Widening landscapes of TV storytelling in the digital media environment of the 21st century (original) (raw)
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Abstract In this paper I intend to revisit from a critical perspective some issues related to the contemporary landscape of fictional TV storytelling: scripted shows whose consumption and reputation have witnessed significant changes in the 21st century. My interest focuses on what I call “narrative plenitude”, the exceptional profusion of serialized fictions that are now available, anytime, anywhere, on the myriad of channels and platforms in the ever-expanding media environment. In this context, priority attention will be given in the article to the case of Netflix. In particular, I will try to unravel the coexisting mixture of gains and losses embodied in key aspects of the modus operandi embraced by the world’s leading streaming platform. Then I will address the problematic readiness of contemporary television studies to concentrate a great deal of scholarship on just a select body of scripted shows, which come under the category of ‘prestige TV’. I join the dialogue among others in the field who take issue with patterns of choice largely based on the questionable cultural divide between quality niche TV and ordinary broadcast programming. Furthermore, I make the claim that this tendency fails to account for the unprecedented amplification of the contemporary landscape of storytelling, as if television studies “can’t see the forest for the trees”. Keywords: storytelling system; narrative plenitude; Netflix; prestige TV
A Storytelling Machine: The Complexity and Revolution of Narrative Television (Between, 2016)
García, Alberto N. "A Storytelling Machine: The Complexity and Revolution of Narrative Television." Between [Online], 6.11 (2016): n. pag. Web. 24 Jun. 2016, 2016
This article analyses how TV fiction, in the last fifteen years, has become one of the most stimulating and successful vehicles to narrate complex and daring stories. The article is divided into two parts. In the first, armed with narratological and poetic elements, we will define the serial story, stripping away the husk of its principal forms and explain why it is now the best media for telling lengthy stories. In the second part we will pause to examine specifically variations on the traditional story: alternate universes, time jumps, coincidence between diegetic time in the story and real time and other mechanisms that have made television fiction the most daring way for telling stories.
Ursula Ganz-Blättler. “Signs of time: Cumulative narrative in broadcast television fiction”
2020
TV series are one of the very few ‘traditional’ media formats that continue to thrive in the current media landscape. In Europe, the format of TV series (i.e. serial audio-visual fictional narratives) has been surging for some time in terms of numbers of suppliers and consumers, as well as in shares of distributors’ offerings and consumers’ media use. Homegrown high-end original productions have become ‘calling cards’ for suppliers active in the European market(s). Subscription-based, pay-per-view, and advertising-based networks, as well as public service suppliers order and finance serial fiction. International players like Netflix, HBO, Sky, and Amazon invest in original (co-) productions in many countries. From a media economic perspective, the market entry of more and more ‘big tech’ and conglomerate players into the production and distribution of TV series is another indicator of the importance of the product TV series. The success of the format warrants extensive investigation...
Television drama series and transmedia storytelling in an era of convergence
Northern Lights, 2016
In the past three decades television has undergone a unique transformation. Digitalization and the integration of traditional media and telecommunication have also allowed films and television programmes to be marketed and used on other technical platforms besides conventional cinema and television. Individual films and television programmes must therefore both be considered in the context of multimedia offerings. Associated social media activities and websites (including webisodes or games) are more and more important for the production and distribution of television drama series. In an era of media convergence single media outlets like television converge with online media. Transmedia storytelling where a story is told on as many platforms as possible to attract audiences is mainly related to television drama series. Based on the analysis of several transmedia outlets of television drama series the article will show how production companies, networks and other TV channels attempt to involve viewers via transmedia storytelling in a fragmented media market with a fragmented audience in creating a 360-degree experience.
Communication & Society, 2021
This article presents an analysis of the original content of fictional series created by one of the leading companies in the streaming television market, Netflix. This work aims at offering an in-depth study of the original series of the company Netflix, which will allow to classify these contents according to their strategic nature and, secondly, to offer a formal taxonomic overview on them. In addition, their forms, formats, languages, genres and thematic descriptors are analysed in order to establish a taxonomy for the classification of Netflix’s original content. To this end, this article is based on a quantitative method with qualitative contributions, adopting a descriptive but also exploratory approach. Its sample is made up of 490 series available on the Spanish version of the platform from its beginning in 2013 to 2019. The results lead to find a commitment to the production of fictional series with a global nature, but also focused on the local through alliances and productive methods with local businesses. Furthermore, the importance of in-house production as a present and medium-term future strategy is highlighted, together with the commitment to the division of production languages, considering local languages as a resource for the acceptance of the products. As for the predominant formats, a new trend marks how new audiovisual products are created by focusing, among other things, on reducing the duration and longevity of the series broadcast by the company.
