John Dykstra

79, from Long Beach, California, USA

Artwork for Children of the Atom - Filming X-Men: First ClassImage of John Dykstra

Biography

John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. (/ˈdaɪkstrə/; born June 3, 1947) is an American special effects artist, a pioneer in developing computers in filmmaking and a 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.

Description above from the Wikipedia article John Dykstra, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Timeline

2025Aged 78

  • Poster for How to Train Your Dragon

    Production Consultant

2022Aged 75

  • Poster for In Search of Tomorrow

    Self

2020Aged 73

  • Poster for Dolittle

    Visual Effects Supervisor

2019Aged 72

  • Poster for Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood

    Visual Effects Designer

2017Aged 70

  • Poster for Kong: Skull Island

    Visual Effects Supervisor

  • Poster for Ghost in the Shell

    Visual Effects Supervisor

2016Aged 69

  • Poster for X-Men: Apocalypse

    Visual Effects Designer

2014Aged 67

  • Poster for Seventh Son

    Visual Effects Supervisor

2011Aged 64

  • Poster for Children of the Atom - Filming X-Men: First Class

    Self

  • Poster for X-Men: First Class

    Visual Effects Designer

2010Aged 63

  • Poster for Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible

    Self

2009Aged 62

  • Poster for Inglourious Basterds

    Visual Effects Designer

2008Aged 61

  • Poster for Hancock

    Visual Effects Designer

2007Aged 60

  • Poster for Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001

    Self

  • Poster for Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001

    Self

2006Aged 59

  • Poster for Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet

    Self

  • Poster for Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon

    Self

2005Aged 58

  • Poster for The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to Oz

    Self

2004Aged 57

  • Poster for 8 Arms to Hold You

    Self

  • Poster for Spider-Man 2

    Visual Effects Designer

2002Aged 55

  • Poster for Behind the Ultimate Spin: The Making of Spider-Man

    Self

  • Poster for Spider-Man

    Visual Effects Designer

1999Aged 52

  • Poster for Stuart Little: Making It Big

    Self

  • Poster for Stuart Little

    Second Unit Director

1997Aged 50

  • Poster for Batman & Robin

    Visual Effects

1995Aged 48

  • Poster for Riddle Me This: Why Is Batman Forever?

    Self - Visual Effects Supervisor

  • Poster for Batman Forever

    Visual Effects Supervisor

1988Aged 41

  • Poster for My Stepmother Is an Alien

    Visual Effects Supervisor

1986Aged 39

  • Poster for Invaders from Mars

    Second Unit Director

1985Aged 38

1982Aged 35

  • Poster for Clint Eastwood: Director

    Self

1980Aged 33

  • Poster for Caddyshack

    Special Effects Supervisor

1979Aged 32

  • Poster for Avalanche Express

    Special Effects

  • Poster for Star Trek: The Motion Picture

    Visual Effects

1978Aged 31

  • Poster for Battlestar Galactica

    Producer

1977Aged 30

  • Poster for Star Wars

    Visual Effects