The 'Prometheus' (2012) transmedia campaign
https://www.youtube.com/embed/XqW4JgI4-Vw
Background: "Ignition, RSA Films, and 20th Century Fox worked together to build a multi-phased effort that introduced fans and new audiences to the rich story world around Prometheus through a potent mix of social, traditional and transmedia storytelling. We launched Peter Weyland's TEDTalk from 2023 at TED2012, partnered with both Mashable and Verizon FIOS to debut a David 8 product commercial and joined forces with Microsoft to unlock an exclusive clip from the film on stage during Microsoft's E3 X-Box Smartglass announcement event. The campaign hub was designed and executed as a fully-realized company website, which spiraled out additional content, interactive experiences, and original videos. Each event was supplemented through puzzles, social media cross-pollination, and other tactics that ensured maximum visibility and engagement over the course of the campaign. The campaign for Prometheus has been held up as a benchmark for digital marketing by Forbes, Mashable, and Fast Company, among others" (Boes, N., Saloj, W., & Webster, M., 2023). Discussion: "Alien, like Star Wars, is what we can now call a 'transmedia franchise'. It has pioneered ways of expanding storytelling across media boundaries. ... Though initially conceived as a cash-in on the popularity of science fiction in the aftermath of Star Wars, Alien grew from a hugely successful film into not only a franchise but a whole universe. ... One of the extras on the 2010 Alien Anthology Blu-ray collection was a special feature called Weyland-Yutani Inquest: Nostromo Dossiers. This was a collection of corporate documents detailing the professional lives of the Nostromo spaceship crew. ... Similarly, transmedia marketing campaigns have grown to include fictional evil corporate websites, exclusive events at conventions, personalised advertising and franchise universe websites. We argue that Alien’s transmedia marketing is particularly captivating because it is closely linked to the film’s production. As a result, these marketing campaigns are arguably becoming as creative and entertaining as the films themselves" (Frame, G., & Abrams, N. (2023). Simon: "Prometheus remains a fascinating case study. Its ambition to use transmedia storytelling to enrich its universe was admirable, but the execution faltered. For fans who connected the dots, the experience was rewarding. For others, it was alienating—no pun intended. In hindsight, had Ridley Scott and his team integrated more of these materials into the film itself or made their existence more apparent, the reception might have been very different. This is a reminder for storytellers: innovation is powerful, but only when it enhances the story for all audiences, not just the select few who dig deep enough to find it" (Finnegan, J. (2024). Point: As Anna Wróblewska explains: "'We can define transmedia as projects that use a variety of media platforms, both in the field of new media and traditional channels of communication. Transmedia distinguish themselves from the usual interactive projects mainly in the fact that each new medium contains new content, and the different stories told in all of them are combined in a harmonious, non-contradictory whole. Transmedia projects contain a lot of subjectivity, allowing for storytelling from many points of view. As a whole, therefore, a transmedia project consists of: ilm, games, books, websites, and social media sites, but also the online world: urban games, concerts, and even theme parks'" (Przegalinska, A., 2015). Related: Luke Scott (2012). 'TED Talk 2023' http://newpractices.co.uk/clipping/#lpYUW0ekPSA Related: Ridley Scott (2012). 'Prometheus' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHcHYisZFLU&t=6s http://newpractices.co.uk/worldbuilding/#HHcHYisZFLU https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prometheus_(2012_film) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/ Also: 'Weyland Industries Testimonial (2012)' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2pMXsYXZyQ Also: 'Prometheus Transmission' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2gh_B4UxoQ Also: 'QUIET EYE | Elizabeth Shaw' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKaHud-f_Ss Also: 'Mission | Project Prometheus' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbcd-KVW3Ng Bibliography: Frame, G., & Abrams, N. (2023, May 23). 'How Alien mutated from a sci-fi horror film into a multimedia universe'. The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/AB.xwqqjt3vu https://theconversation.com/how-alien-mutated-from-a-sci-fi-horror-film-into-a-multimedia-universe-204567 https://player.vimeo.com/video/102373214 Boes, N., Saloj, W., & Webster, M. (2023). 'Prometheus: Transmedia Campaign'. Behance. https://www.behance.net/gallery/14357945/Prometheus-Transmedia-Campaign Przegalinska, A. (2015). 'Prometheus – A Transmedia Campaign': 79–89. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/310508254_Prometheus_-_A_Transmedia_Campaign https://www.academia.edu/17124865/_Prometheus_A_Transmedia_Campaign_ Walden, K. (2023). “Building Better Worlds”: The Rise of Alien’s Online Marketing Campaigns. Alien Legacies: The Evolution of the Franchise. N. Abrams and G. Frame, Oxford University Press. https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/id/eprint/14299/ https://uhra.herts.ac.uk/id/eprint/14299/1/_Building_Better_Worlds_The_Rise_of_Alien_s_Oline_Marketing_Campaigns.pdf Finnegan, J. (2024, November 25). "Why Prometheus Failed, or How to Use Transmedia Storytelling in Cinema". OutWrd. https://www.outwrdplus.com/post/why-prometheus-failed-or-how-to-use-transmedia-storytelling-in-cinema
