Pottermore and authorship

So, I recently read an article about the concept of transmedia storytelling and authorship in Harry Potter (yes, I constantly spend my non-existing free time reading random articles [insertion of GIF with Barack Obama doing mic drop] which means that this might be quite a long post. For that I am sorry).  The article demonstrates the various ways in which the development of Pottermore has given an indication of understanding transmedia storytelling and franchising. Furthermore, the article will examine the importance of Pottermore in terms of the development of the Harry Potter franchise.

The article (Pottermore: Transmedia storytelling and authorship in Harry Potter by Cassie Brummitt) states that Pottermore as a product and an experience has become essential for development of the franchise. Furthermore, the product has been used as a strategic concept with the purpose of reinventing the known brand and keep a constant interest and engagement of the fans since it began as a form of communication between the author and the fans (the concept of subcreation and keeping a constant interest of the readers and audience can be further explored in Building Imaginary Worlds: the theory and history of subcreation by Mark J.P. Wolf in the chapter Worlds within the World). However, at this point the updated version functions more as a source of information which, according to the article (Brummitt 112), comes at a necessary time for the management aspect of the franchise. Pottermore is not the only strategic attempt to keep the franchise going. It has been mentioned in the post Business aspects within the franchise (yes, it was the only title I could think of) that Rowling understands intellectual property which has been represented in her collaborative creativity and ownership of the characters. Therefore, she has become a part of the attempt to develop other products within the franchise such as the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film trilogy and the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and, thereby, expand the intellectual property of the franchise. These various strategic decisions and “franchise developments demonstrate a willingness on the part of Potter creatives to depart from dominant narratives and iconographies.” (Brummitt 113) Additionally, the article argues that the development of Pottermore manage to reflect the history of the franchise as a complete and the constant changing industrial context that it works within. The development of Pottermore is supported by a much more evident understanding and awareness of transmedia franchising.

The concept of Pottermore is quite well thought out. It encourages participation and certain forms of interactivity by the fans of the franchise; the website had a function as a simply community where new information about the secondary world was given by Rowling herself and her “writing was […] tied thematically to the narrative through digital interactivity, in an attempt to conflate traditional methods of reading with virtual opportunities for participation.” (Brummitt 115) However, as mentioned previously, the website has gone through various changes resulting in a more strategic approach with the function of aggregator for the complete franchise. (This is sort of random, however, did you guys know that Rowling invested £8 million in the company Pottermore Ltd. With no particular date of repayment?) The overall construction of the website as an immersive experience for the individual depended on additional material to the act of reading the books added by Rowling; therefore, giving her creative authority (I am of course aware of the existence of other people that have had influence like the marketing team and the administrative employees). The article, therefore, argues that Rowling has played a significant part in creating an identity for the website. Furthermore, the fact that she gives an insight into her process of thought and personal opinions reinforces her status as authority.

The website has not simply an immersive function since it also works as an online source for the Harry Potter e-books and further serves to promote “specific commodities in a media environment featuring Potter products with competing iconographies.” (Brummitt 116) When you access the e-book store the website is divided into the immersive version and the commercial version, however, with the influence of Rowling within both of them. The article further argues that the website can be seen as part of a growing tendency “toward using new media for marketing purposes in the publishing industry” (117) by referring to the “paracontent” theory of Michael Bhaskar which identifies platforms using digital content that have become more immersive. The concept of paracontent in terms of Pottermore gives a broader understanding of the ability of the website to exist as an immersive, social platform and a marketing strategy simultaneously. As a digital publisher, Pottermore is of importance due to the specific strategy used, which can be described as unprecedented. Yes, another random fact about Rowling’s involvement with Pottermore Ltd. Rowling “retained full control over the sale of the Harry Potter e-books and audiobooks after having founded the company in 2009. This resulted in the fact that “[o]nline retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble could list the e-books on their website, but consumers purchasing the products were redirected to Pottermore for the final sale.” (Brummitt 117) So, it has been stated before on this blog that Rowling is quite awesome. However, not alone her willingness but her ability to gain control from influential corporations in the industry of the publishing sphere indicates her influence as an author which extend to her willingness to expand the franchise further and “retain control over the expansion of her intellectual property.” (Brummitt 118) Nevertheless, it should be noted that “[b]y September 2015 […] Pottermore had transitioned to an open-commerce model – the standard industry practice that enables retailers to sell books.” (Brummitt 118) This specific transition away from the initial strategy indicates a change towards a more collaborative authorial approach. Eventually, these changes resulted in the current version of the website which acknowledge the existence of other media companies such as Warner Bros. and Universal. However, there occurs an absence of media relating to the broader aspects of the franchise most noticeably the films. There is a rejection on the part of Pottermore in terms of the wider transmedia franchise and there is an “emphasis on following the narrative of the books, featuring new illustrations that depart from the Warner Bros. films’ iconography.” (Brummitt 119) Therefore, there occurs this insistence on the part of Pottermore to adapt and represent only a single property in the transmedia franchise.

