American Cinematographer - October 2011 - 86

In Memoriam

Takuo “Tak” Miyagishima,1928-2011
Technology Committee and the International Standards Organization. At the ASC Awards in 1999, in recognition of their exceptional contributions to the art of filmmaking, Miyagishima and Panavision colleague Albert Mayer Sr. received the Presidents Award. Miyagishima’s other honors included a Fuji Gold Medal, for his contributions to anamorphic lens design; the Academy’s John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, for his service to the Academy; and the Academy’s Gordon E. Sawyer Award, for his overall technical contributions to the motion-picture industry. During Miyagishima’s tenure at Panavision, the company was honored with more than 20 Academy Sci-Tech Awards. “He was a pioneer,” says Stephen H. Burum, ASC. “He was there at the very first. He was the living spirit of Panavision, and he reflected Panavision’s ethic of being a forward-looking, progressive company. Besides that, he was a great guy.” “Tak was that rare person in our industry who made you feel like family,” says Daryn Okada, ASC. “I’ll always remember the gleam in his eyes when he saw how to make an idea reality and help all of us create images in the demanding framework of production. And as much as I will miss him, I feel he’ll be right there every time I look in the eyepiece and roll the camera.” Miyagishima retired in 2009, but he remained active in the industry. Early this year, the Academy named him one of the first three Academy Science Fellows. “My dream of building bridges never materialized, but my luck at being in the right place at the right time certainly proved right,” Miyagishima reflected in 1994. “Images being an international language without boundaries assisted me in achieving my goals of being able to build bridges of understanding. I would not have had the opportunities to achieve my dreams had it not been for Panavision.” Miyagishima is survived by his wife, three sons and three grandsons. — Jon D. Witmer ●

Associate member Takuo “Tak” Miyagishima died Aug. 4 following an extended fight with pneumonia. He was 83. Miyagishima was born on March 15, 1928, in Gardena, Calif. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, and during his service he occasionally worked as a projectionist of training films. Miyagishima attended East Los Angeles Junior College and the University of California-Los Angeles with the hope of designing bridges. In 1954, he joined a small manufacturing company as an engineer/designer. Among the company’s clients was Panavision, which had been founded that year by Robert Gottschalk and future ASC member Richard Moore. Gottschalk quickly recognized Miyagishima’s talents, and by the end of the year Miyagishima was one of Panavision’s first full-time employees. Among Miyagishima’s early projects were the Super Panatar projection lens and the Micro Panatar printing lens. As Panavision turned its focus toward camera systems and taking lenses, Miyagishima contributed to such advancements as the 65mm Ultra and Super Panavision camera systems, the Panavision Silent Reflex Camera, and several series of 35mm spherical and anamorphic lenses. Over his decades of service at Panavision, Miyagishima moved up from draftsman to senior vice president of engineering, and he remained a constant force behind the company’s technological advances, including
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its push into digital capture. In 2004, reflecting on his 50 years with Panavision, Miyagishima told AC, “If a director of photography wanted a certain focal-length lens, we would look into it. For Lawrence of Arabia, all the mechanical parts of those lenses came off my table. George Kraemer and I actually calibrated the ‘mirage lens’ in the alleyway right outside Panavision!” Miyagishima also designed the company’s “three-format” logo. Miyagishima became an ASC associate in April 1995, after being proposed by Society members Woody Omens and Kees Van Oostrum. “Tak was the most terrific engineer,” says Van Oostrum. “I could go to him and say, ‘This doesn’t feel right. Somehow it doesn’t merge with what we do every day.’ And he would listen, nod and come back with a solution. As cinematographers, we deal with feelings and ideas that don’t necessarily translate into engineering, but Tak had the ability to translate those ideas so eloquently, beautifully and effectively. It’s a trait I’ve never really found in another engineer.” “There was a synergy effect when Tak and Panavision came together,” notes Omens. “It was a relationship made in heaven. He was a friend to the industry and to the people in it.” Miyagishima was also active in such organizations as the Academy’s Science & Technology Council, the SMPTE Projection
American Cinematographer

Photo courtesy of AMPAS.

American Cinematographer - October 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - October 2011