When an idea for a story was formed, it was then channeled into one single medium: a book, a movie, or a play, for example. But today, ideas are often pre-planned as multi-media enterprises right off the bat; sometimes before they're even fully-formed ideas. Take the latest Tron film: It's a movie, sure; but it's also a soundtrack, clothing, video games, books, toys and monorails. It's a logical enough formula, so I understand why it's so common. George Lucas has made a pretty penny from his Star Wars movies, but could fund his own country with the money he's made from "ancillary" toy sales.
This "branding" process has lead to the blurring of the lines between different forms of media. While an interesting idea in theory, in practice it often isn't very successful. Video Games based on Movies are rushed into production, and terrible. Likewise, Movies based on Video Games tend to pander too much to their core audience, and aren't willing to adapt to a different storytelling format. Could a pre-planned, multi-media concept ever truly work? I think so. The Wachowski Bros Matrix franchise was not entirely successful, but I admire the effort put into it. Along with the release of the final two Matrix films, they took a hands on approach to creating video game, anime, and comic book spin-offs. The level of detail, and appreciation for the respective mediums, that the Bros gave to these spin-offs allowed for some interesting interplay. The first game, titled Enter The Matrix, followed side characters Ghost and Niobe in their own, partially shot on film, storyline. It weaved in and out of the narrative of The Matrix Reloaded, to the point that the game become a sort of butt-kicking Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead. The anime spin-off, perhaps too cutely titled The Animatrix, fleshing out the backstory of the war with the machines, making it (in my mind) essential viewing for the overall enjoyment of the series.
The Matrix franchise functions so efficiently because the creators recognize the advantages of each individual medium. Enter The Matrix isn't just an adaptation of one of the films; it has it's own functioning narrative, and understands that a game needs to be slightly more action than dialogue heavy, and that said action needs to be "taken up a notch". In fact, a later game, The Matrix: Path Of Neo, ostensibly follows the story of the films, but feels free to make several notable variations. The Wachowskis appear in the game as 8-bit characters, explaining that the Gnostic Christian, self-sacrificial ending to the movies would be "lame" in a video game, so you end up fighting a gigantic, Constructicon-like version of Agent Smith.
Clearly, knowing the advantages and disadvantages of each medium is key. With that in mind, let's explore what types of stories are best realized in each format.
BOOKS:
Advantages - The ability to make plain a character's introspection, or to be the voice of an omniscient narrator. The magic of setting a scene using only paper and ink (or just bytes, perhaps). Books, having the ability to jump between time periods in a more fluid way than most mediums, can take place over the course of a day as easily as over the course of centuries. If you really want your audience to feel a deep, personal connection to your characters, it works well when your reader is relying only on descriptors, not pictures; it allows them the opportunity to fill in the blanks with little pieces of themselves. To have some small part in the character's creation. It's most likely the reason why you see people getting so heated over the casting of their favorite characters when novels are adapted into films.
Disadvantages - Anything that one would usually define as "action" takes a big hit. Seeing someone suddenly get karate chopped in the face has a lot more impact than reading "Woo raised his arm upwards, then brought it down upon Inspector Chan's nose with the full force of his body". It can also occasionally feel like explaining the world to a blind man. A reader could be imagining that the main character looks like Tom Cruise, until you casually mention that he has a bulbous nose and a huge scar on his face somewhere around halfway through the book. Oops.
THEATER:
Advantages - An intimate setting. The mixture of acting, props, and sets allows for a sort-of "playtime" feel. The mingling of a tangible reality with the fantasy.
Disadvantages - Due to budgetary and space constraints, you're somewhat limited in scope. Les Miserables is probably one of the most "epic" stageplays, but even that has a fairly small cast of primary characters.
MUSIC:
Advantages - Whether you're telling a straightforward story from beginning to end, or more obliquely "implying" the story with selected phrases and notes, there a few more effective ways of manipulating an audiences emotions than the proper ordering and pitch of instrumentally formed noises.
Disadvantages - The more details you include, the less of a song it is, and the closer it becomes to poetry.