In terms of the desire to create a sense of interaction by the fans and the declaration of centrality of importance regarding the fans, the article argues that there were few means through which the audience could form their own personal experience. Furthermore, the article argues through Henry Jenkins (for more information about his theory on transmedia storytelling http://henryjenkins.org/2007/03/transmedia_storytelling_101.html or Convergence Culture: where old and new media collide (2008)) that understanding participatory culture is of a certain importance since it gives permission to acknowledge the complexity of interaction between the fans and the author.

I have previously mentioned that I have no shame nor guilt in comparing the Harry Potter franchise with that of Star Wars. I have completely no shame or guilt and, therefore, I am going to compare them again in terms of authorship. Yes, you read correctly. I simply have to before ending this post despite the dreadful length of it already. However, the complete franchise has constantly been

Drilling my way down town

So you know that urging sense of curiosity you can get after or while watching a movie or reading a book, and you just feel like you NEED an answer?
Or you feel like it might be super very interesting to dig deeper and draw connections from one theory to another?
Do you love finding answers to certain questions about books or movies?
And do you feel drawn by these?
Are you hungry? – totally irrelevant but probably true (I’m hungry).

Is your answer to all these questions “yup!”?

Then, you know… You’ve been played. (in a good way though). That’s exactly what the creators of such media franchises, including Harry Potter, want you to do. It means spending more time on exploring the franchise.
A fancy word for this is “drillability” and the more you can “drill” into information about a certain book or series of movies and satisfy your thirst, the better for the franchise and it means that they are successful in creating depth in the constructed world.

Let me give you a couple of examples from the Harry Potter franchise and how some really weird questions can be answered only because there has been room for some form of in-depth researching by fans:

What if someone on the Quidditch Team caught the snitch other than the seeker?
– If someone else in the Team, besides the Seeker catches the Snitch, it is known as a foul and leads to the forfeit of the Match. This is known as “Snitchnip”.

How do you get into the kitchens at Hogwarts?
– Tickle the pear in the picture of fruit.

What color are unicorn babies?
– Gold.

How did Voldemort loose his nose?
– The more and more horcruxes he created, the less human he became.

Other than this, maps and schemes that are put together with information from different books or movies to create new information also show drillability, like this scheme showing what is to be found in the first floor of Hogwarts:
http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Hogwarts_Library :

COOL, RIGHT?!

World-building in Harry Potter

When talking about Harry Potter, most people can agree that it’s a good story. In her universe, J. K. Rowling has gathered thousands of people and united us in the battle against Voldemort and his followers. But when you look deeper into story past the charming characters and bewitching magic (pun very much intended), her success is largely based on her storytelling skills. A big part of being Potterhead is connecting to the characters and relating to them. They have very normal relatable problems: there’s everything from broken hearts, fiddling with love potion, losing someone you love and the fight for freedom. However, there is a relatively broad agreement between Potterheads that there are a lot of flaws in Rowling’s world-building and this is what this blog post explains. In addition to that, this entry can be used as a guide for beginners who want to know more about the Wizarding World.

