Signs, Systems and Complexity of Transmedia Storytelling. Renira Rampazzo Gambarato Tallinn University Baltic Film and Media School, Estonia

Transcription

1 Sgns, Systems and Complexty of Transmeda Storytellng Renra Rampazzo Gambarato Tallnn Unversty Baltc Flm and Meda School, Estona E-mal: Abstract Ths artcle addresses key concepts such as sgn, system and complexty n order to approach transmeda storytellng and better understand ts ntrcate nature. The theoretcal framework chosen to nvestgate transmeda storytellng meanders s Semotcs by Charles Sanders Perce ( ) and General Systems Theory by Maro Bunge (1919-). The complexty of transmeda storytellng s not smply the one of the sgns of the works ncluded n a transmeda franchse. It also ncludes the complexty of the dspostons of users/consumers/players as nterpreters of semotc elements (e.g. characters, themes, envronments, events and outcomes) presented by transmeda products. It extends further to the complexty of socal, cultural, economcal and poltcal constructs. The German transmeda narratve The Ultmate SuperHero- Blog by Stefan Geren and Sofa s Dary, a Portuguese multplatform producton by BeActve, are presented as examples of closed and open system transmeda storytellng respectvely. Keywords: sgn, system, complexty, transmeda storytellng THIS artcle addresses key concepts such as sgn, system and complexty n order to approach transmeda storytellng (TS) and better understand ts ntrcate nature. The theoretcal framework chosen to nvestgate TS meanders s Semotcs by Charles Sanders Perce ( ) and General Systems Theory by Maro Bunge (1919-) due to the consonance that both share: Semotcs s known as the General Theory of Sgns, thus t nvolves sgns and sgn systems,.e. sgns and the relatons between them (Vera, 2003). Semotcs, systems, and language ntertwne and the lason element s the sgn, whch represents, to a certan extent, somethng to the mnd. Perce s tradc sgn model s based on the trchotomy sgn-object-nterpretant: The sgn has an open nature, meanng that t s anythng of any one sort a thought, Estudos em Comuncação nº 12, Dezembro de 2012

2 70 Renra Rampazzo Gambarato acton, feelng, mage, word, lbrary; anythng can work as a sgn. In Perce s words, anythng should be a sgn (CP 2.230). The sgn s a Frst, whch s n real relaton of substtuton wth a Second, the object, through the generaton of a Thrd, the nterpretant. When we operate ths substtuton, we create an nterpretant. Yet nothng s a sgn unless t s nterpreted as a sgn (CP 2.308) by means of tradc relatons leadng to each successve sgn becomng an nterpretant for the precedng one. Ths contnuous acton of the sgn generatng ad nfntum nterpretants s called semoss. Indeed, accordng to Perce: A sgn, or representamen, s somethng whch stands to somebody for somethng n some respect or capacty. It addresses somebody, that s, creates n the mnd of that person an equvalent sgn, or perhaps a more developed sgn. That sgn whch t creates I call the nterpretant of the frst sgn. The sgn stands for somethng, ts object. It stands for that object, not n all respects, but n reference to a sort of dea, whch I have sometmes called the ground of the representamen (CP 2.228). Perce also hghlghts the noton of sgn as medaton between mnd and matter. The polarty between mnd and the world of matter nteror and exteror can be overcome only by sgn medaton, through whch these two worlds ntersect (Santaella, 1992: 104). Another mportant collgated concept to be pondered s system. Although there are several and dfferent defntons of system, the noton of system has become especally unversal and s beng extensvely used urb et orb. It refers mostly to an assemblage of parts formng a untary whole, but snce Arstotle, the dea behnd t s that the whole s somethng over and above ts parts. The set of correlated parts s not just the sum of them bascally due to changeable nteractons that form the ntegrated whole. The separaton of the parts of a system would modfy the sgnfcance of the whole and the alteraton of any gven part would affect ts set. System wll be defned n the sphere of General Systems Theory, whch was ntally developed by Ludwg von Bertalanffy ( ) (1993), n Nevertheless, hs classcal approach to scentfc methodology wll be not dscussed; nstead, Maro Bunge s scentfc ontology wll be refered, whch focuses on structural characterstcs of systems and serves our purpose. Bunge consders that systems theores are ontologcal,.e. they descrbe extremely general propertes of thngs.

