#rtftransmedia

Master Yoda. That badass little green guy we all know and love. Even people who have never seen Star Wars know his name. However, not even the most devout of Star Wars aficionados could tell you the name of Yoda’s race. In “legend-izing” most of Yoda’s backstory there is now even less we can draw from to try and determine more about our favorite tiny green Jedi. However, this curse can be just as much of a blessing, giving fans a huge area of unknown to play about in. But what happens when things that are created within that unknown are showcased and supported by Lucasfilm?

For example, art-awakens.tumblr was created to house a Force Awakens fan art contest run by Lucasfilm. Their page consists of fan art for the new movie, ranging in many different styles and levels of expertise. However, this concept art of Yoda, created by Marco Teixeira, in particular stuck out to me, because unlike every other picture that was a homage to the future film by recreating images from the various other films and trailer, this picture was something that according to Lucasfilm doesn’t exist. Stuck in the blog equivalent of canonical purgatory, where does this promoted yet non-canonical piece fall?

In her blog post, Melanie Kohnen compares the strengths and weaknesses of official and fan produced transmedia. She goes about this by looking at official The Hunger Games ARG (Alternate Reality Game) and the fan produced Panem October. She argues that while the official ARG has more resources to pull from, and is a legitimate source, it is limited to what it can reveal (as to not dip into movie profits) and it “cannot stray too far from ‘canon.’”

“Working within these constraints leads to transmedia elements that focus on exploring places and settings rather than on expanding plot or characterizations” (Kohnen).

Fan produced work on the other hand is free to dabble in the world of possibility, as well as focusing in on characters and their relationships more. However “their creations are not officially sanctioned and often exist in a legal gray area, and they don’t usually have access to the resources that fuel official transmedia” (Kohnen).

“...These divergent sets of constraints in official and fan-produced transmedia enable new and largely complementary perspectives on the world of [the story]. This co-existence is less harmonious when fan productions appear too “official,”...” (Kohnen).

Which bring us back to the art-awakens tumblr and our non-canonical little friend. This tumblr in itself is a meshing of these two worlds. On one hand it is sanctioned and funded by Lucasfilm, but on the other it has been birthed from the minds of fans. Granted Lucasfilm does get to decide what goes up on the blog, but in choosing this particular piece they themselves have blurred the line of official and fan produced by making the fan produced (somewhat) official.

Kohnen, Melanie. "Creating a Spark: Official and Fan-Produced Transmedia for The Hunger Games." Antenna RSS. N.p., 11 May 2012. Web.

     Dr. Scott’s idea of the Fanboy Auteur differs from Gray’s Undead Author in a couple of major ways. One of those ways is that, where the Undead Author has a high status in relation to the text and chooses to shed that image for an apparent alignment with the fans, the Fanboy Auteur gains that status because they are aligned with the fans.

     Whether or not JJ Abrams fits this part of the bill is debatable, and surely answerable by someone who knows more of his career history. However, the other major difference between Scott’s theory and Gray’s is that where the Undead Author seemingly sheds their corporate/industry status to align with the fans, the Fanboy Auteur balances both aspects, each with the same weight of importance to their job.

     This interview for collider.com paints Abrams heavily in that light. He begins by asserting his status as a fan first thing, with the interviewer reminding the audience of his attendance at conventions before he had the episode VII gig, and Abrams talking about taking his children along and sharing his love of the series with them. Both of their statements serve to deepen the authenticity of Abrams fan status.

     But despite his overt status as a fan as invested in Star Wars as the rest of us, they go on to talk about how he is in fact going to be an executive producer on episodes VIII and IX, followed by a brief conversation about how he is doing all of this while still at the helm of the newest sequence of Star Trek movies. If you take away the fact that these are two of the most beloved sci-fi universes of all time, you remember that he is at the head of these massive, high-profile, big-budget blockbusters, which is inseparable from the corporate side of things.

     Just in case the audience doesn’t see that he can handle both, he finishes off with a great speech that, if you are a fan, you will recognize as a subtle and friendly bashing of the prequels. He is asked about the balance of CGI and practical effects in the upcoming film and delivers exactly what the fans want to hear: he is doing everything he can to get us back to the real feel of the original trilogy that we fell in love with. Real sets, costumes, sunlight. But he is also sure to emphasize that, while he is using CGI to edit more out than in, it is still a major part of the film that makes it a step forward. What I get from this statement is that he is doing his best to bring a balance to the Force Awakens that will give both the fans and the industry as much of everything they could want from the film, which to me is both exciting, and proof that he fits at least part of the description of the Fanboy Auteur, courtesy of Dr. Scott.

Works Cited:

I mentioned this animated short to Dr. Scott, and since I know we have a few anime fans in the class, I thought I’d share.