The original project was an audio postcard created during my first visit to the Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge that I created for the Podcasting course here at UNE with Mr. Cripps in the Spring of 2024. 

An audio postcard is basically a short sound recording that does what a postcard does but with your voice instead of an image.

Instead of saying “Wish you were here” with a picture, an audio postcard captures a moment, place, or feeling through sound and reflection.

So for this assignment I recorded the atmosphere of the trails, and things like the squish of mud under my feet, leaves rustling, birds calling, planes above, and the gentle movement of the marsh water.
I added a simple narration about who Rachel Carson was and why the refuge was created, based on the pamphlets I picked up while I was there. It ended up being one of the more time-consuming podcasts to edit because of the sound balancing, but it was also really rewarding and taught me a lot. I decided to turn this podcast into a documentary for a few reasons.

First, as a Communications major who is interested in filmmaking, I wanted to challenge myself to work visually and practice skills I hope to use in the future. Second, the refuge is a very visual environment with marshes, birds, tides, landscapes and I felt like the story could be more powerful if people could see it, not just hear it. Turning it into a documentary let me expand the story and experiment with visual storytelling in a new way.