3 Sgns, Systems and Complexty of Transmeda Storytellng 71 Accordng to Bunge (1979: 4), a system s a complex object, whose components are more nterrelated than loose. Realty s systemc and the unverse s the generator system of all other systems. Realty s not composed of solated systems the ones that do exchange nether energy nor matter but by open systems at some level the ones that do exchange energy and matter wth the envronment. The formal defnton of system developed by Bunge represents exactly ths relatonshp wth the envronment, connectng thngs between themselves and thngs wth ther Umwelt 1. A system s an ordered trple (Bunge, 1979: 5): = < C, E, S > Where: C = composton (set of components) E = envronment (mleu) S = structure (set of relatons on the unon of C and E) A system may be sad to have a defnte composton [C], a defnte envronment [E], and a defnte structure [S]. The composton of a system s the set of ts components; the envronment, the set of tems wth whch t s connected; and the structure, the relatons among ts components, as well as among these and the envronment. For example, a theory s composed of propostons or statements; ts envronments s the body of knowledge to whch t belongs (e.g., algebra or ecology); and ts structure s the entalment or logcal consequence relaton. (... ) And the composton of a school s the unon of ts staff and pupls; the envronment s the natural and socal mleu, and the structure conssts of the relatons of teachng and learnng, managed and beng managed, and others. (Bunge, 1979: 4-5) Relatons among components are denomnated nternal structure and relatons between components and elements of the envronment are desgnated external structure. When the external structure s empty, the system s called 1. Although the German word Umwelt smply means envronment (surroundng world), n the semotc realm, the concept of Umwelt developed by the bologst Jakob von Uexküll ( ) desgnates a subjectve unverse, a self-centered world. Uexküll s theory states that organsms may have dfferent Umwelten even f they lve n the same place. It s a matter of percepton. Each organsm actvely creates ts Umwelt through nteractons wth the world (Uexküll, 1987; Kull, 1998; Sharov, 2001).

4 72 Renra Rampazzo Gambarato closed. Consequently, when a system presents external structure, t s named open (Wengartner and Dorn, 1990: 8). Moreover, the propertes of a system can vary wth tme (t). Thus, Bunge s defnton of closed system presupposes that: Let be a system wth envronment E (, t). Then s closed at t ff E (, t) =? otherwse s open (1979: 9). Nonetheless, Bunge states that a system may be open n some aspects and closed n others: Let P be a property of a system n an envronment E (, t). The s open wth respect to P at t ff P s related, at t, to at least one property of thngs n E (, t) otherwse s closed n the respect P (1979: 10). A system s open wth respect to a certan property P f ths can be related to a property of the envronment. Furthermore, parts of a system can also be systems n ther turn,.e. a subsystem. Conversely, the whole surroundngs of a system can be a system as well and n ths case t s called a supersystem. The defnton of a system should consder characterzatons of the supersystem that ncludes the system and the subsystems ncluded n t (Wengartner and Dorn, 1990: 9). In order to dscuss how sgns and systems could be then related to TS, t s necessary to ntroduce the transmeda phenomenon. The term TS was frst coned n 2003 by Professor Henry Jenkns n an artcle publshed by Technology Revew (2003). As a work n progress, three years later he mproved the concept and publshed ts defnton n hs book Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Meda Collde (2006). A transmeda story unfolds across multple meda platforms wth each new text makng a dstnctve and valuable contrbuton to the whole. In the deal form of transmeda storytellng, each medum does what t does best so that a story mght be ntroduced n a flm, expanded through televson, novels, and comcs; ts world mght be explored through game play or experenced as an amusement park attracton (Jenkns, 2006: 95 6). Although the precse defnton of TS s stll open and t seems that there s no consensus around t yet, n ths artcle TS, at least, refers to nter-related and ntegrated meda experences that occur amongst a varety of meda. A transmeda narratve tells multple stores over multple platforms that together tell one bg pervasve story, attractng audence engagement. It s not about offerng the same content n dfferent meda platforms, but t s the worldbuldng experence, unfoldng content and generatng the possbltes for the story to

