Edmund DiGiulio (June 13, 1927 – June 4, 2004) was an American technical innovator who founded

Cinema Products Corporation Cinema Products Corporation was an American manufacturer of motion picture camera equipment. History The company was formed in 1968 by Ed DiGiulio, a former director and vice-president of the Mitchell Camera Corporation. Their first product was ...

that developed the

Steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for Movie camera, motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. It was designed to isolate the camera from the camera operator's movement ...

CP-16 The CP-16, CP-16A, CP-16R, CP-16R/A and CP-16R/DS cameras are 16mm motion picture cameras manufactured by the Cinema Products Corporation of Hollywood, California. A range of cameras of Auricon ancestry. They were primarily intended for televisio ...

, and won multiple

Academy Scientific and Technical Award The Scientific and Technical Awards are three different Honorary Awards that are given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) during the annual Academy Awards season. The Awards have been presented since the 4th Academy Awards ...

s as well as the

Gordon E. Sawyer Award The Gordon E. Sawyer Award is an Honorary Award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to "an individual in the motion picture industry whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry." The award is named in ...

for his contributions to motion picture technology in 2001.

Biography

DiGiulio received his B.S. from

Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (popularly known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering; previously known as Columbia School of Mines) is the engineering and applied science school of Columbia University. It was founded as th ...

in 1950. After graduation, he spent 10 years working for IBM. He later landed a job at

Mitchell Camera Mitchell Camera Corporation was a motion picture camera manufacturing company established in Los Angeles in 1919. It was a primary supplier of newsreel and movie cameras for decades, until its closure in 1979. History The Mitchell Camera Corpor ...

, where he helped smooth out the motors for zoom lenses. He then started his own company,

, and developed a through-the-lens viewing system for 35-mm studio cameras, for which he won an Engineering and Scientific Award from the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

in 1969. As head of

, he oversaw the development of

, invented by

Garrett Brown Garrett Brown (born April 6, 1942) is an American inventor, best known as the creator of the Steadicam. Brown's invention allows camera operators to film while walking without the normal shaking and jostles of a handheld camera. The Steadicam wa ...

, who licensed the company to develop and manufacture the product. Brown and the staff won another Scientific and Engineering Award in 1978. He was credited for developing the

that were widely used by television journalists and was the technique behind ''

The Blair Witch Project ''The Blair Witch Project'' is a 1999 American supernatural horror film written, directed and edited by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez (director), Eduardo Sánchez. It is a fictional story of three student filmmakers—Heather Donahue, Mic ...

'' in 1999. He worked with director

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...

to develop the special cinematic effects for ''

Barry Lyndon ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Leonard ...

'', ''The Shining'', and ''

A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...

''. He also developed a camera system used in the film adaption of the musical ''

Stop the World – I Want to Get Off ''Stop the World – I Want to Get Off'' is a 1961 musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. According to Oscar Levant, the play's title was derived from graffiti. Plot The show, set against a circus backdr ...

''. In 1992, he won the Scientific and Engineering Award a second time for the camera system design of the CP-65 showcase camera system for 65mm motion picture photography. He received a Technical Achievement Award in 1998 for the design of the KeyKode Sync Reader. He won the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation in 1999 for "outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the

." DiGiulio was a five-time chairman of The Scientific and Technical Awards Committee of the

. At the Oscar ceremonies in 2001, he received the Gordon E. Sawyer Lifetime Achievement Award for technological advances. He was a fellow of the

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) (, rarely ), founded in 1916 as the Society of Motion Picture Engineers or SMPE, is a global professional association of engineers, technologists, and executives working in the m ...

, and a fellow of the

British Kinematograph, Sound and Television Society The British Kinematograph, Sound and Television Society (BKSTS) is an organisation which serves the technical and craft skills of the film, sound and television industries. It was formed in 1931, originally named the British Kinematograph Society. ...

Personal life

DiGiulio died on June 4, 2004, at 76. He is survived by his wife, Louise; a daughter, Amanda Richmond; and one granddaughter. In 2004, he was named one of "The 250 Greatest Columbia Alumni" by the ''

Columbia Daily Spectator The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' (known colloquially as the ''Spec'') is the student newspaper of Columbia University. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after ''The Harvard Crimson'', and has ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:DiGiulio, Edmund Academy Award for Technical Achievement winners Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni American inventors Recipients of the Gordon E. Sawyer Award Recipients of the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation 1927 births 2004 deaths