This April, Bradley’s interactive media department will host its 13th annual FUSE showcase, filling the Peoria Riverfront Museum with a variety of student-produced creative projects.
The event provides an outlet for students to show off any creative work they have done in the past or plan on doing in the future.
“It’s the first chance in a large-scale environment for our students to see people enjoying what they do,” David Abzug, head of the undergraduate game design and master of science in game design and development programs, said in the intro video on this year’s FUSE website.
While professors like Abzug are available for consultation throughout the production process, FUSE is organized exclusively by Bradley students. Every year, one person is chosen to be the student producer, overseeing the exhibit as a whole, while their peers work on individual projects.
This year’s student producer is Jake Slutzky, a junior game design major, but the role is open to students from any field of study. While hosted by the interactive media department, students of all backgrounds are encouraged to participate in FUSE.
“It takes a collaboration between a lot of departments,” Slutzky said. “In the interactive media department alone, game art, animation and game design majors are all working together in order to make these projects. Oftentimes, it goes beyond the interactive media department. It’s almost a campus-wide collaboration.”
This year, over 120 students are participating in FUSE.
“There are a lot of people who are working on this, even beyond showing off the exhibit,” Slutzky continued. “There’s a ton of people who are submitting game art, for example, that will be shown off during [the event], so even if they aren’t running a booth, there will still be many showcases of student work all around the museum.”
The theme this year is “into the future,” as FUSE will be characterized by a retro-futuristic aesthetic. The entire event will be interactive and family-friendly, allowing attendees of all ages to experience what the creative minds behind FUSE believe to be the future of interactive media.
This year’s showcase will include a wide variety of projects, including animations, unique game controllers and custom-made 3D printed objects.
“There’s so many unique controllers,” Slutzky said. “For instance, there will be a game that uses a DDR dance pad, like the ones you see at arcades. So, you will be dancing on the controller to move your character.”
“There will also be an animation showcase with tons of very talented animators who have put their heart and soul into making these very impressive animations,” the student producer added. “Some of them will be dome animations, which all have been stylized to fit on the theater dome.”
The event will also include a showcase of senior capstone projects, showing off the work that the seniors have done.
“At FUSE this year, there will be three games from the game design capstone class,” Jacquelin Heisel, senior game design major and member of FUSE’s feedback team, said. “All the animation senior capstone films as well as some independent films will be featured on the big screen.”
With over 120 students participating and several different categories to explore, there is plenty more to be expected at this year’s “FUSE of the future.”
The event will be held at the Peoria Riverfront Museum on April 11, from 10 am to 5 pm.
