High school senior from Monday to Friday, director on the weekends. This is what a regular week looks like for Katelyn Fulton, a member of RUTV and the drama department, who directs short films and shares them online. Throughout her childhood, the film industry always piqued Fulton’s interest. That interest has continued to bloom throughout Fulton’s life, as she continued to gain a new perspective on the film world.
“When I was younger, I always really loved movies […] I realized that I was just in love with the movie part instead of actually being in love with what the characters were doing. That transitioned into me realizing I just liked the whole movie atmosphere,” Fulton said. “My favorite aspect of [filmmaking] is the storytelling aspect, and how many stories can be told by a film that is 90 minutes to a film that’s three hours. I like that films can be super literal or they can represent something.”
As a child, Fulton experimented with small forms of stop motion animation on platforms such as IMovie, laying the groundwork for her knowledge of directing.
“I got really big into American Girl Doll Stop motions and stuff on YouTube. I would watch those constantly, and then I’d go and I’d repeat them and make my own. I would make stop motions just on my iPad and on my phone when I got one. That’s where I learned to edit things and where I learned framing and stuff, oddly enough. Once I joined RUTV, I definitely learned a whole new world of technicality,” Fulton said.
Fulton, along with RUTV members, consistently participate in a nationwide film convention under the Student Television Network. Students choose whether they would like to enter under the category of broadcasting or film, and then choose which category they would like to specialize in. Participants are then given a prompt, and must submit their short film within five days. With her two short films “Facsimile” and “Mixed Signals,” Fulton wanted to take on the challenge in a unique way.
“The first thing I think of when I receive that prompt is, ‘where is nobody else going to take this?’ For “Facsimile,” the prompt was, ‘uh oh, I’m being followed,’ and I was like ‘what is something super scary that would be following you?’ And I thought, ‘oh my god, like yourself’. If you saw yourself following you, I think that’d be the creepiest thing ever,” Fulton said. “I try to go more outside of the box with it, because I find that it gives you more room to work with things.”
Balancing student life with her passion for directing has proved to be a challenge for Fulton. Nevertheless, she continues to seek opportunities in her everyday life to pursue her ideas.
“Unlike in theatre, where people can go and work for community theater at very young ages, you have to be 18 to be on and work on a set. That definitely is a challenge I feel like not a lot of people talk about,” Fulton said. “You are pushed to make your own stuff if you want to do it, because you can’t be making it with anybody else, they won’t let you. So that creates the struggle of having to create everything on your own.”
Fulton’s upcoming short film, “Understand You,” features a cast and crew of fellow RUHS students. Starting from just an idea, Fulton collaborated with a friend in order to write the script.
“[The idea for ‘Understand You’] came from something personal. I went to my friend Hailey Johnston, who is a very great screenwriter and I was like, ‘Hey, can we meet? I have a good script idea.’ We met three or four times. She wrote the whole script, and I kind of just blurted out my ideas because I’m not really the greatest writer. Hailey’s really good at it, so I just totally let her do her thing,” Fulton said.
According to Fulton, time management is one of the biggest struggles that she has when it comes to balancing Many of the students that Fulton works with also have trouble balancing their school life with filming outside. A cast member in Fulton’s upcoming film “Understand You,” junior Ella Klug finds that scheduling can be difficult especially in a group made up of all students. Nonetheless, Klug finds her time working on the short film enjoyable, as it gives her a break from her busy school life.
“Because I do a lot of theater, acting, singing, dancing, et cetera, I find this particular film is the place to relax and be creative. A lot of times, if I’m at home and I’m rehearsing a song, it’s for a goal. This is pure creativity,” Klug said.
In the short film, Klug plays the role of Rowan, a teenager impacted by grief following the death of her little sister. Klug shares that Fulton has been helpful in creating a comfortable environment for actors on set.
“Katelyn is really good at making you feel comfortable in the space, especially because we’re dealing with grief, which can be a very heavy topic,” Klug said. “I know practically nothing about film, I’m just an actor, but she’s really good at explaining it to me and I do my best to accompany that with good acting.”
Fulton and Klug initially met through theatre, both taking part in productions such as “Sweeney Todd,” “Beauty and The Beast” and more. According to Klug, the pair connected the most in their time participating in “The Play That Goes Wrong,” where Fulton worked as the assistant director of the play.
“She’s always been a very motherly figure to me,” Klug said. “I think she’s gonna be very successful one day. She’s very professional, and I’m very proud of all the work that she’s done.”
In her future, Fulton hopes to attend film school and major in film production with a focus on directing. Her prior experience with directing films has proven as helpful when applying for college. Combining her variety of experiences Fulton aims to be involved in the film world, bringing her ideas to the big screen for anyone to see.
“I am hoping that through college I am able to make more and more connections to get me into the industry,” Fulton said. “My overall goal is to direct films that resonate with people all over the globe. I really do just want to tell a story and direct, even if it’s not my story, but I feel like it’s important to be told. That’s definitely the end goal, but I’m gonna have to work my way up there, and I’m willing to do that.”
