Star Wars: Episode VII may have far fewer lens flares than Star Trek Into Darkness, as director J.J. Abrams has come to the realization he has a lens flare addiction. He’s on the “apology” step of his addiction recovery. And it turns out the “apology” step comes after the “having to ask Industrial Light and Magic to help remove some of your lens flares from Star Trek Into Darkness” step.
Abrams apologizes for his lens flares in the video below.
“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.” [Crave Online via The Mary Sue]
He added that CBS is not interested in his ideas for a new Star Trek TV series. (Other things CBS isn’t interested in: Printing money, Free B.J. Tuesdays, and the love of a good woman.) So we’re not going to see an Abrams-produced Star Trek TV series, nor will we see Lens Flare: The Movie.
Heartbreaking, we know.
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