John Dykstra Quotes

To me the biggest breakthrough was when we did Terminator 2 that just opened the door for Jurassic and all of the others and that was as big as when we did motion control on Star Wars. But I don't see another big thing coming.

For 'Star Wars' I had to develop a whole new idea about special effects to give it the kind of kinetic energy I was looking for. I did it with motion-control photography.

Every 'Star Wars' film was about pushing what was possible in terms of effects, puppets, matte paintings, stop motion and, now, digitally.

The size of a studio film lets you see technology in a way that you wouldn't on an independent film, like the gadgets and the angles and all that.

I have a sneaking suspicion that if there were a way to make movies without actors, George Lucas would do it.

The irony is that you can't use real rain to make movies.

I'm one of the few directors that actually shoots a lot in camera.

The future of filmmaking is to make the canvas bigger, something you can't enjoy on your phones or computers.

The 3-D effects in "Star Wars" are so realistic, you can actually see George Lucas reaching from the screen and taking the money from your wallet.

I've done some effects shots. I've done some compositing. And in 'Just Like Heaven' did a lot of, like, motion control and things like that. But never done, like, computer-generated imagery in action.

I always wanted them to look like Hollywood movies; I just didn't know how to do it.

The 'Star Wars' universe is full of technological and cutting-edge effects, which Base FX will be a wonderful partner to create with.

Making a movie is like you're behind the wheel, and you're driving through the obstacle course, and the pedal is down, and you can't brake.

If you know how to shoot a scene, then you know how to shoot an action scene. If you've seen an action movie, and you watched it, and you paid attention to how scenes are constructed and where the camera is and how the camera moves, then you know how to do it.

I'm excited about what technology is offering storytellers and movie- and TV-makers.

Some directors are interested in acting, and others are only interested in cranes and moving the camera.

There's so many interesting aspects of making a movie: the costume department, the set design, the casting itself, the locations.

When I saw 'Jurassic Park' as a kid, that was the first time I thought about making movies for a living.

It's a very tricky job we have as DPs, where you are expected to make something that really is an emotional art but also needs to be technically spot on. You're often given a very small window of time to achieve it. People sometimes expect it to be even quicker and forget that there's a schedule for a reason.

Anybody can do glamorous roles. With the latest technology, any girl can be shown beautifully on screen.

It would be naive to say that you could make a movie on film for the same price you can digitally.

Whether you make an action blockbuster or a comedy or a drama, you've got the right camera and all the right technology to do it. In games, it's not the same yet, and I would like to see technologies dealing with cameras the way we do - dealing with bouquet, dealing with performance capture, with lighting - with all this stuff the way we do.

The pursuit system is an ideal way to shoot action sequences. It enhances the picturisation and captures the scene so well that the audience can feel the thrilling speed of the chase sequence in the film. 'Dhoom 3' is the first Hindi film to use this technique.

I read a magazine called 'Cinefantastique' that had just come out with a making of 'Star Wars' issue. They had some very long and detailed interviews with a whole bunch of people at ILM. I think I memorized that whole magazine.

I came in during the era of models, motion control, and optical printers. ILM had just started its own computer graphics division, after the Lucasfilm computer division had been sold off and became Pixar.