In this article, we discuss the pragmatic relationship between semiosis and communication in order to characterize transmedia dynamics as a pragmatic offshoot of semiosis in media, a perspective that accounts for the incompleteness of the interpretant in its meditated actions. The theoretical approach is based on the communication perspective of the sign developed by Charles Sanders Peirce and his contemporary commentators, such as Parmentier (1985), Colapietro (1995, 2004), Santaella (1992, 1995, 2003, 2004), and Bergman (2000, 2003, 2007). In addition, transmedia dynamics are explored according to Jenkins (2001, 2006, 2013), Göran (2012), and Jansson (2013). 

We discuss the notion of media as sign mediation and transmedia dynamics as an improvement of semiosis, based on the pragmatic approach to the latter. Transmedia narratives refer to integrated media experiences that unfold across a variety of platforms, attracting audience engagement and offering new and pertinent content. Moreover, the productive incompleteness of the interpretant is taken as a conceptual parameter for understanding the way in which media consumption regulates habits and delineates the transmedia narrative in the sign process of network associations. In conclusion, we stress how the semiotic operation of representation, associating new signs and collateral experience, without losing the narrative reference (semiotic operation of determination), emerged in transmedia environments.

In August 2019, a large-scale series of fires struck the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and neighboring countries. The event generated great national, transnational (other Amazon region countries), and international commotion. The collective actions were visible in media environments such as WhatsApp, online social networks, and the press. The dispute of meanings was driven by media positioning from various and conflicting local identities, such as indigenous tribes, rural producers, prospectors, loggers, and environmentalists, as well as celebrities and representatives of international governments. Several hashtags permeated the collective actions in this scenario, including the hashtag #PrayforAmazonia, which reached online trending topics worldwide and mobilized international public opinion. The semantic ecosystem of hashtags in this context, including the ubiquitous #PrayforAmazonia, circumscribed political positions in media formats. In this chapter, we aim to understand how the dominant trajectories of hashtags related to the Amazon fires reveal the transmediatic dispute of meanings among different identities. The theoretical framework revolves around concepts such as transmedia identity transmedia mobilization and hashtag activism, and builds on the work done in these areas by previous authors. The methodological approach is twofold. First, there are the data mining procedures with automatic collection on Twitter and in public WhatsApp groups between August 11, 2019, the starting date of the fires, and September 11, 2019, a month later. The corpus is constituted by the trajectory of events connected to the fires, which are associated with hashtags in the national, transnational, and international Twitter trending topics, and related to the most shared themes and images in Brazil in the public WhatsApp groups. Second, there is the analytical phase in which the dispute of meanings is analyzed based on Peircean semiotics, considering the hashtag as a mediator sign of varying positions related to the interpretants generated and the collateral experiences that accompany them. The findings point into the direction that the communicational process permeated by hashtags has a transmediatic nature, singularized by the variety of interpretants generated in tune with the multiple identities that cross the event investigated.

This article discusses, from a Peircean semiotic perspective, (1) the logic of algorithms employed by Facebook to foster audience engagement as it relates to the spreadability of fake news in the context of transmedia journalism, and (2) how our own methods of fixation of beliefs influence this process. The methodological approach encompasses a qualitative conceptual study of Peircean semiotics, focusing on concepts such as truth, reality, representation, fixation of beliefs, and collateral experiences, as a proposition to investigate the relationship between algorithms, fake news, and transmedia journalism. The research findings point to the fact that social media networks such as Facebook have their share of responsibility in the current fake news furor, but audiences are also involved in this issue as their behavior and beliefs play an important role in feeding Facebook’s algorithms.

This essay presents a taxonomy for analyzing objects in films and applies it to the work of Canadian filmmaker Denys Arcand. This kind of analysis aims to identify and analyze how the most representative daily objects are used in films. The following three films were analyzed for the purposes of this paper: Le déclin de l´empire américain (The Decline of the American Empire, 1986), Les invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions, 2003) and L’âge des ténèbres (Days of Darkness, 2007). This research was developed at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada and supported by the Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada (DFAIT).

The focus of this essay is the analysis of daily objects as signs in films. Objects from everyday life acquire several functions in films: they can be solely used as scene objects or to support a particular film style. Other objects are specially chosen to translate a character’s interior state of mind or the filmmaker’s aesthetical or ethical commitment to narrative concepts. In order to understand such functions and commitments, I developed a methodology for film analysis which focuses on the objects. This research was developed at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, and it was supported by the Foreign Affairs and International Trade , Canada (DFAIT).

