Photo by: CCA Dept. of Strategic Communications
When Bella Palmer looks at the world, it’s often through the lens of a video camera. Since childhood, she has always thought visually, even while growing up in a family of musicians, who were more focused on sound. Fortunately, she’s found a way to blend both, by embarking on creative projects like the recent music video she shot for her musician father, as part of her final project at the Community College of Aurora.
As her final days at CCA approach, and her cinematography studies are behind her, Palmer already has an impressive set of tools and experience under her belt in the world of visual storytelling.
Palmer is studying cinematography and videography in CCA’s Cinematic Arts program, and will graduate this semester. After three and a half years at the school, she says she will leave prepared and ready to take on a career that will let her flex her creative muscles.
“The thing about being at a more intimate school is that you get to know your professors, and they really do care about you and want you to succeed,” she said. “Pretty much every one of my teachers was like that. They were all so knowledgeable, and had been in the industry, and really cared about us working on our projects.”
Before CCA, she already had a solid understanding of video and filmmaking, having attended New Mexico School for the Arts in Santa Fe, where she studied video.
But CCA’s hands-on approach to teaching gave her an advantage of actually utilizing the equipment she’ll be using in her professional career, especially the high-end cinema cameras and editing tools you’d find at any professional level production studio.
“I feel like I have experience with so many different types of cameras. And even though every camera is different, it will be very useful to have a wide range of knowledge on different cameras.”
Even starting her program during the height of COVID didn’t derail the program’s efforts to give students a worthwhile education.
“The school got me what I needed; I didn’t still have access to equipment. I didn’t have a computer at the time, and they let me borrow an iMac for the whole semester.”
Palmer has already put her skills to use working on marketing projects for the college. She spent nearly two years as a student employee in the division of Strategic Communications, where she created social media videos that helped promote the college, and tell CCA’s important stories.
She envisions herself on a similar path going forward, working with small businesses and organizations on video promotions and commercials.
“Right now I’m working with one woman who runs a sustainable collective of women, who sell glassware and different items. I think it’s very rewarding to be able to do that with smaller companies.”
“I feel like I have experience with so many different types of cameras. And even though every camera is different, it will be very useful to have a wide range of knowledge on different cameras.”
Even starting her program during the height of COVID didn’t derail the program’s efforts to give students a worthwhile education.
“The school got me what I needed; I didn’t still have access to equipment. I didn’t have a computer at the time, and they let me borrow an iMac for the whole semester.”
Palmer has already put her skills to use working on marketing projects for the college. She spent nearly two years as a student employee in the division of Strategic Communications, where she created social media videos that helped promote the college, and tell CCA’s important stories.
She knows working with a diverse client list will require a healthy amount of collaboration, and credits the Cinematic Arts program with teaching her the importance of working alongside as many different people as possible. She says a wider set of opinions and ideas, ultimately lead to more impactful and creative projects.
“It’s easy to get into a mindset of ‘these are the only people I want to work with.’ It’s good to open up your network, and work with other people while you’re in school. You can learn a lot from different people,” Palmer said.
Though she has a clear view of her career ahead, she says she still loves the creative aspect of film and video. She offers some advice to people on a similar path to hers. She says although the technical education is invaluable from CCA, it’s important to not lose sight of the creative process in the meantime.
“Still be unique and creative in your own way,” she said. “Let yourself still be an artist, and not just a technical robot.”
The music video she shot for her dad gave her an opportunity to wrap her up her CCA career with an all encompassing artistic vision. Though it’s unusual for a single person to take on all aspects of production, her professor allowed her to do just that, giving her full creative control of her final project.
“It was really amazing that she let me do that, because it’s not very common for a level three to do that,” she said.
She’s thrilled with the way her project is coming along, and looks forward to the final cut, which will be done in the next several weeks.