# Stern Pinball Stranger Things Animation Department Feature

**Source:** Stern Pinball  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2020-03-17  
**Duration:** 4m 0s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2EkESF_wCM

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## Analysis

Chuck Ernst, CGI/Video Art Director at Stern Pinball, provides an internal walkthrough of the animation and visual effects department's work on Stranger Things pinball. The feature showcases the team's creative process across multiple specialized roles (3D modeling, lighting, animation, UI design) and highlights technical innovations including real-time rendering in Blender, dual-screen projection mapping, and custom animation recreation to match pinball timing requirements rather than using source material directly.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Stranger Things pinball features a projector screen that pops up during gameplay, with content projected during play — _Chuck Ernst describing playfield hardware: 'Right behind the flippers is a projector, and it projects on a screen that pops up during gameplay.'_
- [HIGH] The game has dual-screen output systems (upper and lower displays) with different resolutions, requiring content optimization for both — _Ernst: 'Multiple outputs or awards, so we have to make stuff that's friendly to both displays, but one that's half the resolution and that's on the lower playfield.'_
- [HIGH] Animation team recreates scenes from source material in Blender rather than using original footage due to timing/angle requirements for pinball gameplay — _Ernst explaining Demo Gorgon scene: 'It's actually easier to recreate the scenes than it is to like try to edit together anything that content that they might have gave you.'_
- [HIGH] Stranger Things animation work was completed in approximately four months — _Ernst: 'The joy that I get out of doing a lot of this is when the game is done and having people come up to us and go, "How the heck did you guys do that with four months of our time?"'_
- [HIGH] The Dungeons & Dragons mystery awards mode required creating 20 different d20 dice variations with proper geometry (opposite sides adding to 21) — _Ernst discussing Zack's work: 'Poor Zack has to create 20... An actual D&D dice—opposite sides have to add up to 21.'_

### Notable Quotes

> "The bottom line is that the tool is nothing—it's the guys that made it."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, opening
> _Ernst establishes philosophy that creative talent matters more than software/hardware tools_

> "It's actually easier to recreate the scenes than it is to like try to edit together anything that content that they might have gave you."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, mid-section
> _Explains production decision to build custom animations in Blender rather than repurpose source footage for pinball-specific timing_

> "I have to override the line of being truthful to the material."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, mystery awards section
> _Acknowledges creative liberties taken with IP (D&D dice accuracy) to serve pinball gameplay requirements_

> "We work smarter, not harder."
> — **Chuck Ernst**, closing
> _Ernst's summary philosophy for managing rapid animation production timeline_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Chuck Ernst | person | CGI/Video Art Director at Stern Pinball; leads animation and visual effects teams; oversees final stages of Stranger Things production |
| Stern Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer producing Stranger Things pinball machine |
| Stranger Things | game | Stern pinball machine based on Netflix series; features advanced animation, projection systems, and dual-display output |
| Paul | person | 3D modeler at Stern animation department; recreated weapon models and Demo Gorgon scene from Stranger Things source material |
| Ian | person | Animator at Stern; works on creature animation (Demo Gorgon wall sequence) using Blender; described as 'pinball designer' |
| Josh | person | Animator working on compass mode navigation sequences for Stranger Things pinball |
| Zack | person | Animator responsible for creating 20 Dungeons & Dragons d20 dice variations for mystery awards mode |
| Olivia | person | Designer working on bonus countdown animations and playfield artwork integration for Stranger Things |
| Blender | product | 3D rendering and animation software used by Stern animation team for creating custom video content |
| Dungeons & Dragons | game | Reference IP for mystery awards mechanics in Stranger Things pinball (d20 dice system) |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Animation and video content production workflow, Technical innovation in pinball displays (dual-screen projection, real-time rendering), 3D modeling and Blender pipeline for pinball content creation
- **Secondary:** Production timeline and team management (4-month animation cycle), IP licensing and creative adaptation for pinball gameplay, Specialized role divisions within animation department

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Ernst and team express pride in technical accomplishments and creative problem-solving. Tone is enthusiastic about innovations and collaborative teamwork. No criticism or negativity present.

