Born in Long Beach, CAlifornia in 1947, John Dykstra studied industrial designl. He began working in cinema with Douglas Trumbull on The Andromeda Strain by Robert Wise and on Silent Running. In 1975, Trumbull introduced him to George Lucas and producer Gary Kurtz who proposed that he supervise the special effects of Star Wars, which won him an Oscar in 1977. Dykstra, who prefered to stay in Los Angeles, left ILM fofounded by Lucas. As a freelancer, he collaborated on several productions for the big screen, or for television such as the series Galactica. He also made several ad spots. He returned to special effects in the middle of the 90's with Batman by Joel Schumacher and in 1999 with Stuart Little. After Silent Running, camera controlled by computers...