SCP (Secure Contain Protect) Transmedia Storytelling

I think it’s safe to say that I have truly never thought about transmedia storytelling before in my life, and definitely have not looked at it as a technique that can be used as a form of marketing and tool for prolonged fandom. In the Origami Unicorn, Jenkins writes, “any given product is a point of entry into the franchise as a whole. Reading across the media sustains a depth of experience that motivates more consumption,” meaning that a transmedia story has an incredible level of spreadability with its many points of access.

An old style smiling theater mask, laying on red cloth.
SCP-035: Possessive Mask

One, mostly fan-made, transmedia story is that of the SCP program, a collection of information over multiple media about a government agency responsible for securing, containing, and protecting items and creatures of interest that exist on Earth and are not to be known of by the general public. These items are magical, cursed by ancients, time traveling, and sometimes mutli-dimensional. I’m not sure which came first, but I came into contact with the SCP world through their SCP directory wiki page. All subjects of SCP are in a numerical order, such as SCP-001 which would be the first ever SCP found and contianed. On this wiki page, one can look up any SCP read about what they are, how they were captured, day to day maintenance, as well as experiments performed on that specific SCP or between that SCP and others.

 

Photo is of a reptilian esque creature model, partially deformed, likely from testing attempts to destroy this hard to destroy reptilian creature.
SCP-682: Hard to Destroy Reptile

While this wiki page is fantastic, it lacks a lot of story, which leads one to creepypastas, a collection of fan and original creator made stories posted asĀ creepypastas online, and pretty soon following that a video game: SCP Containment Breach, a pc game that follows the story of an SCP guard on duty when an SCP breaches its container and releases many other SCP’s on its way out. Both of these in different ways add to the story created by the wiki of this government agency attempting to keep populations safe by securing away from them monsters and dangerous items, as well, of course, as items that are of particular interest to them, dangerous or not. I’m running out of time, so I’m going to end my post here. A thank you to James Hoon for doing his post on the Blair Witch Project that inspired me to also do something spooky, though slightly more fan based.

This picture is of a pure white skinned humanoid figure with crouched over with elongated legs and arms. The creature is known for hiding from the eyesight of other creatures, and becoming incredibly aggressive when looked at anyway.
SCP-096: The Shy Guy