### Signals

- **[design_philosophy]** Stern animation team prioritizes gameplay-specific visual requirements over source material fidelity, recreating scenes in 3D when necessary for pinball timing/angle demands (confidence: high) — Ernst: 'It's actually easier to recreate the scenes than it is to like try to edit together anything that content that they might have gave you' due to timing/angle requirements for pinball
- **[licensing_signal]** Stranger Things licensing allows creative adaptation of source material (e.g., D&D dice geometry modifications) to serve pinball mechanics (confidence: medium) — Ernst acknowledging creative liberties: 'I have to override the line of being truthful to the material' regarding d20 dice variations for mystery awards
- **[product_strategy]** Stranger Things pinball features proprietary projection hardware (pop-up screen behind flippers) and dual-display system designed specifically for this title (confidence: high) — 'Right behind the flippers is a projector, and it projects on a screen that pops up during gameplay. Content has to be made for that.'
- **[technology_signal]** Stern implementing advanced real-time 3D rendering (Blender with custom plugins) for pinball video content, including dual-display optimization and interactive projection systems (confidence: high) — Ernst describing Blender pipeline, cloth physics, dual-screen output optimization, and projector screen integration as features 'that hasn't been done before' on pinball machines

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## Transcript

My name is Chuck Ernst. I'm the CGT art director here at Stern, overseeing the final steps of Stranger Things. I corral artists doing the video display effects for these games, and we always like to try all kinds of new tools. But the bottom line is that the tool is nothing—it's the guys that made it.

So in the hallway, you have all your different weapons that the kids gathered. Paul basically took these models and recreated what you would see in the movie. The geometry is fairly simple, and then that's where the shaders and the lighting basically take over. And then also, Paul does the champ of cheating—cheating a lot with lighting and stuff. There's all these techniques to kind of get this lighting to work. There's not a lot going on in this building, like if it's—it's like there's your hallway and that updating you're seeing is just the real-time engine just like catching up to the camera angles and stuff. The fun stuff is kind of the cool visual effects. That's where we get kind of the joy out of it as is. They're like, how cool can we make this?

Then Ian comes prepared with the proper pinball designer attire. So basically, this is the Demo Gorgon coming through the school wall. So everything is built in Blender, and there's a plugin for it that you can cut off the walls and the geometry. There's physics involved in the render, and there's some cloth physics. People might ask, like, why are you recreating this? We had footage of the creature coming through the wall at the school. Like, why don't you just use that? And the deal is, a lot of this stuff has to be shot from different angles or slower or has to be timed for pinball in a weird, bizarre way. It's actually easier to recreate the scenes than it is to like try to edit together anything that content that they might have gave you.

Josh is working on the compass mode. There's a mode in the game where you're kind of navigating the town with a compass. So you can see where Josh is working off of storyboards. We try to use those as a blueprint for what we're making. There's a lot on this game that hasn't been done before. Right behind the flippers is a projector, and it projects on a screen that pops up during gameplay. Content has to be made for that. Scenes from the movie are projected on there. Multiple outputs or awards, so we have to make stuff that's friendly to both displays, but one that's half the resolution and that's on the lower playfield. It's almost like planning for like a Nintendo DS or something, where you have the two dual screens. So this is like a lower projector screen that I'm working on right now, and then this is like the upper screen.

Let's go see what Zack's doing.

Oh yeah, the mystery awards. Poor Zack has to create 20. We could have used the 10-sided eye, but no, we had to use the 26. I have to override the line of being truthful to the material. An actual D&D dice—opposite sides have to add up to 21.

Yeah, that I didn't know that about the dice.

What Olivia's working on here was like the bonus countdown. She's starting with some concept art that was kind of thrown in early on, and now she's dropping in the final art right now. So here's the artwork from the playfield that we're migrating from the playfield to the final display artwork. So this is basically what gets silkscreened down onto the wood. It's kind of a "Where's Waldo" of all of the elements for the show on the playfield.

The joy that I get out of doing a lot of this is when the game is done and having people come up to us and go, "How the heck did you guys do that with four months of our time? How did you create all this content?" And the answer is we work smarter, not harder. It's kind of the deal.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: f5cd4ae9-4906-4a69-9da8-aaf018b442da*