by Jean-Yves Le Moine, published on 9.12.2009

The conception of a transmedia story first begins with the story, a good story. But there’s not only the story, there’s the universe, there’s the way that the story will be developed through time and in the media, “controlled” by the creator or not. With one story, a wonderful storyteller can keep you hooked for a whole hour when your best friend would be putting you to sleep in five minutes.

When we conceive a transmedia story, the way of telling it, the development of the story through time and space are an integral part of the story. The use of this support or that to tell each part of the story, the result of the audience’s contributions, reintegrated in a certain part of the TV show, the ARG or the film, there are many ways of going about it, but the viewing conditions of the story is an essential element.

In the same way, when we tell a story at the movies, the position of the camera, the writing and the editing are part of the story. From Orson Welles to Max Pecas, the way of telling these stories but also the themes that are touched upon and their depth varies.

A transmedia story has other structuring elements beyond a careful camera and editing; the way in which the audience will approach the content, on which media, at which time, in which conditions, all these elements must be considered. Some are controllable within certain limits by the transmedia creator, others aren’t.

The mastery of these viewing conditions is also a condition for the success of a work.

But this integration, which is both horizontal and vertical, must be done as early as possible. The creator must think of his story and the ways of telling it from the beginning in the most transversal way possible. This is why many work in teams from the very beginning of a project: scriptwriters, specialists of web technologies and mobiles, uses specialists and professionals of classic viral marketing. But how to work and create when there are so many people?

In most cases, the project is carried by a main creator who depends on other more specialized competencies who know how to work transversally and who accept to do it from the very beginning in order to weave the tightest fabric for an excellent transmedia project.