5 Sgns, Systems and Complexty of Transmeda Storytellng 73 evolve wth new and pertnent content. Thus, transmeda stores are bult over multple sgn systems. Transmeda sgns do not requre anchorage n defnte objects; they form systems of cross-reference whch may be open or closed (Lemke, 2011: 585). Maro Bunge states: Systems of dfferent knds have dfferent compostons or dfferent structures. (... ) In our vew there s no such thng as a herarchy of structures. (Etymologcally herarchy means a set of sacred components ordered by a power or domnaton relaton.) What we do have here s a system of nested systems,.e. a collecton of systems each of whch s a subsystem of a larger system (or supersystem) (1979: 11-12). Consderng ths statement, a transmeda story could be seem as a supersystem composed of nested systems and subsystem lke Russan dolls or Chnese boxes, for nstance. Therefore, the TS supersystem would be composed by systems such as story, experence, platforms, audence, busness model, and so forth. For example, the story system would have subsystems such as plot, characters, tme, locaton, genre, etc. If Maro Bunge s system = < C, E, S > s transposed to the realm of TS, each [super][sub]system has ts set of consttuent elements (C), ts envronment (E), and the relatons between them (S). For nstance: Supersystem TS = < (story, experence, platforms, audence, busness model, etc.), (communty of people who share common nterests related to the storyworld), (nteracton, partcpaton) > System Story = < (plot, characters, tme, locaton, genre, settngs, world, etc.), (communty of people who share common nterests related to the storyworld), (nteracton, partcpaton) > Subsystem Character = < (demographcs, psychographcs, role, hero s journey, locaton, etc.), (storyworld), (connecton, ntegraton) > Gary Hayes, n hs transmeda producton template (2011), organzed a gude to the development of a property across multple meda platforms. He

6 74 Renra Rampazzo Gambarato subdvded a transmeda project n fve man sectons and each of them has ts specfcs consttuent elements. As suggested by Hayes, a transmeda producton (supersystem) would nvolve, at least, fve man areas (systems): Treatment, functonal specfcaton, desgn specfcaton, technology specfcaton, and busness & marketng. Treatment, for nstance, s the secton responsble for the story elements and has as subsystems: Plot ponts, context, characters and atttude, scrpts, and scenaros. Thus, ndependently of the nomenclature or the number of subdvsons, a transmeda project can be characterzed as a supersystem that ncorporates a seres of complex objects, ts systems and subsystems, n the process of unfoldng content and evolvng the storyworld. A fundamental aspect of TS yet s the relatonshp between the story and people nterested n t, whch could correspond to the essental relatonshp between the consttuent elements of a system and ts envronment. Henry Jenkns named performance the TS prncple related to the ablty of transmeda extensons to lead to audence partcpaton. He ntroduced two related concepts cultural attractors (a phrase borrowed from Perre Levy) and cultural actvators. Cultural attractors draw together a communty of people who share common nterests (...). Cultural actvators gve that communty somethng to do (2009a). Hence, nteractvty and moreover partcpaton are key aspects of TS. These two terms, ndeed, cause confuson and are commonly used as synonyms. However, they are dfferent: An nteractve project allows the audence to relate to t somehow, for nstance, by pressng a button or control, decdng the path to experencng t, but not beng able to co-create and change the story; a partcpatory project nvtes vewers/users/players to engage n a way that expresses ther creatvty n a unque, and surprsng manner, allowng them to nfluence the fnal result. The Amercan flmmaker Lance Weler, recognzed for nnovatons n the realm of TS and responsble for transmeda experences such as Pandemc 1.0, states: Audence s dead. The realty s that what was once an audence s now what I consder to be collaborators. The relatonshp has totally changed. Democratzaton of tools turns audences nto ther own meda companes free to push button publsh for the world to see. Authorshp s shftng and as a result more people can be part of the storytellng. So n that sense partcpatory storytellng s an opportunty to take advantage of the connected world we currently lve n. For me personally transmeda asks people to collaborate and to co-create stores that can be jumpng off ponts to socal

