Van Dyke is Visually Effective

Growing up in my home when it came to TV comedy, nobody held a candle to Dick Van Dyke. His brilliant sit-com was a staple at the Keller household through most of my childhood. The Dick Van Dyke Show was a great two-set show with inspired writing and top-notch acting held together by the Van Dyke. He has always held a special place in my heart as a comedic actor, slap-stick clown and graceful everyman.

But I had no idea he could do visual effects beyond his amazing pratfalls. However, as an amazing article in the Los Angeles Times explains, Dick is a man of more talents that I ever imagined:

After starring in 1968's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang," in which he drove a flying car thanks to the magic of green-screen technology, Van Dyke bought a used Ultimatte system — a pre-digital device that allowed visual-effects pros to do green-screen shots photochemically — and set it up at his house. He played around with it a bit, and then about 15 years ago a friend recommended that he buy an Amiga Toaster, one of the earliest desktop computer-animating systems.

"You could take 3-D objects and figures and photograph a background and fill it in and animate," Van Dyke recalls. "In those days, if you had 15 frames to render it took all weekend. It was very, very primitive but I just got hooked on it.

"Over the last decade, Van Dyke has upgraded his hardware and software along the way. He was finally able to put his effects skills to work on the CBS series "Diagnosis Murder," in which he starred from 1993 to 2001."Production needed a shot of an Evel Knievel-type stuntman doing an impossible motorcycle jump," Van Dyke says.

"Well, I went out to the location and shot some background plates and then I came back and put a 3-D computer-generated guy on a motorcycle doing the stunt and they used it on the show."

I always knew Van Dyke was a man of many talents, I just didn't know how many!