A principal motivação do presente artigo é apresentar, sinteticamente, o desenvolvimento de um diagrama tridimensional que, por meio do design, procura esclarecer e explicitar a complexidade das inúmeras tricotomias representativas da lógica recursiva da filosofia de Charles Sanders Peirce (1838-1914). O diagrama, desenvolvido no decorrer de nosso mestrado, partiu da constatação de inúmeros paralelismos entre as tríades peircianas e da conveniência em se desenvolver uma representação gráfica que congregasse todos esses conceitos. O diagrama foi constituído, inicialmente, pela representação bidimensional e evoluiu, naturalmente, para a tridimensionalidade, representando mais acuradamente a realidade. Toda a filosofia peirciana está calcada em relações triádicas e, ao estudarmos esse conjunto de tricotomias, nos surpreendemos com sua quantidade e constatamos os variados paralelismos existentes entre elas. Então, pareceu-nos relevante desenvolver uma representação gráfica que abarcasse todos esses conceitos e que não se restringisse apenas a demonstrar cada tríade isoladamente num triângulo eqüilátero, como ocorria comumente. Tais tríades se organizam e se apresentam num diagrama geométrico contido na geometria euclidiana. O diagrama nasce de associações, relaciona e integra idéias que já existiam previamente, mas que estavam desconectadas. Permite visualizar as relações entre as idéias, representando-as numa estrutura, de modo que facilite sua compreensão e explicite o que anteriormente não era claramente percebido.

The focus of this essay is the analysis of daily objects as signs in films. Objects from everyday life acquire several functions in films: they can be solely used as scene objects or to support a particular film style. Other objects are specially chosen to translate a character’s interior state of mind or the filmmaker’s aesthetical or ethical commitment to narrative concepts. In order to understand such functions and commitments, we developed a methodology for film analysis which focuses on the objects. Object interpretation, as the starting point of film analysis, is not a new approach. For instance, French film critic André Bazin proposed that use of object interpretation in the 1950s. Similarly, German film theorist Siegfried Kracauer stated it in the 1960s. However, there is currently no existing analytical model to use when engaging in object interpretation in film. This methodology searches for the most representative objects in films which involves both quantitative and qualitative analysis; we consider the number of times each object appears in a film (quantitative analysis) as well as the context of their appearance, i.e. the type of shot used and how that creates either a larger or smaller relevance and/or expressiveness (qualitative analysis). In addition to the criteria of relevance and expressiveness, we also analyze the functionality of an object by exploring details and specifying the role various objects play in films. This research was developed at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada and was supported by the Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada (DFAIT).

The article discusses the design praxis in relation to the Peircean semiotics. It approaches the product as sign. The product should communicate its functions; it should emit its message. Its own form communicates. So to transmit messages in a creative way through the design is necessary to work the associations by similarity more intensely to obtain object-signs riches in information and analogies.

This paper discusses design process as a creative activity along with conceptual correlations of the semiotics developed by Charles Sanders Peirce. The central aim of this paper is to examine one of the most important concepts in Peirce's theory related to design praxis: the concept of abduction. Abduction is the driving force behind creation and a way of producing new ideas. Peirce's original concept is fundamental in order to maintain constant commitment to innovation required by design. To transmit messages in a creative way it is more effi cient to intensely work with associations by similarity in order to obtain signs rich in information and analogies. Design communicates by all its constituent elements: shape, function, colour, material, technique, technology, etc. Therefore, signs of design share peculiar values of artistic signs as well as those of communicative ones. The associated information is as much aesthetic (shape) as it is semantic (content). The appropriation of Peircean concepts contributes to the understanding of the creative process, which in turn is crucial for understanding new possibilities by means of design.

In the context of the contemporary Russian mediascape, use of the term ‘multimedia’ is pervasive to the detriment of other terminology. Although multimedia refers to the combined use of text, audio and visual content, in Russia, this popular term seems to incorporate other assumptions, including the consideration of multimedia and other concepts such as cross-media and transmedia storytelling as synonyms. This terminological confusion could be explained by late modernization, as proposed by Russian sociologists (Dubin 2011; Gudkov 2011), and the low level of civic activity and narrow choices for community participation (Gambarato and Lapina-Kratasiuk 2016). Nevertheless, multiplatform media production and its technological advancements are part of the mediascape in Russia, which is gradually absorbing the term ‘transmedia storytelling’ and the conceptualization that the term depicts. In addition, related terms and practices, such as interactive documentary and slow journalism, are also now beginning to permeate the media realm in Russia. 

