Robert Dalva
Robert John Dalva was an American film editor, cinematographer, and director. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film Editing for his work on The Black Stallion.
Early life and education
Dalva was born in New York City. He studied English literature at Colgate University, where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. From there, he studied filmmaking at Syracuse University and the USC School of Cinematic Arts, where he was one of a core group of successful filmmakers known as "The Dirty Dozen". After graduating, he worked for the US Information Agency with Verna Fields.Career
Editing
Dalva's first editing credit was of the experimental film Lions Love, directed by Agnès Varda. He was an early member of Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope.In 1979, he edited The Black Stallion, which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Film Editing. His subsequent editing credits included Raising Cain, Jumanji, The Joy Luck Club, Jurassic Park III, Hidalgo, The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Lovelace. He was elected to membership in the American Cinema Editors.
Documentarian Gary Weimberg credited Dalva with inventing the "timeline" method of editing that is now ubiquitous with non-linear video editing.
Cinematography
Dalva's USC classmate George Lucas hired him to shoot second unit photography on the original Star Wars. He also did additional photography on The Black Stallion.He subsequently shot several documentaries. In 1999, he shot 24 episodes of the police procedural television series Nash Bridges.
Directing
Dalva directed a behind-the-scenes documentary of Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation.He made his feature directorial debut with The Black Stallion Returns, the sequel to The Black Stallion. Later, he directed episodes of Crime Story, Nova, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.