By Meredith Hritz, ’10, A&E Editor

Hazel Mullan,  a CCDS senior, has imagined herself a director since she was only eight years old. But she really didn’t get to expand her film interests until this past summer, when she attended a New York Film Academy camp. There she learned to work with a 16mm Arriflex camera and black-and-white film.  Each day, she had class for an incredible nine hours; 7 days out of the 21 she was there were film days. On film days Hazel would have to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to go to Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios to shoot. Hazel “directed two of [her] own short films [and] also was a DP [director of photography] for two short films and an AC [assistant camera)] for three others.”

Hazel draws her inspiration from many different places: great directors like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Michael Bay, and Edgar Wright (director of Shaun of the Dead), or even “the line in the lunchroom or a conversation with a friend.” Hazel believes that inspiration is “everywhere; you just have to look.” However, Hazel says that she suffers from chronic writer’s block and is always on the prowl for new material. She says that since she “was very little [she] used to make up stories in [her] head of things and now [she’s] realized that it’s a great tool to have to pull inspiration out of anything.”

After looking into other mediums, Hazel has found that nothing can compare to the love she has for film. Even though she likes photography, she believes that “life isn’t just different shots; it’s continuous like film.” Right now Hazel is working on a screenplay that she started in May with assistance from senior Claire Willingham. She is not quite finished with the piece, but calls it a mockumentary about race car drivers. She is also working on films about racial separation and abuse, and she is making three music videos.

As college looms overhead for the senior class, students are putting a lot of thought into their futures. But Hazel believes that she has already found her true calling.  She concludes, “I don’t get motivation easily, but once I decided to be in the film industry, I couldn’t seem to stop.”