J.J. Abrams wants you to know that he’s sorry for lens flare. Yes, this is real.
Asked about his penchant for the shiny by CraveOnline, Abrams took the unusual step of straight up apologizing for the approximately 12 billion flares in Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness:
“I know I get a lot of grief for that. 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.'”
He went on to say that he went so overboard on Star Trek Into Darkness that he had to get Industrial Light & Magic to remove some of the flare in post-production. “I think admitting you’re an addict,” he concluded, “is the first step towards recovery.”
I’d say this bodes well for Star Wars, wouldn’t you? Assuming he was even going to use lens flare in Episode VII. He’s mentioned in the past that he initially started using lens flare in Trek because of the franchise’s futuristic aesthetic, which is different from Star Wars‘ more gritty, worn-in look. I don’t hate the flare like a lot of people do, but after seeing it mentioned so much it became hard not to be distracted by it in a way that I wasn’t during my first Star Trek viewing.
For Star Trek fans, the joy of Abrams’ confession will be tempered by how he answered CraveOnline’s next question, which was about the possibility of a new Star Trek TV show. Said Abrams:
“What I’ve been told from the powers that be [at CBS] is that they’re not interested.”
Well fine. Rain on my parade, then.
(CraveOnline via /Film)
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