Introduction to Editorial transmedia, why we need to move forward?

Photojournalism is about Storytelling.

J.P Pappis (Sortir du Cadre itw Series)

A new set of brushes is available to us. A new range of tools that will allow us to go further and conquer narrative spaces that we could have never reached 10 years ago. The emergence of HDSLR combined with the consolidation of Internet and the development of social networks in our lives, have allowed photojournalists to switch from a linear storytelling form to a nonlinear one. From Newspapers and Magazines, photography has gone digital and now will use Multimedia and interactive documentaries to finally extend its sphere of influence to an ultimate form which is Transmedia storytelling.

Photojournalists yet, must learn a series of new codes & rules. They must understand these new forms of expression that were exclusive to the world of Publishing or the Movie industry. The use of « motion » and sound requires that we learn to develop our stories and our subjects beyond the traditional dimensions inherited from our work with the press.

Short story long, as if we were in the elementary school, we need to think wider and stop pitching our stories – which demands conciseness and synthesis – and start learning how to write an essay – which involves contextualization and analysis.

Again, we must learn to tell stories, drawn from the limits of the photographic medium, and include motion & sound, interactivity and social networking , multi-platform and transversal narrative strategies. In short, embrace the broad spectrum of technologies opened before us and put them at the service of our productions. This is at  the price, by agreeing to this changing environment, that photojournalism will rise up again. It is obvious that the value of the work of hundreds of professionals around the world is not just to bear witness to what is happening in front of their camera, but to put these events into perspective, to connect with each other and add relevant content to improve the understanding of the public, to develop knowledge and maintain dialogue.

Context and Storytelling: the lead to Transmedia strategies

Photographic narration is sequential.  It brings us a series of events, which are supposed to be connected, but failed to create a bond between them. We loose track of the context in which the event happens.

Transmedia storytelling, whose theoretical definition is still very recent (between 1991 and 2003 according to the sources), implies that different parts of a story are told through different kind of platforms (web, film, novels, comics, exhibitions, Augmented Reality Games etc.) in a non-redundant and complementary manner. In short, Transmedia stories are built on the same type of structure than an interactive documentary but on a multi-platform scale. The “webdoc” takes place on a website where the story is delivered through video, sound, photography and enhanced by incorporated elements of interactivity. Transmedia storytelling implies that the web platform breaks out, and that all known materials potentially becomes a part of the Transmedia story. Therefore, a Transmedia story can start by a web documentary, then be prolonged with a TV documentary, then be extended through a book and finally be completed a little more through discussions on social networks, through an application iPhone or Android or by an exhibition.

This fancy way to tell stories must not be seen as an absolute method which can be applied to all editorial work (photojournalism, documentary and such). Good stories will keep strength and relevance through purely photographic medium. On the other hand, some stories will take advantage of a web documentary narrative style. Finally, for a fraction of them, TransMedia storytelling will bring particularly effective narrative mechanicals, enabling photojournalists to considerably enrich their work.

As a matter of fact, the revolution of TransMedia Storytelling has nothing to do with technology (even it’s largely based upon use of them), but instead largely depends of the appropriation of different narrative codes, through new practices and new collaborations..

In the next couple of month on this blog, I’ll try to analyse and develop strategies to adapt transmedia storytelling techniques (which, for the most part, are coming from the entertainment business) to our editorial world with a strong focus on photojournalism. Posts will be published both in French and English to remain connected to an international audience.Stay tuned,the transmedia journey only begins!