
Visual effects
John Dykstra
Born June 3, 1947 · Long Beach, California, USA
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.
Known for

968.4
Inglourious Basterds
Visual Effects Designer

988.6
Star Wars
Visual Effects

837.5
Spider-Man
Visual Effects Designer

887.5
Spider-Man 2
Visual Effects Designer

857.6
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood
Visual Effects Designer

526.8
X-Men: Apocalypse
Visual Effects Designer

847.7
X-Men: First Class
Visual Effects Designer

606.7
Kong: Skull Island
Visual Effects Supervisor

446.4
Hancock
Visual Effects Designer, Visual Effects Supervisor

406.3
Ghost in the Shell
Visual Effects Supervisor

275.5
Batman Forever
Visual Effects Supervisor

73.8
Batman & Robin
Visual Effects

436.0
Stuart Little
Second Unit Director, Senior Visual Effects Supervisor

265.6
Dolittle
Visual Effects Supervisor

877.7
How to Train Your Dragon
Production Consultant

185.5
Seventh Son
Visual Effects Designer, Visual Effects Supervisor

476.4
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Visual Effects

647.2
Caddyshack
Special Effects Supervisor

436.2
Lifeforce
Visual Effects

285.4
My Stepmother Is an Alien
Visual Effects Supervisor
Filmography
- 2025How to Train Your DragonProduction ConsultantMovie
- 2022LIGHT & MAGICSelfSeries
- 2022In Search of TomorrowSelfMovie
- 2021The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star TrekSelfSeries
- 2020DolittleVisual Effects SupervisorMovie
- 2019Once Upon a Time... in HollywoodVisual Effects DesignerMovie
- 2017Ghost in the ShellVisual Effects SupervisorMovie
- 2017Kong: Skull IslandVisual Effects SupervisorMovie
- 2016X-Men: ApocalypseVisual Effects DesignerMovie
- 2014Seventh SonVisual Effects Designer, Visual Effects SupervisorMovie
- 2011Children of the Atom - Filming X-Men: First ClassSelfMovie
- 2011X-Men: First ClassVisual Effects DesignerMovie
- 2010Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the ImpossibleSelfMovie
- 2009Inglourious BasterdsVisual Effects DesignerMovie
- 2008HancockVisual Effects Designer, Visual Effects SupervisorMovie
- 2007Standing on the Shoulders of Kubrick: The Legacy of 2001SelfMovie
- 2007Vision of a Future Passed: The Prophecy of 2001SelfMovie
- 2006Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden PlanetSelfMovie
- 2006Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi IconSelfMovie
- 2005The Art of Imagination: A Tribute to OzSelfMovie
- 20048 Arms to Hold YouSelfMovie
- 2004Spider-Man 2Visual Effects DesignerMovie
- 2003VH1 Goes InsideSelfSeries
- 2002Spider-ManVisual Effects DesignerMovie
- 2002Behind the Ultimate Spin: The Making of Spider-ManSelfMovie
- 2000SciographySeries
- 1999Stuart LittleSecond Unit Director, Senior Visual Effects SupervisorMovie
- 1999Stuart Little: Making It BigSelfMovie
- 1997Batman & RobinVisual EffectsMovie
- 1995Batman ForeverVisual Effects SupervisorMovie
- 1995Riddle Me This: Why Is Batman Forever?Self - Visual Effects SupervisorMovie
- 1988My Stepmother Is an AlienVisual Effects SupervisorMovie
- 1986Invaders from MarsVisual Effects Producer, Second Unit DirectorMovie
- 1985LifeforceVisual EffectsMovie
- 1985The Making Of LifeforceSelfMovie
- 1982Clint Eastwood: DirectorSelfMovie
- 1980CaddyshackSpecial Effects SupervisorMovie
- 1979Star Trek: The Motion PictureVisual EffectsMovie
- 1979Avalanche ExpressSpecial EffectsMovie
- 1978Battlestar GalacticaProducerMovie
- 1977Star WarsVisual EffectsMovie
- 1953The OscarsSelfSeries