#1 A composite image that explains the opening scene of The Godfather.

Some feel that this is the most important scene in the most important movie.

#2 The computer that shot The Godfather. In 1970, computers were room-filling behemoths that weighed hundreds of pounds and used thousands of watts of electricity. This computer weighed 2 ounces and ran on batteries.

Sounds like science fiction.

#3 These are the two equations solved by the zoom lens computer. The first equation uses the inputs from the computer interface to calculate the speed that the lens should move during the zoom. The second equation calculates where the lens should be at any point during the zoom.

#4 This is the motor control that contains the secret of running the lens' motor at microscopic speed, allowing zooms that lasted minutes instead of seconds.

#5 The entire set -- The T-shaped handle with the computer and its interface, the case with the batteries, charger, and motor control, and the Angenieux 25-250mm lens with the housing containing the motor and feedback sensors. The small box with two knobs is for running the zoom manually.

This is the very first computer system designed for motion picture production.

#6The computer and its interface, all in one neat, handheld package. Seen from this angle, you can see its shape.

In 1970, this looked like something out of Star Trek.

#7A head-on view of the T-shaped handle containing the computer and its interface.

This was the very first battery-powered portable computer.

#8This is the case that contained the batteries that powered the system, the power supply circuitry, the battery charger circuitry, and the motor control circuitry. Note that the sockets for the cables that interconnect the system have a different number of pins so that things couldn't be hooked together incorrectly.

#9This is what the Angenieux 25 - 250mm zoom lens looks like with its enclosure containing the drive motor and the position sensor that reports the current position of the lens. The window on the side of the enclosure displays the lens's current focal length.

#10Here we are at the Film 71 show in London. The Angenieux zoom lens is mounted on a 35mm Arriflex.

I shook hands with Prince Philip.

#11 An original plaque, with the Discovery Technology logo, from the equipment case that held the zoom lens along with its computer control.