World-building in the Harry Potter books

The first mistake discovered in the books actually starts in the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone. Whether it really is an error has yet to be determined. It is mentioned on Harry Potter’s Wikia page that the day Harry is handed over to his relatives is a “dull, gray Tuesday”. If you look at the calendar, however, you will find that it takes place on a Wednesday in the real world. This happens twice in the Harry Potter series. Whether this is an attempt from Rowling’s side to show that the Harry Potter world takes place in another dimension or if it’s just a mistake is not known. However, an argument for Harry living in another dimension is that several errors have been corrected in newer editions of the series but not this specific kind of error. It is up to Rowling dispel(l) this rumor.

The magical world of Harry Potter is a microcosm. Witches and wizards hide in small communities and villages away from muggles. For non-muggles, these places are easy to find. Muggles can simply not see them because of Muggle-Repelling Charm. To get to these places, there are specific entries that muggles do not have access to like the entrance to Diagon Alley from the muggle world. When Harry goes shopping for his school supplies for the first time Hagrid takes him to Diagon Alley, which has an entrance at The Leaky Cauldron on a muggle street. The Leaky Cauldron is charmed so muggles can’t see it. In fact, if I remember correctly, Harry could not even see it the first time. This shows that while the magical people hide magic away from muggles, they are not completely separated from the muggles. Their banks, schools, and stores are hidden away but they do live amongst muggle. Even 12 Grimmauld Place (the house of Sirius Black) is located in a muggle area. However, there is a paradox in this. All magical people in the Harry Potter books usually wear either robes and cloaks in their own primary world, however, according to Rowling on Pottermore, the law states that the magical people must blend in when in presence of muggles by wearing muggle clothes. However, Rowling describes two wizards as a donning: “Both were dressed as Muggles, though very inexpertly: The man with the watch wore a tweed suit with thigh-length galoshes; his colleague, a kilt and a poncho” (Harry Potter and Goblet Fire ch. 7). This in itself is very strange as many wizards do not live isolated from humans but amongst them and should know what to wear in order to blend in. Especially when it comes to people working for the ministry where it is often required to know a little more about the muggles.

World-building through other works

It is often difficult to keep track of the different things across multiple platforms and media. Rowling shows this through the fact that she not only makes mistakes in the books with world-building but also when she builds the world through Pottermore, The Cursed Child (the manuscript for the theater play), the film adaptations, and the expanding books and movies (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Quidditch Through the Times, etc.). Especially The Cursed Child has attracted fierce criticism in the fan world, because even though it is approved by Rowling, many fans will decry it (including one of the authors of this post). It just does not reflect the characters and the magic in the same way as the original books. The author of The Cursed Child takes a lot of liberties. SPOILER ALERT: Bellatrix has apparently conceived a daughter named Delphini of whom Voldemort is the father. However,  it is argued that this seems rather unlikely as some Bellatrix should then have been pregnant with Delphi in the timeframe of the last battle between Harry and Voldemort at Hogwarts. She most likely was not pregnant as she had no signs of being pregnant at the time, though Delphi distinctly says: “I was born in Malfoy Manor before the Battle of Hogwarts” (The Cursed Child, act four, scene eleven, p. 307). In addition to that, in the book the author chooses to bring back time turners, even though they were all destroyed by the Ministry of Magic years before the plot took place. However, this argument completely depends on which year Delphi was born as some believe she was born the same year as the final battle and others believe she could have been born at the same time as Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince took place, as Bellatrix wasn’t present when (SPOILER ALERT) Dumbledore was killed.

Rowling has not sold all the licensing rights to Warner Bros. and therefore has a freedom most authors do not have: she (somewhat) has a say in what is published, so everything published by Warner Bros. can technically be considered canon. Besides that, a fan has through the past few years written a manuscript and produced a movie which presents Voldemort’s past and his climb up the power ladder. The movie has not been released yet. Whether ”Voldemort: Origins of the Heir” is canon or not is up for discussion. Please, do leave a comment with your thoughts on what you consider canon in the HP fandom.