Dahnielson

History of motion control

An early motion-repeating system was developed by O.L. Dupy at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios in 1949 for moving camera matte-shots.² It was sometimes called a “repeater head” and allowed pan and tilts over different elements of matte paint composites. The original camera moves when shooting the live-action were made with a camera mounted on a differentially-geared head. The camera movements were sensed by electrical motors attached to the head, changes in the position of the geared head producing voltage variations which were recorded on to an acetate disk recorder. The recorded signals indicated camera tilt and pan changes during the original photography. And in the laboratory during photography of the matte painting, the acetate disk was played back and the signals caused the camera head to make pan and tilt movements which were identical to those of the first exposure. The maximum real-time rate of pan and tilt movements with this system was 25° per second.

Dupys system worked well, but was limited by the electronic components available in 1949. But it was the development of usable computers that had to come before motion control could be common. And not so surprisingly it was the space movies that made the development of motion control leap forward. From Stanley Kubrick 2001: A Space Odyssey to George Lucas Star Wars and Paramount Pictures Star Trek television shows.

The first large-scale use of motion-control system was for the groundbreaking science-fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey premiered in 1968. The models - several of which were so large that they could not be easily moved - were fixed in place while the camera was put on special tracks on which it could advance increment by increment. A model such as the lengthy spaceship Discovery, was lit to yield the proper exposure for its bright white surface. The camera was locked in position. A single frame was exposed. then the camera was manually moved forward to the next position, where another frame would be exposed, and so until the camera action had been completed. The camera was moved back to its original starting position and the film was rewound in the camera. The outside lights shining on the model were extinguished and the interior light showing windows were turned on. Then, on the very same exposed frame on film which there was already a latent image of the fully lit Discovery, a second double exposure was made, calibrated for the intensity of the interior lights. After the frame was exposed, the camera was once again moved forward by the identical increment it had been move forward before, and the second frame of film was advanced into position for a second double-exposure. On and on the process went, with each exposure and each camera position tediously marked down by hand. A mistake in the last set of exposures meant starting the whole process from the beginning.

Walt Disney Studios built in the late seventies and early eighties their own motion control system called ACES, Automatic Camera Effect System, and was used for The Black Hole. The system was conceived and designed for Art Cruickshank, Peter Ellenshaw and Eustance Lycett by Don Iwerks, Bob Otto, David Inglish, David Snyder and Steven Crane. The ACES system operated on its own stage and was complemented in the matte paint department by another motion control rig called the ‘Matte-Scan System’ that was able to do up-down, left-right and in-out dollying on matte paintings.

[To Be Written: The Dykstraflex system for ‘Star Wars’ by John Dykstra and his fellows. / Abel & Associates and Image G and the development of live action moco. / Mark Roberts motion control development in England.]