Award-Winning Illusions

Caption: Class of 2008 art-entertainment art/animation graduate Brent Steinberg with his Emmy, following the September awards ceremony.

Brent Steinberg was handed a huge task this spring when he was tapped for the creative team of the History Channel special “Gettysburg.”

His job was to re-create the 1860s-era town, using his computer. He ended up doing such a bang-up job that he won a 2011 Emmy for “Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special.” It was his first Emmy win and first nomination.

For the two-hour special that aired on Memorial Day to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, Steinberg was credited on the project as CGI (computer-generated image) Artist. He was part of a nine-person, special-effects team sharing the award for the feature documentary.

“We were tasked with the job to create photo-realistic aerial landscapes of the town and surrounding areas,” he explained. “I was required to build an entire city’s worth of realistic, period-accurate buildings, along with trees, fences, telegraph wires, trash and farming equipment. Along with that, I created the camera moves for the shots, which were then passed along to our Terragen artist to create the surrounding landscape.”

The expression on Steinberg’s face minutes after being awarded the coveted statuette belies the thrill of the win for this Class of 2008 CSUF graduate (B.F.A. art-entertainment art/animation ’08), now into his fourth year at Stargate Studio LA as a 3D artist.

The company provides visual effects, virtual backlot and production services for feature films, television and commercials around the world.

Steinberg landed his job there by replying to a job posting and submitting a demo reel — “primarily of projects I had done while at Fullerton,” he said. They were “mostly animation tests I had done in my ‘Character Animation’ class in my final semester. I had also done some other animations for myself after my graduation, in an effort to stay sharp, so they were sprinkled in with those. I also had illustrations and life drawings from my time at Fullerton.”

Since joining Stargate, he’s “worked on a ton of shows.” They include: “Heroes,” “The Walking Dead,” “The Event,” ratings powerhouses “Grey’s Anatomy” and “24,” fall newcomer “Pan Am,” plus a new Kiefer Sutherland drama, “Touch,” due to air in the spring.

Steinberg is busy this fall making computer-generated zombies for the second season of AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” a horror drama about survivors of an apocalyptic holocaust in search of a safe haven, while being menaced by Steinberg’s zombies. He’s also working on “Luck,” a new show for HBO that’s set at a horse-racing track. The cast includes Dustin Hoffman, Nick Nolte and Dennis Farina.

Caption: Gettysburg as the crow flies — a 34-second video clip of Steinberg's work from the special "Gettysburg."

Caption: A 30-second video clip showcasing the work of Brent Steinberg for the History Channel special “Gettysburg.”

“This may be pretty close to the path I set out on. I always had an interest in special effects, and I’d always find myself watching the special features on my DVDs, in awe of how they did things,” he said. “While I had envisioned myself as a character animator for features while at school, I always had an interest in effects and wanted it to be an option.”

His proud campus admirers include Dana Lamb, professor of art, who shared the news with colleagues when Steinberg was nominated for the Emmy, and Charles Grieb, associate professor of art. "Brent was a very talented, hardworking student with a great attitude," Grieb recalled. "He demonstrated a great work ethic and true love for storytelling and animation."

Steinberg credits his collegiate experiences and faculty members for helping to propel him forward.

"Quite frankly, I wouldn't have been able to accomplish any of this without my time at Fullerton," he noted. "The skills I learned there have been paramount to my ability to be a productive part of a creative pipeline.

"The professors were amazing and truly involved — so much so that I keep in contact with them to this day. I'd like to give special thanks to the guys who helped shaped me. In particular, Chuck Grieb, Brian Kennan, Christian Hill and Dana Lamb. All helped me in profound ways and guided me — a truly special group of professors that I feel lucky to have had."

Oct. 28, 2011