7 Sgns, Systems and Complexty of Transmeda Storytellng 75 connectons and f I do that the stores wll surely spread (Govagnol, 2011: 92-93). Partcpatory transmeda stores are n consonance wth open systems, n whch the relatons (S) between composton (C) and envronment (E) effectvely exst and lead to collaboraton. Open systems allow partcpaton,.e. partcpants can nfluence on the result, change the story, and co-create. Partcpaton (S) occurs when the communty of people who share common nterests (E) can, wth respect at least to a certan property (P), nfluence on the set (C) of components such as the story. There are several ways to promote partcpaton n TS, such as votng, castng, communty dscusson forums, lve events, lve chats, etc. Sofa s Dary, a Portuguese multplatform producton by BeActve, s an example of open system TS. The project was created n 2003 and produced n dfferent countres (Portugal, Brazl, UK, USA, Germany, Turkey, Vetnam, Chle, etc), mxng TV, Internet, moble and other meda such as books and magaznes. The strategy of Sofa s Dary s based on the communty that was bult around the man character. Sofa s a sort of vrtual frend who nteracts wth audence and allows people to partcpate n a way that ther voces can be heard. Nuno Bernardo, the responsble for the project, defnes that Sofa s a teenage grl who asks for your help to survve hgh school" (Bernardo, 2011: 61). Bernardo started Sofa s Dary as a web/moble blog and afterwards t was extended to TV, rado, magaznes, books, CDs, and so forth. The relatonshp between the story and audence was possble by daly SMS/MMS 2 alerts sent by Sofa, votng servce to decde next epsode, and premum call servce wth the summary of daly epsode, for nstance. Sofa communcates wth her frends, the audence. She also tweets; she blogs and the content of her messages are presented by the epsodes. Above all, the project allows audence partcpaton. Partcpants also communcate and get heard. As frends, they express ther opnons n dfferent ways (votng, dscussng, bloggng, tweetng, for nstance) to help Sofa to solve her dlemmas. The producton company was able to effectvely ncorporate audence nputs, gvng the possblty to partcpants to shape the content. Thus, they become part of the experence, they 2. SMS (Short Message Servce) s a text messagng servce through web or moble communcaton systems that allows you to send only text. MMS (Multmeda Message Servce) allows you to send not only text but pctures, sounds, vdeos, or any combnaton of them. MMS message can carry a larger sze of content than SMS.

8 76 Renra Rampazzo Gambarato own the content. In ownng the transmeda story, partcpants feel that ths s ther story and f t s yours, you wll probably defend, recommend and promote t. That s the logc behnd the success of Sofa s Dary, a truly open system experence. Besdes nteractvty, open system TS presupposes partcpaton. On the other hand, transmeda stores that do not allow partcpaton can be consdered as closed systems, n whch audence can act/react/nteract but cannot nterfere wth the narratve. Closed system TS nvolves nteracton but not partcpaton, n the sense that audence can decde the path to experencng t, can clck here or there, can react to socal meda entres, but t s not able to collaborate and co-create. The Ultmate SuperHero-Blog s a transmeda project by Stefan Geren structured as a closed system TS. Ths German multplatform story was supported by Frst Moton 3 and produced by Fcton Zwe Null, n The Ultmate SuperHero-Blog was bult manly around 55 vdeo-blog epsodes, a feature length mockumentary, and socal meda networks nteractons. The story s focused on the hgh-school graduate Robn W. Schrader who wants to become a superhero. In order to do so, he starts an nternshp at the legendary Captan Impact cave n New York. Hs experences as a superhero apprentce were screened as vdeo-blog entres on Facebook, Twtter and YouTube. In February 2011, once the TS had ended va socal meda channels, the feature length SuperHero-Blog: The Documentary premered n Berln. The emphass on socal meda networks naturally provokes audence nteracton trough feedback and comments. However, the project was desgned not to ncorporate any of the audence nsghts. All the story development was already planned and controlled by the producers wthout fans partcpaton. Audence could react to the protagonst actons, but could not nfluence the story whatsoever, whch confgures a closed system TS. Most of transmeda stores are stll beng desgned as closed system, ncludng both ndependent and major productons. Although partcpaton s one of the TS pllars, user empowerment s a trend, and concepts such as prosumpton and produsage are a ht, t seems that producers nevertheless want to retan control of ther projects and user s contrbutons are largely restrcted yet (Boln, 2010). 3. Frst Moton s the European Unon cooperatve project for the Baltc Sea Regon (Denmark, Estona, Germany, Latva, Norway, Poland, and Sweden) that supports new formats and deas of multplatform productons for audovsual ndustres.

