Building Transmedia
Worlds in Halo 4
Speakers: Kevin Grace (343 Industries), Armando Troisi (343
Industries)
--
Spoilers Included
-> Transmedia, Halo Universe, 4 Principles, and QA
Transmedia -> TV, comics, game, novels, Halo Waypoint, animated series, live-action
series
Halo Universe
Transmedia
Hierarchy:
{
TV, Comic, Novel, etc. } all point to Halo
4
Organization:
{ 343
Industries } points to { Franchise, Game Team, Consumer Products Team } which point to each-other
Why do transmedia?
1)
Create new storytelling opportunities
2)
Promote accessibility
3)
Keep fans engaged all the time
Challenges of transmedia?
1)
Coordinating content
2)
Focusing all efforts
3)
Curating the fiction; there is a reason behind
everything
4 Principles Summary
1)
Enable your partners
a.
Hire good employees; make good contacts
2)
No required reading/playing to get into the Halo
universe
3)
Room to grow
a.
Let the medium direct the flow towards the
medium’s strengths
4)
Tell the right story in the right channel
4 Principles Expanded
1)
Don’t hire vendors … create permanent
partnerships
a.
Don’t dictate; guide
i.
Ex: Greg Bear and “Halo Cryptorium”
ii.
Halo team game him info of what was coming-up in
the Halo universe
iii.
Team gave him requirements of major timeline
points/character traits
2)
Reward fans for participation in the transmedia
lore
a.
Don’t punish the ‘casual’ fan who only plays a
little/one type of media
b.
Sequential model: // doesn’t work for Halo
i.
Universal Plan: Do a novel, then game, then
novel, then game, etc.
c.
Supplementary model: // helps with building
Halo; can always add to it
i.
Each channel can stand alone
ii.
Each channel supports other channels through
connections in events/lore
iii.
Ex: Halo Terminals! -> Prologue Terminal on Halo Waypoint
iv.
Ex: Forward
Unto Dawn -> words in Halo 4
are framed from action series
3)
Understand media/audience; play to the strengths
of the media!
a.
Don’t enforce canon; manage it
4)
Ex: Games are action; novels are politics and
feeling; etc.
(Questions)
How much is planned in advance for the universe?
No
endpoint is planned. The “Halo Bible” is
very fluid. But, there is less and less
detail going farther into the future.
Use separate teams for each media?
Yes! ‘Keep feet in 2 ponds’ and ‘not all eggs in 1
basket’. Create personal connections
between and outside of teams.
Do you decide on channel (media) or story first?
Story
first (the universe plan).
What if a mistake is made in lore?
It
happens. However, it can add details
that may challenge fan perception.
How to use analytics for deciding the direction of the
franchise?
The
direction is more an art than science.
No comments:
Post a Comment