Storytelling in the Media Convergence Age Exploring Screen Narratives

This collection investigates the relationship between contemporary screen narratives and their varied contexts of production, circulation and reception, exploring storytelling practices across a range of different media and national and institutional sites. While convergence and globalisation blur the boundaries between media and nations, it is still vital to account for the persistent national, medium, institutional and technological specificities that give rise to different narrative forms. The chapters study the ways in which these factors shape events, characters and settings; inform modes of narrative presentation; influence, via paratextual surround, potential interpretations; and accord certain stories more value than others. The authors use case studies drawn from a range of media, from Hollywood franchises to digital comics, and a range of countries, from United States to Japan. In connecting contemporary screen media narratives to their contexts, this book offers a new perspective on recent transformations in screen media culture.

Roberta Pearson is Professor of Film and Television Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK. She has published numerous books, book chapters and journal articles. These include the edited collection, Reading Lost: Perspectives on a Hit Television Show, and most recently the co-authored book, Star Trek and American Television.

Anthony N. Smith's research connects media texts to their industrial conditions. He has published articles on US television storytelling practices in Television and New Media and Critical Studies in Television. He received his PhD in Film and Television Studies from the University of Nottingham, UK.

List of Figures and Tables
Notes on Contributors
Introduction: The Contexts of Contemporary Screen Narratives: Medium, National, Institutional and Technological Specificities; Anthony N. Smith and Roberta Pearson
PART I: PRODUCTION
1. Super Mario Seriality: Nintendo's Narratives and Audience Targeting within the Video Game Console Industry; Anthony N. Smith
2. The Muddle Earth Journey: Brand Consistency and Cross-Media Intertextuality in Game Adaptation; Claudio Pires Franco
3. Distortions in Spacetime: Emergent Narrative Practices in Comics' Transition from Print to Screen; Daniel Merlin Goodbrey
4. Lengthy Interactions with Hideous Men: Walter White and the Serial Poetics of Television Antiheroes; Jason Mittell
5. It's a Branded New World: The Influence of State Policy upon Contemporary Italian Film Narrative; Gloria Dagnino
6. Memento in Mumbai: 'A Few More Songs and a Lot More Ass Kicking'; Iain Robert Smith
7. A Case of Identity: Sherlock, Elementary and Their National Broadcasting Systems; Roberta Pearson
PART II: CIRCULATION AND RECEPTION
8. Storyselling and Storykilling: Affirmational/Transformational Discourses of Television Narrative; Matt Hills
9. Whistle While You Work: Branding, Critical Reception and Pixar's Production Culture; Richard McCulloch
10. Hidden in Plain Sight: UK Promotion, Exhibition and Reception of Contemporary French Film Narrative; Cécile Renaud
11. Serial Narrative Exports: US Television Drama in Europe; Alessandro Catania
12. Multimedia Muppets: Narrative in 'Ancillary' Franchise Texts; Aaron Calbreath-Frasieur