On a cloudy January weekend, surrounded by props from thrift stores, hefty cameras and 20+ other teenagers, 17-year-old Bethanie Langendorf officially became a filmmaker. Over the course of three days, her film “Couchettes” came to life, and will premiere to the world on April 6.
Langendorf became interested in filmmaking when she was a freshman at Millikan High School. At 14 years old she was writing out comedy sketches during her free time. Then she graduated to writing screenplays, then short films, then working behind the scenes on other people’s films and interview sets.
It was through working on professional sets and throwing herself into improv and theater classes at Millikan High School that Langendorf realized she was capable of pursuing her dream as a filmmaker.
“I was kind of enamored by it all,” she said. “It was kind of an eye-opening experience.”
In January, Langendorf accomplished her goal of directing a film at 17 years old. “Couchettes” is a film about seven distinct stories that all tie into each other—Langendorf’s metaphor for “humanity and these really bizarre connections that we have and how we all really are connected in some way.”
Langendorf wrote the script for “Couchettes,” which is a French word for small private rooms on a train, from May 2021 to December 2022. From the inception of her first short film, she knew it was going to take place on a train—and shot in one continuous take.
The unbroken-shot format of the film would be an ambitious undertaking for even the most seasoned director. For Langendorf, it was non-negotiable and crystal clear in her head.
“Somewhere in my brain, my little controller dude in my brain said, ‘It has to be one shot,’” Langendorf said, half-joking, half-serious. “I wrote it down and I have not changed that since.”
The first thing Langendorf says when describing the film is “there’s no linear plot.” Instead, viewers will be taken through numerous character’s stories, from one end of a train to the other, each with their own situations connected by the end of the film.
“A lot of the characters are intertwined, and they say things that connect,” Langendorf said.
In the original script for “Couchettes,” the film takes viewers through various rooms to tell the character’s stories. She wasn’t able to find a train that would accommodate this vision, but chose to keep the name since she “wanted to include an element from that beginning process of just starting to write the screenplay and incorporate that into the finished product.”
Since shooting her first short film in one take wasn’t difficult enough, Langendorf has also mixed in hidden Easter eggs through a constantly changing film set. As the camera travels from one end of the train to the other, a production assistant changed and added in different props that “reveal” things about each character.
And since Langendorf had to rent out a train museum in Downtown Fullerton to shoot “Couchettes,” she and her cast of fellow high schoolers—and two elementary schoolers—had to shoot the entire film in three days.
“I don’t typically like that level of discomfort and not having everything known,” Langendorf said prior to shooting. “I think the hardest part of this whole film personally, has just been trusting myself and the process that everything will come together and everything will be solved and everything … Everything’s gonna be okay.”
The setting for “Couchettes,” a short film directed by Millikan High School student Bethanie Langendorf. (Courtesy of Aya Sherian) 
A crew member for “Couchettes” poses for a photo in the Fullerton train museum. (Courtesy of Aya Sherian) 
A turtle reads a book on the set of “Couchettes,” a short film directed by Millikan High School student Bethanie Langendorf. (Courtesy of Aya Sherian) 
A crew member for “Couchettes” poses for a photo in the Fullerton train museum. (Courtesy of Aya Sherian)
Most people would be overwhelmed, discouraged even, while overseeing a project like “Couchettes.” Langendorf is not most people.
“Beth just comes in with a ton of curiosity, a ton of knowledge and a lot of skill for everything artistic, but also a lot of humility because she is excited to learn more,” said Michael Bradecich, Langendorf’s improv teacher at Millikan High School who looked over her first drafts, gave her advice and answered constant questions.
“I mean, she is just curious and humble, but also brilliant, and it’s just kind of an ideal combination for any teacher … All I really have to do is answer the questions which are always brilliant and insightful and make me think of things in ways I haven’t always thought of before,” Bradecich said.
Langendorf not only got advice for her script from her time in improv, but much of her cast for “Couchettes” came from that same class. Once the script was finalized in December, Langendorf and her assistant director Mia Iovine had to go through dozens of auditions to cast the roles.
True to the spirit of improv (and to help ease the pressure of filming the movie in one take), Langendorf said that there was no expectation for actors to say the exact same lines each time. As long as each character’s motives and storylines remained true, it would stay in the film.
Langendorf chose to trust in her actors and create a sense of collaboration throughout the filming process.
“There was not a single moment where I wasn’t in a good place. Even if i’m feeling uneasy about things I’ve still been having a great time, especially because it’s all so experimental and we’re exploring our creativity, I think my favorite part has been working with everybody,” Langendorf said.
Most of the equipment used during the film came from the actors and crew, who luckily already owned cameras, lighting and sound equipment. The only major piece that the cast rented was a stabilizer to keep the camera steady while moving through the train.
Most of the prop pieces, such as vintage coloring books, salt and pepper shakers and friendship bracelets, came from months of digging through thrift stores. The rest came from yard sales and from the cast and crew’s homes.
Langendorf said that crew members would send her pictures of random prop ideas which eventually made it onto the film’s set. There are also branches of broccoli set atop a cardboard backdrop which will resemble the blue skies and trees surrounding the train.
“She really inspires that kind of enthusiasm in the people around her, not only to help her but to kind of stretch their own talents to see what they can bring to the project,” Bradecich said.
Langendorf explained that she learned how to communicate her vision with the cast and crew more clearly through her improv and theater classes. As a visual artist who started off drawing and painting, Langendorf had a definitive picture in her head of how each scene would look.
Bradecich said that this likely helped Langendorf while she was in the writing process.
“With the script, I think the thing that stood out to me was I got a clear vibe and a tone from it,” Bradecich said. “It felt like I could see exactly what it was going to look like on the screen based on what she had put on the page. And that is a high-level thing for a screenwriter to be able to do, is to paint pictures in somebody’s head who’s just reading words on a page.”
Bradecich, who Langendorf identified as her biggest mentor throughout the screenwriting and filming process, said that his biggest advice to her was to “keep moving” onto the next project.
Langendorf, a senior at Millikan High School, has already applied to multiple film programs in various colleges across the country. She said she hopes to experience new things in a new environment, get more variety in filming locations and most of all, develop her craft.
“The thing with Beth is, I don’t know exactly what she’s going to go on and do in the next five or 10 years, but I’m very, very excited to see what it is because whatever it is, it’s going to be really amazing; including this movie, I can’t wait to see it,” Bradecich said.
“Couchettes” will premiere in the Millikan High School auditorium at 2800 Snowden Ave. at 6 p.m. on April 6.
