Transmedia and Radio !
by Marc Guidoni , published on 25.10.2009
A few words about radio… Transmedia has had its place there since 1938… Radio… A bewitching and evil medium… Often capable of making us disconnect from our reality better than any media offering “pretext” images… Radio can transport us into universes so real that it’s often troubling… Let’s be honest: which child did not hide his little receiver (in my day, we said transistor…) under his pillow to listen to a program in the dark behind his parent’s back… Now if that’s not immersion… Exaggeration?… Absolutely not…
Let’s remember the “War of the worlds” that was aired by Orson Welles’ “Mercury Theatre in The Air” in October 1938 (http://www.mercurytheatre.info)… A key moment in the history of radio, and of media in general, but beyond that, of 20th century History. Let’s recall what happened…
Before writing and directing Citizen Kane at the young age of 26, Welles was specialized in classic radio drama, structured in a linear way, as episodes or as units. The universes of Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker and a few other great writers fueled his writing of prodigious adaptations. Then, one day, a stroke of pure genius hit him… He created the transmedia of his time… Live, participative, with the evolution of content depending on the audience’s feedback, feedbacks of pure panic that he probably didn’t expect himself… A part of America ended up on the road that night, running away from the confirmed invasion of creatures from Mars… The switchboards of police and fire stations were saturated, panic took over the hospitals… Everything was set into motion, it was almost too beautiful to be true…
Today, initiatives like Arte Radio or France Culture are distant descendants of Welles’ genius innovation. You can search through:
- http://sites.radiofrance.fr/chaines/france-culture/nouveau_prog/creation/present.php
Indeed, when we talk about audiovisual media today, we have a tendency to think more of “visual” then of “audio”… But it would be unfortunate if creators don’t use this fantastic and wonderfully light tool that is radio to reinvent the form of participative writing.
Who, tomorrow, will have Welles’ audaciousness and know how to give transmedia this level of recognition?…
And if you are part of the lucky few who haven’t yet enjoyed the recording of Welles’ original version, don’t deny yourself this pleasure. But first, turn off the lights and create silence around you.
