Go ahead, pick a side! 

PRODUCERS

​

CONSUMERS

CITIZEN KANE

Citizen Kane is widely perceived to be ‘timeless’, ‘one of the best films from its era’, or even ‘one of the best films ever made’. Because of this, this film from 1941 is still watched by many people today, and continues to inspire and impress its audience.

Our point however is not what impression this film makes, but how this impression is made.

How many ways are there to experience the story of Citizen Kane? What different channels and media can you turn to as a viewer? What tools do you have to interact with the story?
 

Even though you can find numerous reviews and analyses of the film, the only way you can truly experience this story is by watching the movie.

No matter how engaging this film is, how it holds your attention; the film is still presented through a one-way media channel and the viewer is only the receiver of a message. There is no interaction or participation; the viewer cannot engage the story or relive it through different media channels.

LION KING

Today, many fans still see this film as one of the best Disney films ever made. As you probably know, the film wasn’t the only medium that told Simba’s story. After the success of the film, Disney produced two sequels, spin-off cartoon series, a musical and multiple games. Besides this, the Lion King characters were made into McDonald’s toys, stuffed animals, and appeared on thousands of posters, clothing, mugs, and so on.

All of this merchandise causes people of all

ages to relive the story of the Lion King.

However, The Lion King’s media products

that have been produced during the last two

decades, don’t actually add anything to the

original The Lion King’s story. After watching

the movie, all the gaps are filled; all of your

questions are answered; you know all there is

to know.

THE MATRIX

Another movie franchise that is worth

looking at in regards to convergence culture

is the Matrix trilogy. Even though movie-

wise the story of the Matrix is spread over

three films, people can experience the story

of the Matrix through a number of channels:

not just the three movies, but also through

a website, nine animated short films,

comics, and a number of videogames. At

first sight, this just seems to be an

extensive franchise, spread over different

media channels. So how is this any different from another franchise, like the Lion King?

In regards to convergence culture, there is actually a huge difference, and it all comes down to how the story can be experienced through the different channels. As a consumer, people can watch the movie, emerge themselves in the Matrix videogames or engage other fans through online communities and blogs. In all these cases they will be able to comprehend the story that is presented to them, even if they are not familiar with other elements of the franchise. However, the meaning that people create through the different parts of the franchise is not entirely the same; the different parts complement each other. With each part of the franchise that the consumer engages with, a more complete picture of what The Matrix is about is created. This is what is called transmedia storytelling.

“The consumer who played the game or watched the shorts will get a different experience of the movies that one who has simply had the theatrical movie experience. The whole is worth more than the sum of its parts.” – Henry Jenkins

You could also say that as a result of transmedia storytelling, consumers have to change from a passive to an active audience: if they want to grasp the complete story, consumers will have to actively seek out all the content across the different media channels.
 

CITIZEN KANE

From a cinematographer’s perspective, Citizen Kane is noteworthy in a number of ways. It is often mentioned as an example of an early Hollywood film that broke with a number of Hollywood conventions. Both in the perspective of storytelling as in the way certain scenes are shot.

But no matter how revolutionary this film was in some aspects, other aspects are still bound to the limits of the era the film was produced in, and conventions that were dominant at the time.

                                In the decade that Orson Welles produced Citizen Kane -but also

                                in the decades that followed- the producer and the director made

                                the film, and the studio had to decide how best to promote the

                                film and what channels to use. These were two separate processes;

                                the story of the movie was only told through film. All the other

                                channels -like radio and print- were used for promotion purposes

                                only.

                                So while this movie is revolutionary in a number of ways, it is

                                only so within the technological compounds of its era, making it

                                still ‘just a movie’ in the sense that its message is delivered

                                through a single medium.

LION KING

This highly successful film was produced during the Disney Renaissance, and remains the highest-grossing traditionally animated film in history according to research by Box Office Mojo. For years, the Walt Disney Company has been finding new ways to tell the famous story of The Lion King. The merchandise is there to promote the different media productions of this timeless classic: the two sequels, the spin-off cartoon series, the musical and the multiple games.

The Company wants to keep The Lion King alive

by using different media to bring the story to the

audience, like the musical and the games, and

make money at the same time. After all, the Walt

Disney Company is a company, which needs to

produce revenue to exist.

THE MATRIX

When producer duo the Wachowskis set out to

create The Matrix, they were not planning to

create just a movie; the story was bigger than

that, and encompassed the entire ‘world’ that

this story takes place in. The story of the Matrix

is told through three movies, animated shorts,

comics and videogames.

What separates what the Wachowskis did from

other franchises, is that they did not simply

use different media to tell the same story,

or use franchising as a means to just ‘cash in’.

They used what is called transmedia storytelling:

each different media product in the franchise adds

to the overall story.

To create this world of the Matrix, the Wachowskis

had to collaborate with a number of different artists,   The Matrix Franchise, click for more

animators and game developers, who all had a high

degree of creative freedom. So in order to create their story, the Wachowskis had to give up some control over the content and the creative process. This is called collaborative authorship.