9 Sgns, Systems and Complexty of Transmeda Storytellng 77 From the semotc pont of vew, the consttuent elements of a transmeda project,.e. ts systems and respectve subsystems, are sgns dsposed to constant turnng of nterpretants generated ncessantly. Sgns are the result of semoss, whch creates and attrbutes ther sgnfcance n a contnuous dalogue of ncentves, a contnuum between mnd and matter n the same sense as Perce s synechsm. 4 A transmeda project nvolves a contnuous flow of mages, vdeos, texts, sounds and so forth, whch are sgns able to generate nterpretants unnterruptedly. In ths sense, our nterpretaton s part of the story too, once t generates nterpretants from the transmeda experence and completes the sgn process, the semoss. The wealth of the sgn s revealed n the varablty of nterpretants that can be generated by the nterpreter (Gambarato and Malagut, 2006: 157). Systems nvolve essental parameters that occur n any system, regardless of ther partculartes. Such features can be subdvded n basc (reman the same, ndependently of evolutonary processes) and evolutonary (can fluctuate over tme). The basc features are: Permanence (tendency to stay), envronment (surroundngs) and autonomy (memory functon, storage of nformaton). The evolutonary features nclude: Composton, connecton, structure, ntegraton, functonalty, organzaton and complexty. Accordng to the focus of nterest n ths artcle, connecton, ntegraton and complexty wll be addressed. Complexty of TS In order to better understand complexty, ths feature wll be approached n the realm of General Systems Theory throughout two other nterrelated parameters: Connecton and ntegraton. Connecton, as the source of relatons, can reveal complexty by the number and dversty of these relatons. Integraton s characterzed by the emergence of subsystems and can ncrease the 4. A true contnuum s somethng whose possbltes of determnaton no multtude of ndvduals can exhaust. Thus, no collecton of ponts placed upon a truly contnuous lne can fll the lne so as to leave no room for others, although that collecton had a pont for every value towards whch numbers, endlessly contnued nto the decmal places, could approxmate. (... ) It would be n the general sprt of synechsm to hold that tme ought to be supposed truly contnuous n that sense (CP 6.170). The term synechsm was suggested and used by C. S. Perce n 1892.

10 78 Renra Rampazzo Gambarato systemc complexty through both the number of subsystems and the emergence of shared propertes. Connecton s a feature that expresses the capacty that consttuent parts of the system have to develop a set of relatons or connectons. Connecton s an ntense relaton that wll affect the hstory of at least one of ts elements; there s acton between the elements nvolved. We must dstngush between a mere relaton, such as that of beng older, and a connecton, such as that of exertng pressure. Unlke a mere relaton, a connecton makes some dfference to ts relata. That s, two thngs are connected just n case at least one of them acts upon the other where the acton need not consst n eventuatng somethng but may consst n ether cuttng out or openng up certan possbltes. In turn, we say that acts upon another f t modfes the latter s behavor lne, or trajectory, or hstory (Bunge, 1979: 6). Gven sets A and B, there s the Cartesan product P = A x B defned as followng: P = { < x, y > / x 2 A&y2 B} P s bult by arrangements between elements of A and B, but there may be some rule, law or restrcton that gudes the selecton of these ordered pars. Thus, the rule wll select a subset R (relaton) as follows: R = { < x, y > P} Another strong aspect of connecton s the varaton of ntensty over tme. Connectons keep the system over tme. Therefore, ths feature s responsble for a sort of systemc stablty and permanence, whch s called coheson. In Semotcs, coheson corresponds to the concept of syntax: A property bult on the set R of relatons. Syntax s the set of rules that underles the relatons (Vera, 2003: 24). In the context of TS, connecton s a crucal capablty to develop relatons (R), especally partcpaton, n whch the envronment (E) acts upon the composton (C) and vce versa. People nterested n a transmeda project connect to ts elements, nfluencng on the story development. Ther collaboraton s, conversely, orented accordng to the unfoldng storytellng. The nternal structure of the supersystem,.e. connectons among ts consttuent elements,

