OUAN603 - Creating World Maps

An aspect of the project I want to develop once the story is fully developed is the creation of a map. The map will perhaps show the area that the story takes place and highlight on the map where certain events take place or where the characters like to go or the places they speak about in conversations within the story. This reinforces the story world aspect of the project and plays into the nature of a transmedia project because it is expanding the information the audience has to decipher and immerse themselves in. This idea stems from other successful transmedia projects that are based around their detailed world maps such as The Lord of the Rings.

Maps can be useful and interesting for the audience for a range of reasons and can be done in different ways. For example, since the characters in the story are school children, there can be an element of that within the map in terms of what they call certain places and the nicknames they have for certain locations. In this sense, perhaps two versions of the same map can be created - one accurate one and another that looks at the characters' perceptions of the world or the place that they live. Having this visualisation of the environment also gives way to other stories that could be written about the locations on the map, and encourage the expansion of the fictional world.