Showcase

Welcome to my website! My name is Elayna Parkhurst, and I am a second-year Film student at Freestyle Academy. My past two years at Freestyle have facilitated my exponential growth as someone who barely knew how to expose a shot correctly, to someone who has now made multiple films of different genres.

For my Senior Showcase I am sharing my Junior Documentary and Senior Narrative projects. The documentary focuses on an organization called AAH that caters to kids with special needs by giving them time with farm animals. My partner and I collected interviews and b-roll, gradually sorting through it all and bringing the story to life. For the narrative film I, again, worked with a partner and together we did everything from pre-production to post. I am proud of the work I put into both of these projects. I can see myself working in the Documentary field in the future, and the narrative film is my most polished piece of work from my two years at Freestyle.

I would love some feedback on anything that you think is a mistake I make multiple times. Are there any patterns of weakness that I should try to avoid? Is there anything that immediately comes to mind that could improve these works or make them more effective? What techniques did you find most and least effective? Moving forward, what should I do more of, and what should I work to improve to be a better storyteller?

In the fall I will continue my film education at Pratt Institute. I am excited to continue to be surrounded by a group of creative people, and to live somewhere that is a change of pace from where I currently live.

You can reach me at elaynaparkhurst@gmail.com

Here is my Junior Documentary…

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There was a lot of learning and growth happening throughout the production of this project. It was the very first time my partner or I had done a documentary, or any film of a similar style. A big part this was learning the technical skills required for an interview, recording sound, and using natural light to our advantage. During production we also got a lot of experience with interviewing people and working alongside them to capture something authentic. Post-production was also a big area for growth. Going through the process of laying out everything we had and then piecing together a story from that was challenging, but in the best way. As a first attempt at a documentary, I am happy with this project and can’t wait to create more in the future.

 

And this is my Senior Narrative…

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This project has been the biggest project I have ever done. I think it represents a polished piece of my work from Freestyle and that it does a good job of representing my style and where I am right now as a filmmaker. It was a very challenging project for many reasons, but it was also a very rewarding one. I learned a lot about what I am capable of as a filmmaker and about what it takes to make something at this level. Through this project I gained more confidence in my own ability and learned to trust my vision and see it through. I am incredibly grateful to have done this project as I believe it has taught me a great deal of technical and management skills that I will take with me into my future work.