J.J. Abrams Apologises for His Lens Flares

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Rappy Veteran

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So when CraveOnline cornered J.J. Abrams on the red carpet for the Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray release party, we had to ask him? What's up with those lens flares? His answer may be the most surprising thing he's done in years. He apologized.

"I know I get a lot of grief for that," says Abrams. "But I'll tell you, there are times when I'm working on a shot, I think, 'Oh this would be really cool? with a lens flare.' But I know it's too much, and I apologize. I'm so aware of it now. I was showing my wife an early cut of Star Trek Into Darkness and there was this one scene where she was literally like, 'I just can't see what's going on. I don't understand what that is.' I was like, 'Yeah, I went too nuts on this.'"

"This is how stupid it was," J.J. Abrams added. "I actually had to use ILM [industrial Light & Magic] to remove lens flare in a couple of shots, which is, I know, moronic. But I think admitting you're an addict is the first step towards recovery."

http://www.craveonline.com/film/interviews/569755-exclusive-j-j-abrams-apologizes-for-his-lens-flares

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Nick H. Supervisor

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Ha! Wow, credit to him for admitting to a mistake. Normally the lens flare doesn't bother me too much, but I do remember watching Star Trek in to Darkness and at points thinking, "I have no idea what I'm looking at."

Hopefully this will mean his future films will cut down on the effect.

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Hurmoth

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Ha! Wow, credit to him for admitting to a mistake. Normally the lens flare doesn't bother me too much, but I do remember watching Star Trek in to Darkness and at points thinking, "I have no idea what I'm looking at."

Hopefully this will mean his future films will cut down on the effect.

I had the exact same experience. Normally his overly used lens flare doesn't bother me, but Into Darkness was covered in them and it really made the whole film look really bad.

Glad to see he's going to work on fixing this. I think he's an incredibly talented filmmaker who happened to be obsessed with a visual style that didn't always work the way I think it did in his head.

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Hurmoth

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His apologies are getting routine now.  He did the same thing in Star Trek.  If he wants to be sincere about something, how about apologizing for that stupid script!!

He didn't write the script. How can he apologize for something that isn't his fault?

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And can you provide a source of where he apologized for lens flare being in the first film? This is the first time I've heard of him admitting he used too much of it.

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laserfloyd

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I think for Starwars he should go realistic with the lightsabers.  Presumably they're many thousands of degrees since they can easily cut through most materials.  They should be a) blindingly bright and b) crazy hot to be near.  So make everyone have to wear welding goggles and other protective gear.  Get a few on screen and it's just a blur of bright lights. Perfect for lens flaring. :p

 

(of course I'm joking) :)

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adrynalyne

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I think for Starwars he should go realistic with the lightsabers.  Presumably they're many thousands of degrees since they can easily cut through most materials.  They should be a) blindingly bright and b) crazy hot to be near.  So make everyone have to wear welding goggles and other protective gear.  Get a few on screen and it's just a blur of bright lights. Perfect for lens flaring. :p

 

(of course I'm joking) :)

Jedi in welding leathers?

 

:D

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Shadrack

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I think for Starwars he should go realistic with the lightsabers.  Presumably they're many thousands of degrees since they can easily cut through most materials.  They should be a) blindingly bright and b) crazy hot to be near.  So make everyone have to wear welding goggles and other protective gear.  Get a few on screen and it's just a blur of bright lights. Perfect for lens flaring. :p

 

(of course I'm joking) :)

 

It is entirely possible for something to be crazy hot and not let off much in terms of heat flux.

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Orange

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To be honest i never actually knew this would annoy so many people. i didn't even know it did, i thought it was part of the film :p wow so many ppl moan!!

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Nilus

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I'm glad he finally realised. They absolutely ruined the new star trek movies for me, they were so distracting. Someone would be stood there making a really important point and all of a sudden they are blocked by some god awful lens flare.

 

There is a time and place for them, like when they are genuinely caused by the shooting conditions. Not superficially added in like that.

 

Awful awful awful.

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There is a time and place for them, like when they are genuinely caused by the shooting conditions. Not superficially added in like that.

 

 

Maybe but they are really annoying any time they are used.

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