John Dykstra

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John Charles Dykstra (born June 3, 1947 in Long Beach , California , USA ) is a special effects artist . He began using computers in film making in the 1970s and is therefore considered a pioneer in the industry. His work for the successful science fiction film Star Wars revolutionized animation technology in the late 1970s.

life and work

After studying industrial design, Dykstra found a job where he worked with Douglas Trumbull to create model effects for the film Silent in Space . When George Lucas was hiring staff to work on the special effects for Star Wars , he approached Trumbull, who in turn referred him to Dykstra. Dykstra led at Industrial Light and Magic , the development of computer-controlled motion control - camera system dykstraflex , which was responsible for many of the groundbreaking effects of movies. This system was made possible by the availability of commercially available and relatively inexpensive microprocessors, but also by technology that has been in existence for over 20 years in some cases: Both the VistaVision cameras, which are ideal for effect and blue screen recordings, and the optical cameras that are essential for the final compositing were made possible Printer from the old MGM inventory and had already been used in the production of The Ten Commandments in 1956.

However, there was tension between Dykstra and Lucas, who later complained that too much of the special effects budget had been used to develop the camera systems, preventing the effects team from getting the footage they wanted. Nonetheless, following the release of Star Wars , Dykstra secured his status in the film industry by winning an Oscar for Best Visual Effects and Special Technical Achievement.

After the falling out with Lucas, Dykstra was no longer part of the team at the ILM, which was newly formed in Northern California and began working on the special effects for The Empire Strikes Back . Instead, he founded the SFX company Apogee, Inc. at the old ILM location and worked on the special effects of the TV series Kampfstern Galactica . The effects, however, were a bit disappointing due to their monotony. Universal , who produced Kampfstern Galactica , also got into a lawsuit with 20th Century Fox because Battlestar Galactica was allegedly too similar to Star Wars .

Dykstra also worked on the effects for Star Trek: The Movie , which were used again in later films.

Dykstra's next big achievement was working on the special effects for Firefox in 1982. He took on the same challenge that Lucas took on in The Empire Strikes Back , combining miniature effects , filmed backgrounds, and painted backgrounds white ground. The film brought him further awards, but had little commercial success. Dykstra was also involved in the laser-disc-based arcade machine for the film Firefox , which proved a success, after which he turned to computer games for the next decade .

The special effects for Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were also created under Dykstra's supervision . From 2002 Dykstra worked on Sam Raimi's remakes of the Spider-Man films.

Filmography

Awards

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Dykstra, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Dykstra, John Charles (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American special effects expert
DATE OF BIRTH June 3, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Long Beach (California)