Computer Graphics (CGI) whiz Eric Leven is returning to Penn State, his alma mater, tonight to give students insight into the world of visual effects.

Leven graduated from Penn State with a film and video degree in 1994.

A chance phone call in Los Angeles led him to Tippet Studios -- the studio that won an academy award for Jurrasic Park.

Since then, he has lent his talent to an array of films including Star Troopers, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Hollow Man, Armageddon and The One, among others.

To Chuck Ungar, a Penn State film lecturer who taught Leven in 1992, Leven's success comes as no surprise.

"He was an exceptionally good student," Ungar said. "Some of the films he made [for my class] were astonishingly good."

What's particularly fascinating about Leven's story is that his knowledge and skill in computer graphics is mostly self-taught, Ungar said.

Leven's interest in CGI was sparked by late '80s and early '90s films such as The Abyss and The Terminator -- films in which computer-produced visual effects were responsible for a large part of the movie's fame. Intrigued and being a self-proclaimed "computer geek," he started to play around on his computer.

"When I was at school, I realized that I could make an entire film virtually, in the computer," Leven said.

By the time he graduated, he already had a basic understanding about the field.

Though his talent has allowed him to work on some high-budget films like The Two Towers, his favorite and most recent endeavor was working as visual effects director for Star Troopers II.

"It was great because it was a small group of people," Leven said. "On a bigger movie, the producers are very nervous and everyone has their finger in the pie where as in Star Troopers II you felt like you were making a film again."

While tonight's speech is open to anyone, hopeful filmmakers like Kate Lillie (junior-film and video) are coming to hear from someone who has first-hand experienced success in the movie business.

"I'm interested to see how he [became so successful]," Lillie said. "I want to hear what advice he has for aspiring filmmakers and specifically those interested in special effects."

Ungar said he hopes tonight's event will give Penn State students a role model of sorts.

"I think it's encouraging for students to see a PSU graduate who is so successful in a very demanding, difficult field. I hope they are inspired to work as hard as he has and to become as successful as he has," he said.