Students learn tools of trade at 24-hour express college
WHEN ROBERT VIGNONE was in college, he showed up at school at 2 a.m., stayed through the day for his classes, then drove home about 9 p.m. for a few hours' sleep before getting up and starting all over again.
The unusual class schedule wasn't punishment for Vignone's misdeeds or a wacky plan he was forced to follow because he couldn't find classes at other times.
In fact, the schedule was pretty much par for the course at Vignone's alma mater, Ex'pression Center for New Media in Emeryville, where the school is open 24 hours a day and students are encouraged to take advantage of the extra hours to immerse themselves in their studies.
"Everyone had their own little schedules," said Vignone, who graduated in February. "I don't really like sleeping, so I loved it. I don't think there's any other school that's open 24 hours a day."
Founded in 1999, the college offers associate and bachelor's degrees in sound arts, digital visual media and digital graphic design. The school's president, Gary Platt, said it is the training ground for the next generation of artists and professionals who will make the movies you'll watch, mix and burn the music you'll listen to and design the video games your children will play.
"The market right now is hot, hot, hot," said Platt, who is as different from a traditional college president as his school is from a traditional campus.
Platt bustles around the school, his po- nytail bouncing as he shouts out greetings to students passing in the halls.
The school is located in a 65,000-square-foot renovated office building that's reminiscent of a warehouse. The color scheme inside is bold: walls are painted purple, red and mustard-yellow and the floor is green.
The entry hall boasts a black-and-white checked "wall of fame," where students and some of the campus' famous visitors -- such as Bon Jovi and Bruce Hornsby -- have scrawled their names. Walls throughout the school are decorated with students' work and line drawings of characters from Pixar Studio's popular "Toy Story" movies.
School pamphlets tout Ex'pression as, "part college, part playground, part asylum." Students can complete the program in as little as 18 months, although the school also offers a 24-month program that includes general education courses. Tuition ranges from $37,450 to $42,450, depending on the number of general education courses completed.
Ex'pression offers a "total immersion" program, Platt said, where classes are offered in eight to 10-hour chunks and students on the very first day are thrust into the technology they'll find in the workplace.
Courses with titles such as "3D Modeling," "DVD Authoring" and "Business of Media" prepare students for the "real world," Platt said.
"We follow a path put together by professionals for a professional world," he said. Computers and the latest in high-tech sound boards and movie-making magic are everywhere at Ex'pression. The $30 million facility was financed by Dutch computer entrepreneur Eckart Wintzen. The school's name, in fact, is a play on his first name -- Eck's.
Ex'pression gives students another option in the plethora of graphic design programs available in the Bay Area, including those offered at San Francisco State University and other public and private colleges.
Leslie Becker, chairwoman of the graphic design department at the California College of Art in San Francisco, formerly the California College of Arts and Crafts, said she thinks there's enough demand for different kinds of graphic education.
Becker said the four-year program offered at the College of Art teaches students to focus on the meaning behind the message, as well as giving them the technological know-how to do the job.
"Certainly, we're producing people who will go out and be leading-edge thinkers who know enough about the technical aspects to produce work, but who are definitely focused on how you communicate, what you communicate and what your audience likes," she said.
Platt said Ex'pression offers more than state-of-the-art technology. The administrators and teachers also are working professionals, he said, with industry ties that help students secure jobs after graduation.
Actor Woody Harrelson, for instance, is one of the school's founding board members and the students have created 3D imagery and other graphic elements on his Web site,