Este artigo objetiva investigar o percurso conceitual do trinômio signo-significação-representação, no decurso dos diferentes momentos filosóficos, pois torna-se fundamental para a compreensão do desenvolvimento científico dos processos significativos.

The focus of this essay is the analysis of daily objects as signs in films. Objects from everyday life acquire several functions in films: they can be solely used as scene objects or to support a particular film style. Other objects are specially chosen to translate a character’s interior state of mind or the filmmaker’s aesthetical or ethical commitment to narrative concepts. In order to understand such functions and commitments, I developed a methodology for film analysis which focuses on the objects. Object interpretation, as the starting point of film analysis, is not a new approach. For instance, French film critic André Bazin proposed that use of object interpretation in the 1950s. Similarly, German film theorist Siegfried Kracauer stated it in the 1960s. However, there is currently no existing analytical model to use when engaging in object interpretation in film. My methodology searches for the most representative objects in films which involves both quantitative and qualitative analysis; I consider the number of times each object appears in a film (quantitative analysis) as well as the context of their appearance, i.e. the type of shot used and how that creates either a larger or smaller relevance and/or expressiveness (qualitative analysis). In addition to the criteria of relevance and expressiveness, I also analyze the functionality of an object by exploring details and specifying the role various objects play in films. This research was developed at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada and was supported by the Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada (DFAIT).

Presentation of a taxonomy for analyzing objects in films and application to the work of Canadian filmmaker, Denys Arcand, aiming to identify and analyze how the most representative daily objects are used in films. The following three films are analyzed for the purposes of this paper: Le déclin de l’empire américain (The Decline of the American Empire, 1986), Les invasions barbares (The Barbarian Invasions, 2003) and L’âge des ténèbres (Days of Darkness, 2007).

The Sochi Project is a distinguished example of slow journalism. The project, a transmedia experience built by Dutch photographer Rob Hornstra and journalist Arnold van Bruggen, depicts the hidden story behind the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The project involves an interactive documentary, numerous print media extensions, digital publications, and an exhibition. Transmedia storytelling involves the unfolding of a storyworld in which instalments of the narrative are distributed across different media platforms to engage the audience and offer a meaningful experience. The case study paper aims to discuss the premises of slow journalism within the transmedia space as the theoretical background on which the analysis of the project is founded. The transmedia analysis delineates how The Sochi Project is developed and, consequently, how slow journalism can benefit from multiplatform media production. In conclusion, slow journalism is not necessarily attached to traditional media, but the opposite: it is aligned with the new possibilities offered by novel technologies. The relevance of the paper relies on the exemplification of slow journalism within transmedia dynamics.

This chapter discusses the participatory flair of transmedia journalism within the concreteness of urban spaces by examining The Great British Property Scandal (TGBPS), a transmedia experience designed to inform and engage the public and offer alternative solutions to the long-standing housing crisis in the United Kingdom. The theoretical framework is centered on transmedia storytelling applied to journalism in the scope of urban spaces and participatory culture. The methodological approach of the case study is based on Gambarato's (2013) transmedia analytical model and applied to TGBPS to depict how transmedia strategies within urban spaces collaborated to influence social change. TGBPS is a pertinent example of transmedia journalism within the liquid society, integrating mobile technologies into daily processes with the potential for enhanced localness, customization, and mobility within the urban fabric.

Theoretical and analytical considerations around the development of transmedia projects are evolving, but are still widely open, probably because transmedia storytelling is a relatively new subject that does not yet have its own specific methods and methodology of analysis. Moreover, transmedia projects are complex phenomena involving multiple dimensions, such as narrative, cultural context, marketing, business models, and legal framework. Currently, the usual approach gives place to methodologically separate analytical perspectives related to some of these dimensions. This article first discusses the elusive concept of transmedia storytelling and later presents analytical considerations outlining relevant aspects that can contribute to perceive the process of developing transmedia projects. The significance of these discussions is to address essential features of the design process behind transmedia projects and contribute to support the analytic needs of transmedia designers and the applied research in the interest of the media industry.

