When YouTube appears on the scene in 2005, the birth of consumer-created content begins. Web sensations such as Fred (2006) and web channels like Funny Or Die (2007) soon follow. The opportunities for writers and creators of content now seem endless, as are the viewing choices for consumers.
SO MANY OPTIONS, SO LITTLE TIME
Today, video gaming, IMING, texting, emailing, gaming, etc., all co-exist. Additionally, with the birth of social networking sites, the amount of people watching/consuming a piece of content from the same resource at the same time becomes even more and more fragmented. Perhaps one of the only events in more recent times that resonated in the way those did in the ‘60s are the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001. Here is an anomaly in the 21st century — an event that happened that stopped the world. You will always remember where you were and what you were doing when you heard about New York City’s World Trade Center being attacked and destroyed. Remember, though, that even at that time viewers had a multitude of television and internet resources through which to get information.
A MENTION ABOUT THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY
During these decades of change regarding the visual media industries, publishing remained intact. Books of all types would be published in hardcover and then, after a short window of time, released in more affordable paperback versions, prolonging their popularity.
Not much change is seen in publishing until electronic readers appear on the scene in 2004 and consumers find a new way of reading their favorite texts. By the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, e-books become hefty competition for standard publishing. At the same time, individual authors begin self-publishing and distributing content via the internet. And not long after that, “blogging” is born.
CONTENT IS KING
In all of the types of media we’ve studied, content is king and has remained king throughout these many decades of changes in distribution and technology. In each type of media, writers are still necessary. None of these industries could survive without writers.
So how do you, the writer, get a handle on this fragmentation? These shorter-than-short attention spans? These multitasking consumers? We’ll explore this in the next chapter to learn how to arm ourselves in this fragmented world.
TOOLKIT SANDBOX
A Wizard, Some Questions, and a Mysterious Millionaire
CASE STUDY: The man behind the curtain and the classic American text
Author L. Frank Baum would be astonished today if he knew what has become of his 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. During his lifetime he did know that children adored the book, as they wrote him letters asking for more. He obliged them, and in 1904 he wrote the first sequel, with many others to follow — written by himself and by authors designated by his publisher after Baum’s death in 1919. An original Oz book was published yearly between 1913 and 1942.
And while the books were indeed popular, it is the film version entitled The Wizard of Oz (1939), featuring Judy Garland and now-iconic characters and musical numbers, that is imbedded in the psyche of every American (and admirers worldwide) alive during and since that time.
Perhaps it is because this film had the advantage of being shown consistently on network television since 1956 that the content of the books and film remain forever a part of popular culture. This was unusual, as most theatrical movies would be shown nationally on television only once or twice after being released in theaters, and then scheduled late at night or on weekends by regional affiliates. This was not the case with The Wizard of Oz, which was broadcast annually and highly advertised as a special event. These broadcast telecasts continued until 1999, at which time the film went to cable and broadcast showings became more frequent.
All of which has resulted in the production of Oz-related content in nearly all mediums over the years, including:
The Wiz (1974) — Broadway stage musical that won seven Tony Awards.
The Wiz (1978) — movie adaptation of the Broadway musical starring Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.
The Wizard of Oz (1982) — a Japanese anime feature film.
Return to Oz (1982) — a darker adaptation of Oz sequel novels.
Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (1995), a novel by Gregory Maquire that spawns a series of additional books entitled Son of a Witch (2005), A Lion Among Men (2008), Out of Oz (2011).
Wicked (2003) — Broadway stage musical adaptation of Maquire’s novel.
The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz (2005) — TV movie.
Tin Man (2007) — television miniseries produced for the Syfy channel playing up the sci-fi/fantasy elements of the story.
The Wizard of Oz (2011) — London stage musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) — movie prequel starring James Franco, telling the story of the wizard’s arrival in Oz.
This is by no means a complete list, however it is a list that illustrates how a single basic storyline can be transferred to different genres and released in different versions and venues within a transmedia universe. This content, whether consumed as a book, a film, a film viewed on television, as a musical, or as a prequel in print and film, continues to stand the test of time. Oz resonates again and again to generation after generation — all based on a yearly television broadcast of a film that nearly everyone grew up watching.
Additionally, more versions of this original text are planned — a 3D animated film, NBC and CBS are developing series, Syfy has another miniseries in the works, and the 75th anniversary of the original 1939 film may see a re-release in 3D in 2014. Why all this interest in a novel that first appeared over a century ago? That’s a good question. This is content that resonates to audiences on a universally human level and has been perpetuated from generation to generation due to its accessibility. As we continue to look at ways to do research in this book we will see that a text like this is very important to observe, as there is something within the text that strikes a nerve with writers and creators and with audiences over and over throughout the decades. Each generation wants to put their mark on these iconic characters and this story about how “there’s no place like home,” and each generation offers up a new spin, a fresh look at the content. In essence, by observing the history of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, one can clearly see how each version is authentic. Whether the version explores prequel subject matter or injects music or dance or animation, each version is unique in its own way.
