Throughout the course, we will examine how contemporary photographers, filmmakers, journalists, and multimedia creators use digital storytelling to reveal the ecological and cultural significance of place. Their work demonstrates how images, sound, maps, and narrative can make complex environmental systems visible, connect local experiences to broader ecological processes, and inspire audiences to see familiar landscapes in new ways.
Among these influences are the animated films of Hayao Miyazaki, whose stories remind us that landscapes are living communities shaped by relationships among people, animals, water, forests, and memory. Alongside Miyazaki, we will study photographers, documentary filmmakers, and multimedia storytellers whose work combines visual artistry with environmental understanding and community engagement.
As you investigate Maine’s forests, rivers, lakes, coastlines, farms, and neighborhoods, you will also create media-rich stories that cultivate ecological literacy—the ability to understand the connections among natural systems, human communities, and the choices that shape both. Through photography, short-form video, audio, and interactive mapping, you will learn to tell stories that move beyond documenting place to revealing the relationships, histories, and possibilities that make landscapes living systems.
Why We Tell Stories
Turn on CC — closed captioning — to understand the narrator better
3–5 minute video story that explores a place-based narrative connected to Maine’s natural resources, healthy ecosystems, and a regenerative future. Draw inspiration from Miyazaki films (Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa), Solarpunk aesthetics, and bioregional storytelling.
Your final video should show thoughtful use of:
Models
