Dijkstra, John

Born in 1947 in Long Beach . After graduating from California State University , where Dykstra studied industrial design , in 1971 he got the job of a special effects director in the crew of the science-fiction film Douglas Trumball - Silent Run . In 1975, on the recommendation of Trumbull, he was accepted into the Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) company, recently founded by George Lucas , who at that time was recruiting a team of technical specialists to create special effects in his new Star Wars project. To work on the film, Dijkstra gathered and led a small group of students: artists and engineers.

While working on "Star Wars", John Dijkstra developed a new camera movement control system that improves the technological level of the filming process and facilitates the work of the film crew. The system was named in honor of the developer - " Dykestraflex ".

Nevertheless, disagreements arose between Dykstroy and Lukas: Lukas did not like that too much money and time had been spent on developing the system and the team did not manage to shoot all the shots on time, which caused the film to be behind schedule. This conflict ended with the dismissal of Dijkstra from ILM, after the return of Lucas from major filming in London. Despite this, after the successful release of the film, Dijkstra and his team were awarded an Oscar for the best visual effects , as well as awards for scientific and technological achievements (for the development and improvement of Dykstraflex).

After leaving ILM, Dijkstra founded his own special effects production company Apogee, the first work of which was the fantastic television series Universal Studios - “The Star Cruiser Galaxy ”.

Special effects

• 1972 - Silent Running (special photographic effects)
• 1977 - Star Wars. Episode IV: A New Hope (special photographic effects supervisor)
• 1978 - Star cruiser Galaxy (TV series) ( pilot episode ) (miniature and effects unit supervisor)
• 1979 - Avalanche Express (supervisor of special effects: Apogee)
• 1979 - Star Trek: The Film (photographic effects supervisor: Apogee, Inc., special photographic effects supervisor)
• 1980 - Golf Club (supervisor of special effects)
• 1982 - Fire Fox (producer: special visual effects)
• 1983 - Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (special effects)
• 1985 - Vitality (special visual effects)
• 1985 - Alice in Wonderland (TV) (special visual effects)
• 1986 - Aliens from Mars (special visual effects)
• 1987 - Out on a Limb (effects supervisor)
• 1988 - Servant of the Devil (special effects director: Apogee - uncredited)
• 1988 - Something Is Out There (special visual effects designer)
• 1988 - My stepmother is an alien (supervisor: special visual effects)
• 1990 - Spontaneous combustion (special effects consultant)
• 1995 - Batman Forever (visual effects supervisor)
• 1997 - Batman and Robin (visual effects)
• 1999 - Stuart Little (senior visual effects supervisor)
• 2002 - Spider-Man (visual effects designer)
• 2004 - Spider-Man 2 (visual effects designer)
• 2008 - Hancock (visual effects designer, visual effects supervisor)
• 2009 - Inglourious Basterds (visual effects designer)
• 2011 - X-Men: First Class (visual effects designer)
• 2012 - Django Unchained (visual effects designer)
• 2014 - Godzilla (additional visual effects designer)
• 2014 - Seventh son (visual effects designer)
• 2015 - Disgusting Eight (visual effects designer)
• 2016 - X-Men: Apocalypse (visual effects designer)
• 2017 - Kong: Skull Island (additional visual effects supervisor)
• 2017 - Ghost in the Shell (visual effects supervisor)

Producer

• 1978 - Battlestar Galactica (3 episodes)

• John Dijkstra on the Internet Movie Database
• Awards and nominations on the IMDb website
• John Dykstra Biography
• Miniature and Mechanical Special Effects (July, 1977) - an article written by Dykstra for the American Cinematographer regarding his work on Star Wars )
• http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/John_Dykstra