So I am back to my blogging to share with you about my overall experience in Brainstorm School.
Brainstorm school is a concept art / design / illustration focused private center based in Burbank, CA.
If you are interested to get into the GAMES/MOVIES/ILLUSTRATION industry, then this school is definitely worth checking out.
The school has 3 terms which follow pretty similar to how a University/college operates.
It usually begins in the Spring term which starts around the 3rd week of January.
Here's a quick breakdown of the terms.
SPRING TERM (Jan - Apr)SUMMER TERM (May - Jul)
FALL TERM (Sept - Nov)
Currently the school has several courses which range from beginners all the way to the advanced level.
The duration of the course is usually around 10 weeks.But for any international students, please set aside an additional 1-2 weeks after the class is over.
This is because there might be instances where the some classes get postpone due to unforeseen circumstances.
Hence, it's always good to have some buffer time in your itinerary :)
My personal advice as well as after receiving several advices from my fellow peers who have been there, is to arrive 2 to 3 days before the actual commencement of your class, and set aside 2 more weeks after the class has ended.
In this case, you could probably be staying around 82 - 88 days.
This is definitely sufficient enough for you if you are travelling as a tourist visa which typically allows you to stay up to 90 days.
In my case, I got the ESTA visa.
For more information about the visa, please check out this link below.
http://www.esta.us/singapore.html
Please take note of which countries you are from too. In this case, I am looking it via the singapore link.
How many classes should I take, and what should I take?
Well it depends on how "hardcore" you want to push yourself during the course of 10 weeks.Typically I would recommend taking 2 - 3 classes (especially if you are an international students)
1 class that focuses on design fundamental / design thinking
1 class that focuses on painting fundamental / sketching / something that doesn't involves too much design thinking.
The reason is because there will be TONS of homework given to you each week, and it could be very challenging mentally to work on 2 design assignments. :P
For those who are not sure which classes to take, you could also submit your portfolio to the school admin for viewing, and he/she will definitely give you suggestions on which classes to take.
My personal opinion is not to burn out yourself in the middle of the week.
Sometimes it is good to take a little break over the course of 10 weeks, like sight seeing, sketching, and attending a couple of art events.
How much do you need to survive during yours stay in Burbank?
Here's a estimated breakdown of my overall expenses.Courses - Ranges from 600 to 825 USD.
3 courses - 2400 USD (Estimated sum)Flight Ticket cost me a huge bomb.
Singapore Airline Return Flight ticket (Singapore to LAX) - $1600 SGD
Food - 600 - 800 USD for 3 months.
In my case, my room mates and I cook quite often.It could get slightly expensive if you eat out.
Transport - 600 USD for 3 months.
Uber / LyftThe reason why it cost slightly higher is because there are days where I would uber down to other locations around LA, to attend events, workshops, talks.
But if you are only planning to uber back and forth to school, it could get cheaper.
Accommodation for 3 months - Ranges from 600 USD to 800 USD.
1800 USD (Estimated Sum for my case)This includes Wifi setup, utilities bill and misc fees.
Thanks to the Brainstorm School Housing Sharing Info Group, I managed to connect to several international students to share apartment with.
There were a total of 10 of us, and eventually we have to split the group into 2 apartments.
All of us came from all parts of the world, Austria, France, England, Columbia, Indonesia, Singapore, Taiwan , as well as different parts of America.
It is amazing how everyone of us could get together thanks to the Housing Group created by Brainstorm School.
In this group photo from the left, we have Kevin, Victor, Eduardo, Lilla, Pierre, Lucas, Yogi, Joe, Gabriel, Me and Daniel.
Just ask them politely if you have any questions, and I believe they will get back to you :)
Personally I would strongly recommend sharing apartment with students who are studying in Brainstorm.
The vibe of doing assignments together outside of just the usual class time is definitely very good.
We could always give critics to one another, and also seeing everyone's growth over time is very encouraging.
Not only do we share similar passion, sharing room with international students is also a good way of cultural exchange too.
Also, living by yourself is extremely costly in Burbank.
An average monthly rental could easily cost 1000 USD to 1300 USD depending on where you plan to stay.
In our case, we managed to get a deal between 500 - 800 USD per month for our rental.
This is a compilation of housing information that my room mates have collected.
In our case, we picked the Media Center Villas and the Town Center Apartments.
If you are wondering why we didn't pick the other apartment is due to a few factors.
1) The availability of the apartment at the point in time.
2) Most landlords prefer longer rent such as 6 months or more.
3) Most applications require visa information for those international students. So if you are applying as ESTA, you would not have that information to apply. Hence you are not eligible to apply for the apartment.
Thus, it is better to check with whoever that is US citizen to help you guys.
It could get a little complicated and confusing sometimes.
Thankfully, we found a few US citizen friends who are coming away from their hometown to stay in Burbank, to study in Brainstorm.
With their help, we are able to get hold of some apartments with a short month leasing.
FYI, the monthly rent would be cheaper if you are leasing for a longer duration, for example 6 months to a year.
This is the link to the Brainstorm Housing Sharing group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1797795363785543/
Last but not least, it is also good to put aside some spare cash for misc fees and entertainment fees.
Entertainment / Misc Fees - 500 USD.
There are a couple of attractions happening in LA which is worth checking out.
Universal Studio Hollywood
Warner Brothers Studio Tour
Paramount Studio
Tons of great events to visit
CTN Animation Expo (Creative Talent Network)
Designer Con
ZBrush Summit
Gnomon Workshop do occasionally invites industry speaker to share their development process of any released movies.
In conclusion, Brainstorm School is definitely one of the best experience I ever have in terms of my art education.
The school provides an affordable art education for anyone interested to get into the industry.
All the instructors are professional working in the industry.
Sometimes they might invite speakers to drop by and look at the students work.
They have a wide range of instructors whom you could learn from.
The instructors are passionate about sharing their knowledge to help students improve on their crafts.
Sometimes they are willing to stay a little longer after the class is over, to interact with the students, or to even do a quick paint over of the works for the students.
This is something that I really appreciate the amount of effort and time put in by these instructors.
The school culture is very supportive and friendly.
Besides learning from the instructors, we also get to learn from our peers even just by listening to the feedback that the instructor provides.
It is amazing and unbelievable to see my friends grow their skills within such a short period of time in Brainstorm.
With that, I hope you enjoy the read, and good luck on your journey to Brainstorm! :)