11 Sgns, Systems and Complexty of Transmeda Storytellng 79 s equally mportant to assure the coherence of the story. Jenkns denomnated contnuty ths prncple of TS (2009). Connecton s also the attrbute that collaborates to keep the transmeda experence over tme. Integraton, n addton, s the strategy used by a system to subdvde tself nto subsystems through the emergence of new shared propertes. The degree of ntegraton depends on the connectons between the components of the system "relatve to the dsntegratng actons of the envronment" (Bunge 1979, 35). Systems whose components are tghtly connected normally have a hgh degree of ntegraton. Integraton refers to the way subsystems are connected. The ntegraton of subsystems communcates the content (nformaton) to be nterpreted. Integraton, the ablty to subdvde tself nto subsystems, s nherent to TS. A transmeda experence (supersystem) nvolves an unfoldng story, whch consequently generates other systems and subsystems. The prncple of worldbuldng stressed by Jenkns (2009a) s related to the noton of ntegraton: A transmeda story s ndeed a storyworld capable to support multple characters and multple narratves across multple meda. Complexty can manfest tself n a varety of manners n the mdst of systemc parameters. It s consdered a free parameter dffcult to be defned but, to a certan extent, complexty s always present. Complex systems tend to persst and n order to succeed they develop strateges for adaptaton to the envronment. The nablty to adapt suppresses the permanence of a system organzaton n space and tme. Hence, the complexty of TS s assocated to the adaptaton to the envronment as well. The envronment of a transmeda project, as mentoned earler, s the communty of people who share common nterests related to the storyworld. Furthermore, the complexty of TS contrbutes to the permanence of the story over tme. Thus, a transmeda project s more complex f t allows user s partcpaton that wll lead to unpredctable developments of the story and enhance the whole experence, contrbutng to ts permanence. Accordngly, Sofa s Dary, as a partcpatory (open system) TS example, s not just more complex than The Ultmate SuperHero- Blog (closed system), but t has much more mpact on users over tme and lead to a hgher level of commtment between the transmeda property and people nterested n t. For nstance, n a perod of approxmately two years ( ), the Facebook page of The Ultmate SuperHero-Blog protagonst counts around 3,600 frends and the vdeo-blogs avalable on YouTube chan-

12 80 Renra Rampazzo Gambarato nel were vewed around 21,000 tmes. 5 In the frst two years of Sofa s Dary ( ) n Portugal, the project s web ste receved over 75,000 vsts, Sofa receved around 3,000 e-mals per month and Sofa s Dary books sold 100,000 copes n the same perod (Lnk Consultng, 2005: 31). Transmeda stores, however, as complex pervasve narratves, can evoke confuson, dsorder, and dsorentaton. Complexty, ndeed, can be chaotc, entropc, but can also be organzed (Vera, 2003: 26). In an ntervew to Pesss-Pasternak, Jean-Perre Dupuy warns us to consder the dfferences between complexty and dsorder: Why do we say that a system s complex, and not dsordered? Both cases mean a defct of understandng, an apparent lack of regularty. What s the dfference between complexty and dsorder? (...) The dstncton that s establshed between a complex system and a dsordered one s that, n the frst case, there are functonal propertes: The system does somethng! One can then say that a complex system s a system apparently dsordered, but behnd t there s a hdden order (Pesss-Pasternak, 1992: 110-1). Overall, the complexty of a system, n assocaton wth connecton and ntegraton, s based on the dfference, on the heterogenety of ts consttuent elements among themselves and n relaton to the envronment. These dfferences can be understood as nformaton and they act on us. A way to defne nformaton resdes n consder t as an entty capable of reducng uncertanty (Nöth, 1995: 142) or as the dfference between the exstng relatons of system components. TS s not about offerng the same content n dfferent meda platforms, but t s the worldbuldng experence wth the possblty for the story to evolve through new and pertnent content; new and dfferent nformaton. The connecton between subsystems, wth the consequent transport of nformaton, generates the condton where each subsystem s medated by or medates others. Ths behavor and the sgn acton n Percean Semotcs are alke. It s sgn medaton enrched by dversty, complexty. Bunge also refers to dfferent levels or degrees of complexty,.e. dstnct ntenstes of the same property n a gven system (1979: 13). The secret of successful transmeda franchses or complexes s that they make us nto deal transmeda consumers, ones who wll n fact construe sa- 5. Numbers accordng to the Facebook account robnwschrader and YouTube channel robnw18?feature=watch on August 20, 2012.

