The European Conference on Film and Documentary 2014

Brighton, United Kingdom

The European Conference on Film and Documentary 2014

Brighton, United Kingdom

The European Conference on Film and Documentary 2014

Brighton, United Kingdom

This article tells the story of the making of Spanish independent feature film The
Cosmonaut. It highlights that this story was shared with the film’s audience while the
film was made. Therefore, so the argument, the story of The Cosmonaut was extended
and served as the basis for the film’s audience building.

The concept of story-extension acknowledges the multimedia, interactive and
archiving aspects of the Internet. Independent films no longer have to be standalone
products. They can be one, though often central, part of an extended filmmaking
story. Related events or products allow a story to transcend the film’s temporal
boundaries and even the limitations of its medium.

The paper concludes that story-extension (a) helps to create communities and
audiences, who (b) individually experience the making of a film and (c) view a film
merely as an end product while ‘watching’ takes place over an extended period of
time. Such ongoing storytelling allows continuous audience growth that helps the
filmmaker to self-distribute.

Keywords: The Cosmonaut, Independent Filmmaking, Story Extension, Audience
Building

Nico Meissner