Portfolio showcase offers interactive experiences

Interactive media majors will exhibit their work in the Peoria River Front Museum for their annual portfolio showcase May 3 with the theme “Routing: An Interactive Media Experience.”
“[Moving to the museum] has been a really big step for our department,” said senior interactive media major Austin Thurmond. The showcase will feature new additions such as a kids area to engage people of all ages, said Thurmond.
“For the children attending, there will be a green screen where they can capture a video of themselves and insert a background of their choosing,” said senior interactive media major John Farmer.
Visitors may explore various exhibits including student-developed programs and faculty presentations.
“[The Wave Wall] is an interactive light installation that will be in the lobby of the museum,” Farmer said. “It’s going [to use] a camera system that reflects the clothing colors of people who walk past the camera.”
These projects have been planned since the start of the semester and Thurmond said his group members initially spent about six to seven hours each day working on their project.
“I was working on the student interview reel where we took highlights of student interviews,” Thurmond said. “One of my jobs was to create visual effects to go along with it, like creating animations and stuff to accompany what people are talking about.”
Farmer’s project is also a video, which will include 20 seconds of footage from a drone that the interactive media department has been experimenting with.
Although seniors play a large role in the event, the interactive media branch has turned the portfolio show into a department affair.  Underclassmen helped with the presentations, and faculty will speak in the Interactive Media Colloquium Saturday.
Attendees can expect to hear from interactive media professors Monica McGill, James Ferolo and Ed Lamoureux.
The showcase is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 3. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for children.
The interactive media program, with a concentration in animation and visual effects, was recently featured with universities such as Ball State, SIU-Carbondale and Missouri State University in Animation Career Review’s 2014 Top 20 Animation schools of the Midwest, achieving a No. 18 ranking.