Contexts for Creation and Interaction

Consider the questions at the end of chapter one, noting that they encourage you to think about how we use cross-media as tools for communication. At the same time, cross-media communications can be envisioned as designed experiences that enable media audiences to make those communications meaningful.

Exercise 1

Looking at the materials provided in the CMC Media Files, choose three items that you think could be combined in order to develop a cohesive moment, experience, or narrative. These items might point to elements such as “setting,” “mood,” or

“character.” You can use the CMC Media Files, or you can search the web for some good media examples or create your own. A Creative Commons search (http://

search.creativecommons.org/) is a great way to find images that you can use for these exercises.

Then, generate a one-sentence description that ties those three items together. Let’s say you choose a sound file you think communicates “suspense.” You also choose an image of a troll, and perhaps a 3D rendering of the inside of a cave. A one-sentence moment or scene that connects them might be:

“Afraid of what might happen if she left her cave home of one hundred years, Tilly the Troll hovered just inside the cave’s entrance, one eye open to the bright blue sky beyond it.”

Share your one-sentence descriptions with others. Provide explanations as to why you chose certain images and why. What were you thinking about? Were you just concerned with finding a way to connect these images, or were you thinking about something more?

If some of you used the same images, note how you interpreted them in some of the same ways. Likewise, talk about how you interpreted them differently. How can you account for those differences? Are they a matter of your perspective as artists, animators, programmers, or storytellers? Or, are those similarities and differences due to your interests in certain media and stories?

Exercise 2

The first “@ Play” exercise instructed you to create a short description of a scene or moment that connects three pieces found in the CMC Media files or online.

That description can be used as a seed from which your cross-media materials and experiences can grow.

The terms defined in Chapter One refer to how various elements of cross-media communication are designed to work. At the same time, most developers, artists, and designers will tell you that these terms mean different things in different contexts, as outlined in Chapter Two.

Those contexts must be defined before the architecture of a development process can be designed. And, contexts inform the kinds of creative pieces you’ll want to assemble.

As a next step, consider a context in which your moment or scene might be used by reviewing the terms described in Chapter One and the histories of cross-media communications chronicled in Chapter Two. Some questions you might ask yourself are listed below. Remember that these questions are meant to help you envision your contexts for creation, distribution, and use.

Am I thinking of a full “tentpole” experience? Or am I seeing this as a more micro-level design meant to encourage an audience to experience a specific type of interactive media (an alternate reality game, for example)?

What media are useful for which purposes? Do I plan on generating mixed media? For what reasons?

Are my materials dependent on specific distribution methods (e.g., online, in-person, via communities)? How do I plan to address those potential design constraints?

Where are there possibilities for not only use but also participation with my works?

Thinking about different cycles of development and implementation, what are my plans and methods for this design process?

Write down and describe your goals for how you would like to design use your budding media experience. It might be useful to create an outline, a concept map, or some kind of visualization. But no matter what your methods, remember that the end result should reflect a deep understanding of the context for your cross-media communication’s development and use.

At this point, you’re probably ready to start drafting and developing your crossmedia experience. At the same time, you’ll want to think about additional pieces you would need to add to your budding media campaign in order to make it a true crossmedia communication. Jump in and get started building some of those pieces — drawings, mockups, sound files—whatever you want to make.

Realize that you’ll likely iterate and revise these materials later, and that’s all part of the process. The point at this stage is to just do some rapid prototyping and idea generation, but with a purpose and a context in mind. What’s most important is that you can closely align what you make with how you envision its use within the design of your overall cross-media experience.

Exercise 3

This exercise requires you to recall your knowledge of and experiences with various cross-media campaigns in contemporary popular culture. Doing so will help you test and revise your designs so that they necessarily connect with what they’re being design to do. Your conceptual goal at this point is to gain information from a test audience so that you can revise your materials to better meet the contexts you imagine for them.

First, review Chapter Two for a solid comprehension of the history and contexts of cross-media communications. Recall that cross-cross-media communications tend to:

Be people-centered;

Be focused on mystery;

Encourage participation; and Reward exploration.

Turning to the media you are developing throughout these “@ Play” exercises, select a few pieces that stand well on their own and don’t need too much explanation from you in terms of what they are and what they mean (e.g., a near-complete character sketch, a working prototype, polished drawings or sound files, etc.). These pieces should, when put together, be a fairly good representation of what your media franchise is all about. A consumer or user should be able to put them together and get a fairly accurate understanding of what you’re trying to communicate.

Package the materials and share them with someone else (another student or an entire focus group, perhaps). For example, you might supply your audience with a collection of drawings of characters and settings, or perhaps some animations and sounds.

Then, provide your audience with both a context and an instruction for their consideration,

For example, you might do something like the following.

Context: “Please study my mock-ups of Tilly the Troll and pay attention to the kind of character you think she is: sad, lonely, good-hearted, evil-tongued?”

Instruction: “Imagine her in animated form. What kind of animation would you expect to see? A digital short? Live-action film? A Saturday morning cartoon?”

Make the most of this information to help you continue to work on your materials.

If Tilly the Troll was designed to be sad and forlorn but your audience sees her as angry and vindictive, that might change how you consider her extended franchise. An angry character might be better suited for a series of animated shorts designed for the web rather than the series of children’s DVDs you had envisioned.

Now that you have a clearer sense of the context for the media you are creating, you might want to do some research on other media franchises that used similar contexts. What were the successes and failures of each?

Section 2 Information Graphic by Eun Jung Lee (Full Color Version in the CMC Media Files)

Section 2

Media

This section of the book covers the variety of media that are typically involved in cross-media communications. The chapters are organized into the four primary types of media in order to examine the characteristics of each and how best to integrate them into a cohesive and engaging experience. We start with textual, then proceed through electronic, to digital, and end with environmental. Examples of each are provided to illustrate our discussion.