Analytical Model of Transmedia Storytelling Ecosystems in Audiovisual Fiction: The Spanish Model of «The Ministry of Time»

Abstract

Transmedia storytelling has been widely researched as a new topic in the last decade. The transmedia field includes many publications exploring the topic from different perspectives, but it lacks a standard methodology that allows the measurement of different case studies under a unified pattern. This research suggests a model for transmedia ecosystems that will allow researchers to study them in-depth. Authors suggest a potential configuration based on a simplified image of the transmedia universe, in which projects are divided into well-differentiated narrative systems, allowing the obtention of precise details on their basic functioning. This paper provides an original methodology able to observe the transmedia universes from different perspectives. To test the validity of the paradigm, the model has applied to the case study of the Spanish-fiction product, The Ministry of Time (El Ministerio del Tiempo, in the original language), because of the multiplicity of content renders its study as highly efficient. Thus, we encounter a new transmedia universe that allows precise measurement and the obtention of conclusive data. The positive results confirm that the new methodological approach meets the initial expectations. At the same time, it offers the possibility of obtaining much more information than the one the limited space of this article allows to explain, which opens the door to new lines of research in the future.