The idea of a book, TV show, or movie having deeper world-building through extending the story or universe across different mediums has interested me for a few years now. As part of my MFA, I undertook a project to create a website based on the manuscript I was writing. The site (haptai.com) is for the services offered by mega-corporation (then called ParticCorp, now called Omnia) that dominates the world in future Boston. A Sub-site (archive.haptai.com) site contains elements of ‘found footage’ by way of recovered site entries and posts (video, audio, and text) from the universe prior to the floods that consume Boston (and the East Coast of the US) and about twenty years prior to the start of the novel.
I wasn’t completely aware when I created the site and completed the project that I was creating transmedia. The idea of expanding the universe and understanding of the world the story is set in was a big draw for me. I love shows like Mr Robot and Westworld and was inspired to create something akin to those immersive sites.
As part of the site, I had business cards made up that could be left places as part of a marketing campaign (example at the top of the page). I’m in the process of devising how else to expand the world of my story through different mediums concentrating on character, setting, and plot.
Liz Culver 