TV Got Better: Netflix’s Original Programming Strategies and the On-Demand Television Transition
Media Industries Journal
This paper analyzes the promotional strategies of Netflix, arguing that the company reinforces what Pierre Bourdieu has called the discourses of distinction. In particular, the streaming service highlights what Tryon calls the promises of plenitude, participation, prestige, and personalization. Netflix highlights these discourses in part through its ongoing engagement with subscription cable channel HBO, and in part through promotional materials such as its TV Got Better campaign, which sought to naturalize viewing practices such as binge watching as being part of a technological and narrative cutting edge.
Cinephile 9.1: Reevaluating Television
Cinephile, 2013
Television has reached a juncture. No longer are we required to gather around a communal TV set on a daily, or weekly basis to consume our desired programing. With content at our fingertips, televi- sion is being repurposed for the digital age. We can now decide when, where, and how to watch our favourite shows. Viewing practices span from the traditional format—tuning in regularly to watch one episode at a time—to the binge-viewing, or marathoning of seasons on a tablet, or cellphone. In addition, viewers can now interact with their shows via social media outlets, which provide an open plat- form for debate, analysis, contextualization, and fandom. Not only are the consumption methods and the reception of television in flux, but the narrative format itself is becoming increasingly complex. Since the early 2000s, with the onset of television shows such as Sex and The City (1998-2004), The Sopranos (1999-2007), and The Wire (2002-2008), the medium, which has been widely re- garded as subpar to film, seems to have entered its renais- sance. While many past television shows have adhered to the procedural format, which favors stand-alone, or case of the week episodes over character development and multi-episode/season story arcs, modern television dramas such as Mad Men (2007-), Game of Thrones (2011-), Justified (2010- ), and Breaking Bad (2008-2013) find common ground through their complex characters, intricate plotlines, puzzling narrative devices, and oftentimes controversial themes and content. We are now forced to confront the ways the onset of the digital age has altered, and will continue to alter the medium. This issue of Cinephile seeks to reevaluate the current state of modern serialized television shows, specifically calling attention to our present moment in history. Are cinematic traditions altering the ways we as viewers engage with television content? To what point are the boundaries between TV and film being blurred? How does the social media sphere impact the medium? Is there a link between narrative complexity and the prolonged success of a series?To open, Rachel Talalay comments on the current state of modern television production as seen from a director’s point of view. Talalay sheds light on the easily overlooked production process and calls for a new model that gives new talent, and female directors in particular, the opportunity to prove themselves. This is followed by Michael L. Wayne’s discussion of post-racial ideologies as a means of challeng- ing colourblind racism in prime time cable drama. Wayne examines the relationship between moral standing and race, arguing that modern audiences are often forced to identify with overtly prejudice characters. Graeme Stout analyzes the narrative intricacies of the short-lived AMC show Rubicon and reflects on how the form of the show relates to Eco’s theory of the paranoid viewer. Maria San Filippo’s analysis of Louie and In Treatment takes note of television’s current identity crisis in the wake of the post-network era. San Filippo specifically pays attention to the minimalist aesthetic and its relation to on-screen representations of middle-aged masculinity, thus addressing how serial television and mil- lennial manhood are straining to survive. Jason Mittell unearths the serial past of David Lynch’s Mullholland Drive, calling attention to how the film evolved from a failed television series into a feature film haunted by its production history. Lastly, we have included a brief translated piece by the late Mark Harris that fittingly explores the art of film and television translation. The article, originally written by Patricia de Figueirédo, discusses the technical constraints and restrictions that adaptors face when dubbing or subti- tling for film. De Figueirédo has graciously agreed for us to publish her work in this issue. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our devoted Cinephile family for all of their efforts and continuous encouragement with this issue. Firstly, we would like to acknowledge our editorial team: Peter Lester, Chelsea Birks, Dana Keller, Kevin Hatch, and Kelly St-Laurent; The Department of Theatre and Film Studies; and our faculty advisor, Lisa Coulthard. We would also like to extend our gratitude to Babak Tabarraee for his efforts in bringing Mark’s In Memoriam piece to light; Shaun Inouye for his masterful design and layout skills; and Joshua M. Ferguson for his rigorous fundraising efforts. Finally, we would like to thank our featured photographer, Max Hirtz, for all of his time, patience, and talent. Without all of you, this issue would not have made it past the pilot. —Andrea Brooks & Oliver Kroener
