A Brief History of Movie Special Effects

Star Wars — Motion Control
While George Lucas' Star Wars films will remain lodged in the pop-culture pantheon for a variety of reasons, the movies' advanced special effects have earned them a place in tech history. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope was the first film to deploy a motion-controlled camera (for which it also won the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Visual Effects). Hooked up to a computer, the Dykstraflex motion-control system (named after special-effects supervisor John Dykstra) issued a complicated series of movements to a camera, which allowed filmmakers like Lucas to create shots unlike any previously seen in movie theaters. The effect also marked the debut of Lucas' visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic.

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