| Environmental Documentary

Guided by an accomplished Emmy®-winning filmmaker, learn how to make compelling documentaries about the complex environmental issues facing us both locally and globally.

From UN climate reports to local newspaper headlines, interest in and concern about environmental issues has rarely been higher. With this heightened interest comes an increasingly urgent need to take these dense, often overwhelming concepts and make them coherent and meaningful to the broader public. This is the job of the environmental documentarian. 

Led by Emmy®-winning filmmaker Lee Doyle, who has made many documentaries about environmental and climate-related issues, the workshop will explore how to balance science with compelling storytelling. In addition to examining key dynamics via case studies and discussion, students will go into the field and create a short environmental documentary about a topic relevant to midcoast Maine (e.g. climate impact on marine life, farming, a changing waterfront, wildlife, property, energy, etc.).

We’ll examine how a documentary filmmaker focusing on environmental issues faces a twofold challenge: 1) the need to understand the science enough to distill and disseminate the facts to a lay audience, and 2) the imperative to find a way to convey it that will be compelling to someone who otherwise wouldn’t care. The former takes research, talking to experts and choosing which details are the most relevant to the issue. The latter is far more difficult; you need to tell a good story. While this course is concerned with both, the key focus will be identifying and then telling a compelling story about an environmental issue. 

Each student or group of students (collaboration is encouraged!) will take their short documentary from pre-production all the way through to the edit. To help in this process, each day we’ll get into the weeds about the production process, from character development and scene setting to intertwining a story arc with the broader environmental issue at hand. Along the way we’ll watch good examples of prior environmental documentaries, share tips about research strategies and even learn how to sift through the esoteric details of a scientific White Paper to find the kernel of a good story. 

We will demystify the environmental documentary process and redefine who gets to tell environmental stories (hint: you don’t need to have a British knight narrate your work). You may not have a crew of thirty and two years of pre-pro but a camera and a good story can make an actual impact during a time when the planet needs all the good PR it can get. 

Leave with a tool kit that empowers you to go out into the world and tell more compelling stories about one of the most important subjects of today: the environment.

NOTE:  This workshop is designed for intermediate and advanced students who are technically proficient with camera equipment and a non-linear editing software of their choice (e.g., Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, etc.). While Maine Media provides cameras and equipment, you are also welcome to bring your own