Ex’pression Center For New Media

At a Glance
Name: Ex’pression Center For New Media Contact: Yee-Ju Riddell, director of admissions Major Courses of Study: Sound Arts, Digital Visual Media and Digital Graphic Design degree programs Degrees Offered: A.A.S or B.A.S degrees via 14-month Total Immersion program Accreditation: Licensed and degree granting by State of California, Bureau of Private Postsecondary & Vocational Educational (BPVVE) Main Technology Platforms: SSL, Neve Studer consoles; Otari, Studer analog media; Digidesign Pro Tools; other major technology systems Tuition: $32,950, includes all course material and supplies Financial Assistance: Student loans available through various programs, including Sallie Mae and other private funding.

In January of 1999, Ex’pression Center For New Media arrived on the educational scene at the same time that the media industry itself was hitting its stride. Located in a stunning, ultramodern building in the heart of the San Francisco Bay Area, Ex’pression was also at the boom’s nexus in Silicon Valley, where so much of the new-media engine was developed—the home of technology pioneers such as Dolby, Pixar, and Industrial Light & Magic. The school is also in-tune with the area’s values; for instance, much of Ex’pression’s power is generated by alternative sources, such as nearby wind farms, and recycling has always been part of the culture at the school.

Ex’pression takes full advantage of its time and place, applying leading-edge but proven educational techniques to the media arts and sciences. The school’s three main degree programs—Sound Arts, Digital Visual Media and Digital Graphic Design—utilize the Total Immersion methodology. Total Immersion was originally developed and introduced during World War II, with spectacular and tangible results, quickly and effectively teaching U.S. military and intelligence personnel language, technology and other skills. At Ex’pression, these same learning techniques, applied to an intense 14-month program, convey media skills with an exceptional degree of comprehension and depth. Students learn not only the mechanics of media technology, but also the culture and application of media. And, they do it working on complex projects start to finish, rather than in isolated fragments.

Classes at Ex’pression begin every two months, six new classes a year, 30 students to a class. The design of the campus center helps students maximize their experience. For instance, the innovative Tascam Heptagon Studio allows six control rooms to simultaneously but discretely access live sessions in a central recording studio, while the instructor can monitor and assess individual activity from a main control area. And with access to the equipment available on a 24/7 basis, Ex’pression’s Total Immersion approach teaches more than just technique. As Karen Wertman, the school’s director of marketing, puts it, “They learn endurance, which any veteran of a recording studio will tell you is a critical trait to success.” Another benefit of such universal access is that students are able to build extensive and diverse personal achievement portfolios, which become their calling cards upon graduation.

Ex’pression offers SSL G-Plus and Neve VR analog studios to familiarize students with the main boards in the real world. The facility also includes a showcase 5.1 room featuring the latest version of the Studer D-950 digital console, for which Ex’pression was a major beta test site. Even the streaming Web workstations have 5.1 surround audio capability.

Expression was created as a true “center” for media experimentation and discovery. Students in each degree program take basic courses in all three major degree tracks, providing a solid foundation in media arts. For instance, incoming students all work on a multimedia project, such as a film or computer game, which requires audio, video, special effects and animation, but also requires script creation and casting. In this way, media technologies are directly applied, often by teams, to real projects. And, adds Wertman, “That’s a combination that builds success skills that will last a lifetime.” •