She's Dating the Gangster: A Transmedia Narrative and Its Political Economy
Gayanes, T.F. (2015). She’s Dating the Gangster: A Transmedia Narrative and Its Political Economy. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines Diliman.
Transmedia Narrative, a phenomenon that is relatively new and has not yet been fully explored in the Philippines, talks about how a material moves from one platform to another, and the possibility of going back to the medium where it started. To localize this phenomenon, the researcher used She’s Dating the Gangster, a story originally posted in Candymag.com, and then to Wattpad.com which was eventually turned into a book by Pop Fiction (now with three editions), and into a movie by Star Cinema. Considering this phenomenon is relatively new in the country, the researcher used the Grounded Theory and Political Economy (Structuration) as approaches. Constant Comparative Analysis was used to cross-check the materials, and to supplement these analyses, in-depth interviews with the writer of the book, the publisher, and the writer of the screenplay were conducted. The researcher concluded that She’s Dating the Gangster changed from one platform to the next and the reasons for the changes in the narrative were mostly creative, cultural, and economic considerations. This study sees possible changes in both the production process of materials, and the viewing experiences of the audiences as Transmedia Narrative enhances the story to fit to specific cultural needs, while maximizing the reach of the story. This study also sees the probable further development on the Political Economy of Transmedia Narrative.
Keywords: Transmedia, Narrative, She’s Dating the Gangster, Political Economy, Structuration, Constant Comparative Analysis, Grounded Theory