QUESTIONING WITH THE WRITER’S ADVANTAGE
If you could see only one movie in a theater this week, what would it be? Is this a difficult choice for you? Remember, you would not be able to watch any movies on television or download movies from websites. Why do you choose the movie you choose?
If you could see an episode of your favorite television show only once (because you cannot tape it or download it), what would that episode be? You must watch the episode in real-time when the show is on the network. (This cannot be a one-time sports event; it should be a normal scripted network show that appears on schedule every week). Why did you choose this show?
If you knew that your audience could access your television show or movie (or a filmed version of your book) only once, would you write your material differently? In what way?
Do you think your idea will appeal to audiences on all levels of transmedia platforms? Why? What is special about your material that will hold a viewer’s attention?
Would your material be best suited for the large screen, television screen, computer or mobile screens? Why?
Do you think your material has the potential to appeal to all generations — even those that want to watch television in real-time?
EXERCISE
A mysterious millionaire
Identify the ways different generations consume popular culture. Take a well-known piece of content, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great G
atsby, and research the popularity of the book when it was first released and throughout subsequent decades. Then, identify the four feature film adaptations that have been produced since the book’s publication and research how well those versions have been accepted by their contemporary audiences. Think about the future of this material — will Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 version hold up against the other versions and through the ages? Could (or should) there be another version for the future?
CHAPTER 2
FRAGMENTATION
Due to our transmedia universe, we now have a fragmentation of audience — meaning, whether you are writing a novel, a web series, or poetry, it is a sure bet that you probably will not have 100% of the attention of your reader/viewer at all times. This fragmentation will only continue to expand in the future, so get used to it.
Audiences are consuming a variety of different content — entertainment based content along with news and sports content — and sometimes all at once. Understanding how audiences consume material assists the writer in knowing how to construct content.
WE’RE NOT GETTING THE WHOLE PICTURE ANY LONGER
So in addition to the pure fact that our attention is divided most of the time when we are consuming media, it is also the case that many of our texts within said media are also divided. They are convoluted and presented in a way that doesn’t always make sense to all viewers, no matter when they are consuming the texts. Let me explain.
WAS IT AN EVOLUTION OF DANCE, OR RATHER A CONFUSION OF DANCE?
One of the first examples of both the origins and results of writing for a transmedia marketplace appeared in April of 2006. Mega “consumer-created content” provider YouTube was in its infancy. One of the first viral videos seen on YouTube is a video entitled “The Evolution of Dance” by Judson Laipply. Laipply, an “inspirational comedian,” presented a video of himself dancing. He begins with Elvis Presley’s 1956 “Hound Dog” as his start to this video that displays his obvious love of dancing to popular songs and the various different types of dances that have emerged over the years. The songs that follow are a menu of greatest hits from The Bee Gees to AC/DC to Michael Jackson, ranging from the mid-’50s to the mid-‘00s.
The word “evolution” means advancement, growth, and progress, and my immediate thought was that he would present just that — an evolution of dance, meaning a display of one dance move over the other to show how dance moves had progressed through the years and through different types of music. He begins with two ‘60s hits, then moves to the ‘70s, and it soon became apparent to me that this was not an evolution of dance at all, but just a hodgepodge of songs and dances thrown together at random. He then includes hits from the ‘80s, ‘90s, and the ‘00s and while the video is entertaining, it is also misleading. And here’s why.
As an individual who is aware of these pop hits, I am able to place the different genres of music in their proper decade, and because I lived through most of these decades, I know where each of these musicians appears within the history of music. However, any individuals who are viewing this video who were born in the ‘70s onward may or may not be aware of these songs and may watch this video and think that Saturday Night Fever (1978) happened before The Brady Bunch (1970) and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). Think about it; the viewer may take away an incorrect fact that those repetitive opening beats of, say, a song like “Ice Ice Baby” (1990), appeared at a different time in music history than it actually did.
REFERENCES ARE COMPLETELY OFF
We do not have any base upon which to work with if much of our media is just randomly put together without explanation. And in the world of accessing information and media via the web without any guidance or within any context, individuals are accessing information without direction or knowledge of what may have happened historically in that genre. I’m not criticizing Mr. Laipply for presenting an entertaining and popular video (at one time the most-watched clip on YouTube). However, if he really wanted to present a video showing the “evolution of dance,” then he should have presented these songs and their dances in a chronological manner. That way we are entertained and we learn something at the same time — especially for those viewers who are young and impressionable and may not know the chronological history of our media.
