John Dykstra

John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. (/ˈdaɪkstrə/; born June 3, 1947) is an American special effects artist who played a key role in developing the use of computers in filmmaking and has received three Academy Awards, among numerous other awards and honors. He was one of the original employees of Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects and computer graphics division of Lucasfilm. Dykstra is widely recognized for his work as the special effects lead on the original *Star Wars*, where he was responsible for bringing to life key visual elements such as lightsabers, space battles between X-wings and TIE fighters, and Force powers. He also served as the special effects lead on several other films, including *Batman Forever*, *Batman & Robin*, *Stuart Little*, *X-Men: First Class*, *Spider-Man*, and *Spider-Man 2*.