Happy Star Wars Day, everyone! May the 4th be with you! Thanks for joining me for part two of this walk down memory lane as I show you a little bit more of what went into the restoration of the Dykstraflex motion control camera system. For the uninitiated among you, this was the groundbreaking motion […]
The Dykstraflex: Restoring the Motion Control System That Changed The World – Part 2 Read More »
Please join me as I take a walk down memory lane and show you a little bit of what went into the restoration of the Dykstraflex motion control camera system. For the uninitiated among you, this was the groundbreaking motion control camera system that brought to life the most exciting special visual effects that first
The Dykstraflex: Restoring the Motion Control System That Changed The World – Part 1 Read More »
On Saturday, October 5th, my family and I had the privilege of attending a preview of the new “Color in Motion: Chromatic Explorations of Cinema” exhibit at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. I was pleased to find a fairly comprehensive exploration of the history and evolution of color in motion pictures. The exhibit opens
A Preview of the “Color in Motion” Exhibit at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Read More »
This past Sunday, July 28, 2024, was the last live demonstration of the Dykstraflex at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, for now at least. Now it heads back into storage and some continuing restoration work. My heart was warmed by the huge crowds that came to see this amazing machine at work, and listen
A Farewell to the Dykstraflex (For Now) Read More »
The culmination of all the efforts that myself, Gene Kozicki, Joe di Gennaro, Peter Anderson, Les Bernstien, Andre Bustonaby, Joe and Miles Lewis, and many of the museum crew, was a live demonstration of the Dykstraflex in the Spielberg Family Gallery on the 47th anniversary of the release of the first “Star Wars” film. On
Demonstrating the Dykstraflex: May 25, 2024 Read More »
As part of my involvement with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences History and Technology Subcommittee, we have been hard at work getting the Dykstraflex cleaned up and ready to be exhibited at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. This was a long and tedious process, involving a fair amount of logistics, cleaning,
Preparing for May the 4th: The Dykstraflex at the Academy Museum Read More »
Some 40+ years ago, I had the privilege of being one of the engineers and cameramen at the Universal Studios Hartland visual effects facility. One of the many things I designed and built there was a 3-axis motion control model mover. My friend Peter Anderson rescued part of one of these model movers and kept
A Visitor from the Past – the Hartland 3-Axis Model Mover Read More »
Way back in 2019, I was asked to rebuild the missing sections from the Dykstraflex camera moving system so that a working Dykstraflex could be demonstrated at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Galactic Innovations event. This project happened on a tight schedule, and in the middle of me moving my business across
Further Adventures with the Dykstraflex Read More »
This past Thursday, we had the privilege of hosting a gathering of members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences History and Technology subcommittee. We spent a lovely few hours touring our new facility and talking about what Cinema Engineering Co. and CinemaGear.com are all about. Our meeting and tour was full of
