(CBR) When you think of J.J. Abrams” visual style, you think of lens flares – they”re all over the place in his films like Star Trek, Super 8 and Star Trek Into Darkness. Some people find the streaks of light seen on screen distracting while others have accepted them as part of the director”s visual presentation.
“I know I get a lot of grief for that,” Abrams tells CraveOnline. “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,” Abrams continued. “I actually had to use ILM 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.”