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John Dykstra
John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. (; born June 3, 1947) is an American special effects artist, pioneer in the development of the use of computers in filmmaking and recipient of three Academy Awards, among many other awards and prizes. He was one of the original employees of Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects and computer graphics division of Lucasfilm. He is well known as the special effects lead on the original ''Star Wars'', helping bring the original visuals for lightsabers, space battles between X-wings and TIE fighters, and Force powers to the screen. He also led special effects on many other movies, including ''Batman Forever'', '' Batman & Robin'', ''Stuart Little'', '' X-Men: First Class'', ''Spider-Man'' and ''Spider-Man 2''. Education and early career Dykstra was born in Long Beach, California. After studying industrial design at California State University, Long Beach (where he was a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity), in 1971 he landed a job working with Dougl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporated in 1897, Long Beach lies in Southern California in the southern part of Los Angeles County. Long Beach is approximately south of downtown Los Angeles, and is part of the Gateway Cities region. The Port of Long Beach is the second busiest container port in the United States and is among the world's largest shipping ports. The city is over an oilfield with minor wells both directly beneath the city as well as offshore. The city is known for its waterfront attractions, including the permanently docked and the Aquarium of the Pacific. Long Beach also hosts the Grand Prix of Long Beach, an IndyCar race and the Long Beach Pride Festival and Parade. California State University, Long Beach, one of the largest universities in California b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Class
First class (or 1st class, Firstclass) generally implies a high level of service, importance or quality. Specific uses of the term include: Books and Comics * ''First Class'', a comic strip in ''The Dandy'' (1983-1998) * ''X-Men: First Class'' (comics) Film and TV * '' X-Men: First Class'', a 2011 film * ''First Class'' (game show), a UK game show * ''First Class'' (TV series), a Singaporean comedy Music Artists * The First Class, a British pop band formed in 1974 Albums * ''1st Class'' (album), by Large Professor, 2002 *''First Class'', by Billy Paul , 1979 *''First Class'', by Mickey Gilley, 1977 *''First Class'', by Claude Bolling, 1991 Songs * "First Class" (song), by Jack Harlow, 2022 *"First Class", by Henry Rollins from '' Big Ugly Mouth'', 1987 *"First Class", by Lil Baby from ''Harder Than Ever'', 2018 *"First Class", from the Hindi film ''Kalank'', 2019 *"First Class", by Khruangbin from ''Mordechai'', 2020 Computing * First-class type, a concept in p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Random-access Memory
Random-access memory (RAM; ) is a form of computer memory that can be read and changed in any order, typically used to store working Data (computing), data and machine code. A Random access, random-access memory device allows data items to be read (computer), read or written in almost the same amount of time irrespective of the physical location of data inside the memory, in contrast with other direct-access data storage media (such as hard disks, CD-RWs, DVD-RWs and the older Magnetic tape data storage, magnetic tapes and drum memory), where the time required to read and write data items varies significantly depending on their physical locations on the recording medium, due to mechanical limitations such as media rotation speeds and arm movement. RAM contains multiplexer, multiplexing and demultiplexing circuitry, to connect the data lines to the addressed storage for reading or writing the entry. Usually more than one bit of storage is accessed by the same address, and RAM ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Integrated Circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors) integrate into a small chip. This results in circuits that are orders of magnitude smaller, faster, and less expensive than those constructed of discrete electronic components. The IC's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to integrated circuit design has ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discrete transistors. ICs are now used in virtually all electronic equipment and have revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones and other home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the small size and low cost of ICs such as modern computer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dykstraflex
The Dykstraflex was the first digital motion control photography camera system, named after its primary developer John Dykstra. Numerous people actually created the camera, with the critical electronics being created by Alvah J. Miller and Jerry Jeffress. The camera was developed in 1976 specifically for complex special effects shots in '' Star Wars''. Using old VistaVision cameras (for their high image resolution), created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954, and hand wire wrapped TTL chips, the all-digitally controlled system allowed for 7 axes of motion: roll, pan, tilt, swing, boom, traverse, track, lens focus, motor drive, shutter control, and their duplication in multiple takes. Dykstra's development of this first digital motion control camera system earned himself, Al Miller, and Jerry Jeffress Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Van Nuys
Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, the Suburban Homes Company – a syndicate led by Hobart Johnstone Whitley, general manager of the board of control, along with Harry Chandler, H. G. Otis, M. H. Sherman and O. F. Brandt – purchased 48,000 acres of the Farming and Milling Company for $2.5 million. Henry E. Huntington extended his Pacific Electric Railway (Red Cars) through the Valley to Owensmouth (now Canoga Park). The Suburban Home Company laid out plans for roads and the towns of Van Nuys, Reseda (Marian) and Canoga Park (Owensmouth). The rural areas were annexed into the city of Los Angeles in 1915. The town was founded in 1911 and named for Isaac Newton Van Nuys, a rancher, entrepreneur and one of its developers. It was annexed by Los Angeles on May 22, 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind
