German Picks Up Technical Oscar

German technician Horst Burbulla steps up on stage to accept an Oscar award this month for his technical services to the film industry. Burbulla, 46, is credited with building a very precise telescopic crane to enable the camera to be moved during shots. The first major role for Burbulla's telescopic crane was in the comedy "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" with Bob Hoskins playing alongside a host of cartoon characters in 1986. Over the years blockbusters such as "Titanic," "The Matrix," "Spiderman," "The Terminal," "Alexander" and even the Harry Potter movies followed. Steven Spielberg has also reportedly just finished using it to film the remake of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" starring Tom Cruise. Typically, the cranes are used to focus on a close-up of a single actor then quickly span out to a huge crowd scene. Last year his crane was also used to beam pictures of the glamorous Oscar awards ceremony to millions of viewers worldwide. "I never dreamed then that I'd be there myself this year," Burbulla said.