Dennis Ayling

BSC A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

(23 June 1917 – 24 October 1998) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

cinematographer. He is best known for his miniature effects cinematography for the 1979

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

film '' Alien'', for which he won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Ayling had a long career of more than 50 years as a film and television commercial cinematographer, and as a cinematographer and director of

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

. He also served in photographic reconnaissance squadrons in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and for part of his service was based in

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, where he covered many key events, including the

Japanese surrender The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ( ...

Filmography

Cinematographer * ''

The Cool Mikado ''The Cool Mikado'' is a British musical film released in 1963, directed by Michael Winner (who makes a short appearance as an airline passenger à la Hitchcock near the start of the film), and produced by Harold Baim, with music arranged by Mar ...

'' (1963) * ''Money Sings'' (short) (1963) * ''Jugglers and Acrobats'' (documentary short) (1964) * '' 9 Days in Summer'' (documentary, as Denny Ayling) (1967) * '' Cucumber Castle'' (television movie, uncredited) (1970) * ''Mr Tumbleweed'' (television movie) (1971) Visual Effects * '' Alien'' (director of photography: miniature effects, as Denys Ayling) (1979) Director * ''Men on Wheels'' (documentary short) (1961)

References

External links

*
Dennis Ayling
at the

British Society of Cinematographers The British Society of Cinematographers (abbreviated B.S.C. or BSC) was formed in 1949 by Bert Easey (23 August 1901 – 28 February 1973), the then head of the Denham and Pinewood studio camera departments, to represent British cinematographers ...

Images of Dennis Ayling
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayling, Dennis 1917 births 1998 deaths People from Finchley Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners British cinematographers Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II