Transmedia storytelling refers to both fictional and non-fictional narratives that are expanded across different media platforms, inviting the audience to engage and migrate from one medium to another in order to undergo an enriched experience. As a relatively new and elusive subject, it does not have its own specific methods and methodology of analysis. This was my main motivation in proposing a transmedia project design analytical model, aimed at outlining relevant aspects that could contribute to understanding the process of the development of transmedia projects. First, this article succinctly presents the original analytical model to approach cases of transmedia projects and later applies it to Final Punishment, an award-winning multiplatform series produced in Brazil in 2009 by the Portuguese company BeActive – one of the pioneering transmedia production companies. The transmedia project focuses on eight women imprisoned in a fictitious high-security prison in Rio de Janeiro. It was possible to conclude that Final Punishment contributed to the development and dissemination of transmedia storytelling in Brazil, because in 2009 the country was just crawling in terms of multiplatform media production. Final Punishment gained notoriety not because of its rather limited range in terms of audience reach (a million viewers per episode and 115000 alternate reality game (ARG) players is not a great amount in such a large country as Brazil), but for its integrated and well-designed content which unfolded across multiple media platforms in a mixture of portmanteau and franchise transmedia type. The inconsistencies generated by the courageous initiative to produce a mockumentary in a country accustomed to mostly trusting everything that appears in the media, did not reduce the impact of Final Punishment.

“Icon”, from Greek word eikón (image), is normally understood as idol, exponent, something representative, notable. In Semiotics from Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), the concept of “icon” is quite particular and it makes reference to a specific type of sign: one that represents its object through relations of similarity or analogy, taking some of its essential quality. The iconic sign is related to design so far as the icon maintains with its object a relation of quality. The icon, in saying about the object, says something of itself, some of its characteristics are present in the product. The constitution of the icon by the similarity between the demonstrative materialities of the product defines its formal-aesthetic character of transmitting information. While employing the expression “design icons”, we attempt to refer to both meanings described above. We will mention great names of design in Germany and in Brazil but we will especially think the products of design as objects-icons, i.e. with qualitative characteristics inherent of the icon. We will consider the context of Bauhaus, the school that first established design as discipline, passing by its practical and philosophical methods, which inspired design in the world. The article culminates in the approach to the relations that we find between the iconic sign and the product of design, as well as to the specific references to German and Brazilian designers, icons of design.

The news coverage of the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics in Brazil encompassed multiple media platforms and the flow of information in the intersection between mass media (especially television) and social media (especially Snapchat and Instagram). The 2016 Rio Olympics was the Games of Snapchat stories and filters along with Instagram stories for news coverage. This chapter aims to investigate how transmedia features are structured and implemented in the news coverage of the 2016 Olympics by the official Brazilian broadcaster, Globo Network. The theoretical framework focuses on transmedia journalism of planned events, and the methodology is based on the analytical model for transmedia news coverage of planned events developed by Gambarato and Tárcia (2017). The research findings indicate that the coverage presented systematic content expanded throughout various media platforms (a core characteristic of transmedia journalism) but involved limited mechanisms of audience engagement, particularly in terms of citizen participation.

This paper is presented in order to understand the evolution of media dynamics in Brazil and investigate its perspectives for the future. Brazil, among the BRICS states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), will be our focus. From a mono-mediatic paradigm to a convergent one, Brazil is developing new practices in fictional and non-fictional media. Our hypothesis is that the transmedia storytelling strategy is both the reality – although still timid – and the most probable future scenario for media development in Brazil. We can assert that transmedia storytelling is a tendency. Therefore, we will explore examples of transmedia storytelling initiatives in Brazilian media mainly related to journalism, entertainment, branding and advertisement.

This book explores transmedia dynamics in various facets of fiction and nonfiction transmedia studies. Moving beyond the presentation/definition of transmediality as a field of study, the authors examine novel advancements in the theory, methodological development, and strategic planning of transmedia storytelling.

Drawing upon a theoretical foundation grounded in Peircean semiotics and reflected in the methodological approaches to fiction and nonfiction transmedia projects, the chapters delve into diverse case studies, such as The Handmaid’s Tale and mega sporting events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup, that illustrate the applications of our own methods and the implications of the logic behind transmedia dynamics. Expanding upon their own scholarship, the authors tackle the relevant topic of transmedia journalism, and present new approaches to transmedia strategic planning around educational initiatives in developing countries.

The book is an important reference for scholars and students of media studies, education, journalism and transmedia, and those interested in comprehending theory, methodological development, and strategic planning of transmediality.

The journalistic coverage of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, involved various media platforms and the flow of information between mass media and social media. This phenomenon is not new; therefore, the research question that motivates this article is to what extent transmedia strategies were effectively applied to the Russian official news coverage of the Sochi Olympic Games. The theoretical framework focuses on transmedia journalism, and the method is based on the analytical model regarding transmedia news coverage of planned events developed by Gambarato and Tárcia. The research findings demonstrate that, although transmedial features are incorporated in the Russian coverage, there is modest content expansion and limited engagement with the audience.

