has been carried out by hundreds of students, many members of staff and experts and professionals from various industry settings.  It’s not the work of one person but it fits into my area of study and has helped develop my own PhD project that aims to produce a new and unique transmedia fiction script set in Northern Ireland with the help of potential audiences. My work moves the lessons of Bolton Storyworld  further to investigate what I call ‘Negotiated Narratives’.  Red Branch Heroes works with audiences to select a new hero for Northern Ireland through a game like construction based in a fictitious reality TV setting to build and test characters and storylines. Improvisation, gaming and performance are used to create an audience feedback loop central to its operation resonating with Laurel’s (2013) arguments for an emotional and theatrical connection to the computer.  The resulting production is ephemeral and performative utilising experimental and participatory theatrical techniques to create a relationship between author and audience. I would argue that the development of this complex narrative can more effectively mirror the complicated political situation in Northern Ireland – a project where form and subject are explored and work in productive and synergistic harmony.Jenkins, H (2003) ‘Interactive Audiences? The “collective intelligence” of media fans’, http://web.mit.edu/cms/People/henry3/collective%20intelligence.html (​http:​/​​/​web.mit.edu​/​cms​/​People​/​henry3​/​collective%20intelligence.html​) Accessed 7th March 2014 Jenkins, H (2009) ConvergenceLaurel, B (2013) Computers as Theatre 2nd edition, USA Addison WesleyMurray, J (2012) Inventing the Medium, Camb Massachusetts: MIT PressNelmes, J ed(2011) Analysing The Screenplay – The screenplay as Prototype, London: RoutledgeNorman, D (2013) The design of Everyday Things revised edition, USA: MIT PressSchrage, M (2000) Serious Play: How the World’s Best Companies Simulate to Innovate, Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School PressZaluczkowska, A and Robinson L (2013) Bolton Storyworld – you make the story. Assessing a transmedia narrative/work in progress’ Journal of Media Practice 14.4 pp 257 - 277MethodsWhich disciplinary fields do your methods derive from (e.g. Fine Art, Graphics, Industrial TV production, Video art, Experience Design etc., etc.)?DesignFilm Television practicesVideo ArtGamesGraphicsHumanitiesOutcomesWhat might other practitioners in the field learn from the work? How to design effective transmedia workHow to create prototypes for larger programme ideasHow to maximise immersion How to involve audiences in devising workHow to work effectively on projects with studentsImpactWas the work funded? Where has the work been shown?  Was this in competition?  Has it been recognised through curatorial selection, distribution, festival exhibition, prizes or awards?  Are there any reviews?What other dissemination has there been (e.g. conference presentations, website documentation, etc.)?The work has been funded by HEIF funding with the intention that knowledge sharing be at the centre of the practice.The work has been given 3 trials at the University of BoltonThe work was redesigned once again for a further trial before being shown to audiences and submitted to competition.The work has been shortlisted for a Learning on Screen Award 2016The work has been presented at a number of conferences –Digital Mix 03 Bath Spa University 2015BFI conference, London 2015 CEMP Conference, Prague 2014Salford Media Festival 2013Salford Media conference 2013University of Bolton R & I Conference 2012Creative Hive, University of Salford 2012The following articles have been published Zaluczkowska, A and Coles, J. (2015) ‘Let me tell you a story – teaching transmedia in HE’, The Media Education Research Journal, 6. 1. Zaluczkowska, A. and Robinson, L. (2013), ‘Bolton Storyworld – You make the story? Assessing a transmedia narrative/work in progress’, Journal of Media Practice, 14: 4, pp. 257-277, doi: 10.1386/jmpr.14.4.257_1 Additional Information: - Supporting Material. Podcast Link (20 Min Interview Further Describing Bolton Storyworld): http://www.boltonstoryworld.com/podcast/Anna_Zaluczkowska_BoltonStoryworld_Podcast_2014.mp3 (​http:​/​​/​www.boltonstoryworld.com​/​podcast​/​Anna_Zaluczkowska_BoltonStoryworld_Podcast_2014.mp3​)Link to BSW website: www.boltonstoryworld.com (​http:​/​​/​www.boltonstoryworld.com​/​​) Link to Storyworld bible:  https://sites.google.com/site/bswdefinitive/ (​https:​/​​/​sites.google.com​/​site​/​bswdefinitive​/​​)Bottom of FormBottom of FormSubmission Check list:I’ve uploaded my screenwork / video documentation onto VimeoI’ve included the URLI’ve included the password (where necessary)I’ve completed all sections of the supporting statementI’ve saved this document as lastname_statement.docPlease save your statement as a word document with the following title structure:lastname_statement.doc and return by email to: screenworks@jmpscreenworks.com (​mailto:screenworks@jmpscreenworks.com;stephen.presence@uwe.ac.uk?subject=Screenworks%20Submission​) with “Screenworks  Submission” in the subject line.PAGE  6

Bolton Storyworld – towards a Screenplay/Prototype for a Transmedia Production

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Bolton Storyworld – towards a Screenplay/Prototype for a Transmedia Production

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