''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story of Roy Neary, an Everyman, everyday blue-collar worker in Indiana, whose life changes after an encounter with a UFO. ''Close Encounters'' was a long-cherished project for Spielberg. In late 1973, he developed a deal with Columbia Pictures for a science-fiction film. Though Spielberg received sole credit for the script, he was assisted by Paul Schrader, John Hill (screenwriter), John Hill, David Giler, Hal Barwood, Matthew Robbins (screenwriter), Matthew Robbins, and Jerry Belson, all of whom contributed to the screenplay in varying degrees. The title is derived from Ufology, Ufologist J. Allen Hynek's classification of close encounters with extraterrestrials, in which the third kind denotes human observations of extraterrestrials or "anim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Spielberg is the recipient of various accolades, including three Academy Awards, a Kennedy Center honor, a Cecil B. DeMille Award, and an AFI Life Achievement Award. Seven of his films been inducted into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. He moved to California and studied film in college. After directing several episodes for television including ''Night Gallery'' and '' Columbo'', he directed the television film ''Duel'' (1971) which gained acclaim from critics and audiences. He made his directorial film debut with ''The Sugarland Express'' (1974), and became a household name with the 1975 summer blockbuster ''Jaws''. He then directed box office succe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman of Lucasfilm before selling it to The Walt Disney Company in 2012. Lucas is one of history's most financially successful filmmakers and has been nominated for four Academy Awards. His films are among the 100 highest-grossing movies at the North American box office, adjusted for ticket-price inflation. Lucas is considered to be one of the most significant figures of the 20th-century New Hollywood movement, and a pioneer of the modern blockbuster (entertainment), blockbuster. After graduating from the University of Southern California in 1967, Lucas co-founded American Zoetrope with filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola. Lucas wrote and directed ''THX 1138'' (1971), based on his student short ''Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB'', which was a c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Silent Running
''Silent Running'' is a 1972 American environmental-themed apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic science fiction film. It is the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, and stars Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, and Jesse Vint. Plot In the future, all plant life on Earth is becoming extinct. As many specimens as possible have been preserved in a series of enormous greenhouse-like geodesic domes attached to large spaceships, forming part of a fleet of American Airlines space freighters, currently just outside the orbit of Saturn. Freeman Lowell, one of four crewmen aboard, is the resident botanist and ecologist on one of these ships, the ''Valley Forge.'' He carefully maintains a variety of plants for their eventual return to Earth and the reforestation of the planet. He spends most of his time in the domes, cultivating the crops and attending to the animal life. The crew of each ship receives orders to jettison and destroy their domes and return the frei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Douglas Trumbull
Douglas Hunt Trumbull (; April 8, 1942 – February 7, 2022) was an American film director and innovative visual effects supervisor. He pioneered methods in special effects and created scenes for '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'', ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'', '' Star Trek: The Motion Picture'', ''Blade Runner'' and ''The Tree of Life'', and directed the movies ''Silent Running'' and '' Brainstorm''. Early life Trumbull was born in Los Angeles. His father was an aerospace engineer who had briefly worked in Hollywood creating visual effects for the 1939 movie '' The Wizard of Oz''.; his mother, who died when Trumbull was 7, was an artist. As a child, he liked to construct mechanical and electrical devices such as crystal-set radios, and enjoyed watching alien invasion movies. He initially wanted to be an architect, leading him to take classes in illustration. He studied technical drawing at El Camino Junior College and joined the Screen Cartoonists Guild upon graduating. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phi Kappa Tau
Phi Kappa Tau (), commonly known as Phi Tau (), is a collegiate fraternity located in the United States. The fraternity was founded in 1906. As of November 2022, the fraternity has 161 chartered chapters, 79 active chapters, 6 Associate chapters and about 3,500 collegiate members. SeriousFun Children's Network, founded by ''Beta chapter'' alumnus Paul Newman, is Phi Kappa Tau's National Philanthropy. According to its Constitution, Phi Kappa Tau is one of the few social fraternities that can accept graduate students as well as undergraduates. Phi Kappa Tau's mission statement is "To champion a lifelong commitment to brotherhood, learning, ethical leadership and exemplary character." The fraternity's vision is "To be recognized as a leadership organization that binds men together and challenges them to improve their campuses and the world." History Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity (commonly called Phi Tau) was founded in the Union Literary Society Hall of Miami University's Old Mai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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