POETRY:
Advantages - Unless we're talking about a long-form poem, like Beowulf, I would say that brevity is the best advantage here. Poems are the supermodels of the written word; stark, sleek, and gorgeous. All the fat of the narrative has been removed, leaving only the emotions and philosophies.
Disadvantages - The more details you include, the less of a poem it is, and the closer it becomes to a novel.
SPORTS:
Advantages - Sports aren't often considered a storytelling device, but they are a form of entertainment, and come pre-packaged with their own form of enacted drama. You've got a Protagonist (Your team), an Antagonist (The other team), and a conflict. There you go; the very heart of drama. One doesn't often have a really compelling reason to hate another team, other than to play-act. You're not demanding vengeance for the Bears murdering your family as a child, or anything like that.
Whether you watch it or play it, sports have an even greater tangibility than theater, and much more unpredictable endings.
Disadvantages - The storylines often devolve practically into Dadaism. Wolverines are battling Buckeyes?! Could you image that movie playing at your local cineplex?
PAINTING/ SCULPTURE/ PHOTOGRAPHY/ MISC:
Advantages - Whether we're talking about Andy Warhol or Alfred Gilbert, we're usually talking about a single image representing an entire concept/story. If you've had one particular image that you REALLY want to share, this would certainly be the way to do it. It also allows for layering a seemingly simple image with several levels of meaning.
Disadvantages - The "story" behind the piece either has to be known, self-explanatory, extremely well crafted, or unnecessary.
COMIC BOOKS:
Advantages - Time. Superhero comics are Soap Operas for Nerds; the popular ones are essentially a single storyline, stretched out over decades. It's an interesting medium, caught somewhere between film and painting: It has more of a convincing illusion of movement than painting, yet also emphasizes little moments of life in still-frame.
Disadvantages - Sound, outside of speech, has to be either implied, or directly written down, like "THWAM!".
RIDES/ WALK-THROUGH ATTRACTIONS:
Advantages - Complete immersion. Theme park rides don't always have a "story", but there's always some kind of "theme" to them. In the case of Haunted Houses, very few books or movies have the same kind of visceral, "fear response" type of effect.
Disadvantages - You'll be thrilled, but not often moved. Sorry, ET: The Ride!
TABLETOP GAMES:
Advantages - The Board Game element of tabletop gaming lies somewhere between sports and video games in terms of story: Sometimes there's very little (Hungry Hungry Hippos), and sometimes it can be ridiculously complex (Warhammer). It gets really interesting once you get to Role-Playing Games. You could either be the creator of the game, or the creator of the game WITHIN the game. RPG's, more than any other medium, encourage creativity, so you could end up with a world that's vastly different from the one written down on paper.
Disadvantages - People who mostly play tabletop games are clicky (in their own way), OCD assholes who have no real sex lives to speak of, and love to argue. Proceed with caution.
VIDEO GAMES:
Advantages - Choose Your Own Adventure on speed. By allowing to control the thrust of the story, even down to the minutest movements of the character, you have the sensation of being able to do things that no mere mortal has in their power to do (unless you're just playing a Bass Fishing game). Great for action, horror, and other high-intensity stories, since it's your input that determines whether the character lives or dies.
Disadvantages - Given the current demand for over-the-top action and visual candy, there often isn't much care given to the story. That has been changing, however, as games have started to become more cinematic.
MOVIES/ TELEVISION:
Advantages - I might take some shit for daring to lump TV and Film together, but really television is just film in serialized form. Besides; have you seen any of the shows on HBO this last decade? I would place The Wire and Deadwood above most films that I've seen.
It's a merging of light, sound and framing. If a Ride moves your body, and a book moves your mind, then a film is working best when it's moving your eyes and ears. Don't get me wrong; films can engage your mind, too. But I think the real art is in a total sensory immersion, where, unlike a video game, you have no choice in where you're headed, and just have to hang on for the trip.
Disadvantages - The unofficial three hour time limit for theatrical films; that doesn't give you a whole lot of breathing room when it comes to storytelling. The ridiculous cost of making films means that you see a lot of easy sells (i.e. derivative, uncreative stories).
In the end, it's all about milling your story over, deciding what elements you would prefer to be overt, balancing the plus/minuses of the different mediums, and then catering your story thusly. Easy peasy.
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