13 Sgns, Systems and Complexty of Transmeda Storytellng 81 tsfyng transmeda meanngs across these meda presentatons of unverses (... ) (Lemke, 2011: 587). As nterpreters of transmeda projects, audence does not see solated parts or systems. They see them n the relatonshp between themselves and n relaton to the context of ther own knowledge. Thus, there s not only what they know lterally, but what they conjecture, magne and presuppose. Ths repertore rebulds the road of the sgn, and n a way, reveals t. Wth the nterpreter s constructve partcpaton (semoss), an mage, object, shape, sound or color can say a thousand words (Gambarato and Malagut, 2006: 158). Let us try to buld up, step by step, some of the complexty of transmeda. That complexty, I am argung, s not smply the multmodal complexty of the sgns of the works ncluded n the franchse. It also ncludes the complexty of the dspostons of users to nterpret and dentfy wth (or ds-dentfy from) semotc elements (e.g. characters, themes, envronments, events and outcomes) presented by the works. It extends further to the complexty of the dentty markets whch help shape our dspostons, and to the socal networks wthn whch we conduct our nteractons wth the works. We must never forget that the meanngs of a sgn are determned not by ts qualtes alone, but by the nterpretve conventons of a communty (Lemke, 2011: 583). Complexty of TS defntely embodes ntrcate nvolvements between all the consttuent elements of [super][sub]systems,.e. set of components, envronment and set of relatons. Moreover, TS s not solated from the complex socal, cultural, economcal and poltcal constructs. References Bernardo, N. (2011). The Producers Gude to Transmeda: How to Develop, Fund, Produce and Dstrbute Compellng Stores across Multple Platforms. London: CR Entertanment Ltd. Bertalanffy, L. (1993). General System Theory. New York: George Brazller. Boln, G. (2010). Dgtzaton, Multplatform Texts, and Audence Recepton. Popular Communcaton: The Internatonal Journal of Meda and Culture, vol. 8, n. 4, Bunge, M. (1960). Levels: A Semantcal Prelmnary. The Revew of Metaphyscs, vol. 13, n. 3,

14 82 Renra Rampazzo Gambarato Bunge, M. (1979). Treatse on Basc Phlosophy. Volume IV: Ontology A World of Systems. Amsterdam: Redel. Gambarato, R. & Malagut, S. (2006). Objects of Desre Methodology for Flm Analyss n the Sense of Percean Semotcs and Intermedal Studes. Kodkas/Code: Ars Semeotca, vol. 29, n. 1-3, Govagnol, M. (2011). Transmeda Storytellng: Imagery, Shapes and Technques. Pttsburgh: ETC Press. Hayes, G. (2011). How to Wrte a Transmeda Producer Bble: A Template for Mult-Platform Producers. Sdney: Screen Australa. Jenkns, H. (2003). Transmeda Storytellng. MIT Technology Revew. Retreved May 02, 2012 from botech/13052/. Jenkns, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Meda Collde. New York: New York Unversty Press. Jenkns, H. (2009). The Revenge of the Orgam Uncorn: Seven Prncples of Transmeda Storytellng (Well, Two Actually. Fve More on Frday). Retreved August 15, 2012 from 12/the_revenge_of_the_%20orgam_un.html. Jenkns, H. (2009a). Revenge of the Orgam Uncorn: The Remanng Four Prncples of Transmeda Storytellng. Retreved August 15, 2012 from uncorn.html. Kull, K. (1998). On Semoss, Umwelt, and Semosphere. Semotca, vol. 120(3/4), Lemke, J. (2011). Transmeda Traversals: Marketng Meanng and Identty. In A. Baldry & E. Montagna (Eds.). Interdscplnary Perspectves on Multmodalty: Theory and Practce. Proceedngs of the Thrd Internatonal Conference on Multmodalty (pp ). Campobasso: Palladno. Lnk Consultng (2005). BeActve: O Dáro de Sofa e Não Só... Caderno Lnk Internaconalzação, n. 7, Retreved August 20, 2012 from

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