MASHED UP
This is just a small example of what happens when content gets mashed up via the web. Because of our transmedia platforms, references to previous texts in pop culture are used all of the time and, in most cases, they are used out of context. And while this has always occurred within our media, at no time has it occurred at such a rapid speed and in so many different ways across all of our types of media. And at no time in the past have so many younger generations accessed media out of context than in this transmedia arena. The result is that there are generations of viewers/consumers who do not have a clue as to the origins of many of our pop culture content and texts.
I’m not condemning this, however. I am bringing to your attention how much more fragmented the audiences are today than they ever have been — and audiences are only going to continue to fall apart from each other. In many cases, writers who write for one specific group or generation are unaware of this disconnect between generations — and this works for older to younger writers and younger to older writers just the same — and because of this fact writers are sometimes unable to sell certain projects for a variety of reasons based on misunderstanding and confusion from their isolated point of view.
For instance, if you are a writer in your fifties and you are describing your main character in a medical drama for a television series and you say that he is similar to Hawkeye Pierce, you run the risk of losing your pitch because many folks in development who are in their twenties and thirties have no idea who Hawkeye Pierce — the famous lead character from the movie (1970) and television series (1972–83) M.A.S.H. — is. You would do better to refer to your main character as being similar to McDreamy from Grey’s Anatomy (2005–present). Your potential buyers will understand that reference. And just the same, if you are in your twenties and pitching a reality series and you want to refer to previous shows that featured audiences being tricked via a camera and you only know Punk’d (2003–2007) and not the granddaddy of these types of shows, Candid Camera (1948–2004), then again, you may lose your pitch as there may be some individuals to whom you are pitching who may be aware of the history of that type of reality show.
And yes, even something as simple as one video featuring popular dances on YouTube can mess up an entire generation for the future. Now multiply this example times a million per hour and you can see how writing in a transmedia world can be a very confusing place to be. As a writer within this arena, you’ll need to be aware of past texts that have addressed your subject matter. For now, no matter what your age or place in history might be, knowing the generational breakdowns will assist you overall in fine-tuning your material.
GENERATIONAL GAP
Sociologists have labeled current American generations as follows:
1900–1924 — G.I. Generation
1925–1945 — Silent Generation
1946–1964 — Baby Boomers
1965–1979 — Generation X
1980–2000 — Millennials or Generation Y
2000/2001–Present — New Silent Generation or Generation Z
Locate your generation. Identify at least one person that you know in other generations if you are able to. This will help you later on in your writing process when you are developing and researching your content, and also when you are constructing your pitch and selling materials.
SOME BRIEF NOTES ABOUT EACH GENERATION
I do not intend to make this a study in sociology, but I do want to point out some basic elements of each generation so you have an awareness of who you are writing for. Remember, all generations access all media, no matter what type of media you are constructing, whether it is a book, movie, TV series, or
web series. Also, you may be writing a movie script, but eventually that movie will be accessible via television and the web in different large and small and mobile screen versions and by different sets of consumers. Know that the way one group of viewers consumes your work may or may not translate to another group of viewers. Being aware of this entire picture helps you in being a better writer.
1925–1945 — Silent Generation
1900–1924 — G.I. Generation
This generation reflects those individuals who do remember when media was unfragmented. They remember where they were when the first radio shows were heard and when television was born. They watched television in real-time, went to movies when their local movie theaters changed their weekly selection, and read newspapers daily. Today they still consume television (both broadcast and cable) in real-time for the most part, are the least likely generation to pay to see movies in theaters, and hang on to reading the few newspapers that still exist and enjoy reading novels/books in general. This is a generation that is set in their ways. If any of them have adapted to the digital age, they do so because they wish to keep in touch with their grandchildren.
1946–1964 — Baby Boomers
Hovering a bit beyond and around the mid-century mark, this generation has lived half of their lives without the convenience of computers and two decades (give or take a couple years) with the advantage of the digital age. For the most part, they have adapted to fragmented media. They were raised on the Golden Age of Television (‘50s–’70s), enjoyed the dawn of cable broadcasting, and can remember iconic videos on MTV. Boomers have embraced the use of computers and mobile devices. They still go to movies in theaters, however they have been known to enjoy marathon viewings of popular television shows. They read print books or digital versions on their tablets and utilize SMS texts to communicate, although emailing is a major way for them to keep in touch.
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