Super Size Stories. Narrative Strategies in Contemporary TV Series - «Cinergie» n. 11 giugno 2017
This paper starts by claiming that the amount of narrative time is one of the distinctive features by virtue of which TV series are treated as a self-standing appreciative kind in contemporary culture. As suggested by Jason Mittell, time is constitutive of TV seriality: " a series is a cumulative narrative that builds over time " and also " time is an essential element of all storytelling but is even more crucial for television " or " seriality itself is defi ned by its use of time " 1. There are so many contemporary series considered experimental in time structure that, as Melissa Ames puts it, " although temporal play has existed on the small screen prior to the twenty-fi rst century […] never before has narrative time played such an important role in mainstream television " 2. We will argue that this vast amount of time can confl ict with the structural constraints of formulaic narrative, especially from an Aristotelian perspective according to which a narrative is inherently a knot to be untied. More specifi cally, according to Aristotle, " Every tragedy is in part Complication and in part Denouement; the incidents before the opening scene, and often certain also of those within the play, forming the Complication; and the rest the Denouement ". We will show that, with respect to this issue, contemporary TV series primarily face two options, which we will call the super-knot and the super-knotty rope. We will argue that these two options are not suffi cient in order to fi ll the TV series' amount of time. Further fi lling strategies are needed. We will present what we consider the two main fi lling strategies in contemporary TV series, namely the fl ash strategy 3 and the strand strategy 4. Finally, we will argue that these strategies can raise issues that risk to make the narrative experience of contemporary TV series less valuable. We will do so with particular reference to heavily serialized shows both in US and in Europe.
House of Netflix: Streaming media and digital lore
This article focuses on the emergence of a nascent streaming industry. The media industry studies conceptualization of “industry lore” can be read during times of transition for media industries. Streaming lore is a re-articulation of existing industry lore accompanying the advent of streaming technology and distribution. Contemporary streaming acts as a site of rupture, wherein industry discourses related to digital media are rendered visible. The article proposes three categories of emergent streaming lore and analyzes their relation to a growing streaming media industry. These categories include (a) Netflix as “quality” streams, (b) the algorithmic audience, and (c) cord-cutters and cord-nevers.
Serial skipper: Netflix, binge-watching and the role of paratexts in old and new ‘televisions’
Participations: Journal of Audience and Reception Studies, 2019
The rise of alternative distribution channels for TV has popularised the intensive consumption of TV series. The term binge-watching is now strongly associated with the reception of television shows available on streaming platforms, with Netflix representing the most notable provider. This particular service encourages ‘marathon viewing’ as standard user behaviour. It does so by an interface that represents a television series as one among countless others to be binged as soon and as fast as possible, presenting the user with a steady supply of new content to follow the last binge. Even more significantly, Netflix endorses marathon viewing through its playback mode, wherein various kinds of paratexts deriving from linear television are systematically omitted (like the episodic recap), minimised (like programming links in-between broadcasts), or rendered expendable (like opening credits by options such as the ‘skip intro’-button). These paratexts have long been an integral part of television and of the TV series itself. On Netflix, they are re-introduced and reshaped as part of an ongoing process of changing televisual protocols in the context of new technologies and industry developments. By the systematic reduction and skipping of those serial links and thresholds – which provide new kinds of televisual flow – Netflix implements specific guidelines and viewing instructions which, while not totally dissimilar from those associated with traditional television, help to transform the medium of television. My case study of Netflix Germany’s1 interface and treatment of paratexts analyses how crucial textual elements of traditional television programming are reworked in order to re-educate the platform’s users to become media bingers and savvy ‘serial skippers.’