The Interactive Media Division is thrilled to present First Move 2012, part of the School of Cinematic Arts' First Look Festival. We are excited to present to you the best work from both our BA and MFA programs. USC was voted the #1 game design school in North America for graduate and undergraduate degree programs by the Princeton Review and GamePro Media for 2011. Our student work and faculty research projects represent the latest in interactive media technology and design, and this exhibition will showcase work from all areas of the field.

First Move 2012 includes several different types of projects from across the Interactive Media spectrum. From small, independent undertakings by individual students to masters theses and advanced game projects developed over the past year by teams as large as forty students. Projects include the iOS app store hit Puzzlejuice, the human-scale animation project Of Gods & Golems, and the hip heist game The Moonlighters. There will also be games shown that represent the collaboration between the Interactive Media Division and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, including the touch-based adventure Forestwalker and Tales from the Minus Lab in which players explore the world from the scale of an ant to that of a human. Additionally, several unique projects that push the boundaries of interactive media will be showcased, such as the highly acclaimed augmented-reality game Reality Ends Here and the stereoscopic experiences Seymour Deeply and Shayd. The program also includes research work from faculty members such as Scott Fisher, Mark Bolas, and Perry Hoberman.

We sincerely hope that you will enjoy the program, and after the screening, we invite you to visit our Interactive Gallery in the DGA atrium where you will be able to experience many of these and other pieces firsthand, including games for the Microsoft Kinect from our Immersive Game Workshop class and several projects utilizing touch technology for mobile and tablet devices.

Sincerely,
Tracy Fullerton
Chair, Interactive Media Division
USC School of Cinematic Arts