The news coverage of the 2014 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in Brazil encompassed various media platforms and the flow of information in the intersection between mass media (especially television) and social media (especially Twitter and Facebook). The research question that motivates this article is, ‘To what extent can Globo Network’s Brazilian coverage be characterized as a transmedia experience?’ The theoretical framework focuses on transmedia journalism, and the methodology is based on the analytical model regarding transmedia news coverage of planned events developed by Gambarato and Tárcia. The research findings demonstrate that the Globo Network coverage was modestly transmediatic, presenting mechanisms of audience engagement and limited expansion of content within technological advances. However, there was no solid transmedia plan aiming at articulating transmediality to build a universe designed within various integrated media platforms.

This article discusses the potentiality and risks of applying transmedia storytelling strategies in the realm of education. The empirical approach is used to analyze the experiential education project Robot Heart Stories, developed in 2011 in Canada and the United States. The theoretical framework focuses on the conceptualization of transmedia storytelling in the scope of education and the examination of the implications of gamification in this scenario. The methodological approach of the case study is based on the transmedia project design analytical model and applied to Robot Heart Stories to depict how the project was developed and demonstrate how transmedia strategies can potentially enhance education. The research findings point out that the transmedia strategies in the project placed the students in the center of the learning process and motivated them to learn. As the students were actual characters in the story, they had the opportunity to experience it, instead of just listening or reading it. The project nurtured skills, such as multimodal literacy, critical literacy, digital literacy, media literacy, visual literacy, information literacy, and game literacy, in addition to interpersonal communication skills and experiential learning.

The aim of this study is to discuss the potential ethical implications of the fictionalization of historical events represented across multiple media platforms – under the powerful umbrella of streaming media services en général and Netflix in particular – to examine the potential impact fictionalization has on what is culturally remembered and what is forgotten. Combining theoretical approaches from transmedia studies and cultural memory, the article addresses possible ethical conundrums involved in the Netflix historical drama series about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II: The Crown. Methodologically, the article is structured as a case study underpinned by the multidimensional analytical model proposed by Erll, chosen to explore how the blurred lines between fact and fiction of the flagship historical drama The Crown could have ethical implications for and impact on what is remembered and what is forgotten regarding recent memories of the British Royal Family. The research findings indicate that a deeper understanding of the conventions of the historical fiction genre, as well as the transmedial ramifications of streaming media productions, could potentially mitigate the ethical implications of The Crown, going above and beyond fact and fiction.

The aim of this study is to elucidate the mnemonic conditions established in the ever-increasing production and use of cultural memory in streaming media environments. To gain in-depth insight into how memories are selected for remembering and sorted for forgetting, the focus is the HBO Chernobyl mini-series. The case study of HBO?s Chernobyl is selected to qualitatively explore cultural memories across the series throughout the complexities of globally connected technologies and markets, where different cultures and languages, as well as media framings, come into play. Theoretically, the article is based on conceptualization of cultural memory studies and streaming media platforms. Methodologically, the case study is supported by the multidimensional analytical lens developed by Erll, adopted to elucidate how the cultural memory of Chernobyl is activated, mediated, and shaped by the streaming series. These three dimensions involve the intra-medial aspects of how memory is expressed within the representation itself, the inter-medial relations which designate the interplay with previous representations of the same historical event, and the pluri-medial contexts in which novels and films appear and exert their influence on cultural memory. In the three-dimension analysis, we address the construction and circulation of cultural memory from the production to the reception of the mini-series in multiple media environments and across borders, depicting the social, cultural, and political impact of streaming media productions.

Transmedia storytelling (TS) refers to media experiences expanded across multiple platforms. This article answers the research question about the specificity of Russian TS initiatives. The goal of the research is to emphasize the social and cultural contexts in which TS is inserted in Russia by reconstructing the panorama of the Russian transmedia landscape. The qualitative research is methodologically supported by an analysis of documents and materials regarding transmedia projects in Russia and presents an interdisciplinary theoretical approach (1) to explore the concept of TS and the variability of terminology in different contexts; (2) to situate the discussion of TS in the contemporary Russian media landscape and above all (3) to investigate examples of transmedia projects in Russia. Since TS is just emerging in Russian media and culture, the article concentrates on mapping the Russian transmedia landscape.