Much has been made about director J.J. Abrams’ overuse of lens flares as a stylistic device in the new “Star Trek” reboot. (Abrams himself admits he might have gone overboard with them.*) Well, one fan took the handheld camera use and lens flares to heart and has redone some clips from the old TV show in the style of the new movie. This is really funny; check it out.
Click here for our on-camera review of “Star Trek.”
* io9 interviewing Abrams: “I know what you’re saying with the lens flares. It was one of those things… I wanted a visual system that felt unique. I know there are certain shots where even I watch and think, “Oh that’s ridiculous, that was too many.” But I love the idea that the future was so bright it couldn’t be contained in the frame.”
“The flares weren’t just happening from on-camera light sources, they were happening off camera, and that was really the key to it. I want [to create] the sense that, just off camera, something spectacular is happening. There was always a sense of something, and also there is a really cool organic layer thats a quality of it. They were all done live, they weren’t added later. There are something about those flares, especially in a movie that can potentially be very sterile and CG and overly controlled. There is something incredibly unpredictable and gorgeous about them. It is a really fun thing. Our DP would be off camera with this incredibly powerful flashlight aiming it at the lens. It became an art because different lenses required angles, and different proximity to the lens. Sometimes, when we were outside we’d use mirrors. Certain sizes were too big… literally, it was ridiculous. It was like another actor in the scene….”
“We had two cameras, so sometimes we had two different spotlight operators. When there was atmosphere in the room, you had to be really careful because you could see the beams. So it was this ridiculous, added level of pain in the ass, but I love… [looking at] the final cut, [the flares] to me, were a fun additional touch that I think, while overdone, in some places, it feels like the future is that bright.”
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of Scene-Stealers.com, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and contributor for The Pitch. He’s former President of the KCFCC, and drummer for The Dead Girls, Ultimate Fakebook, and Truck Stop Love . He is also the 2013 Air Guitar World Champion Mean Melin, ranked 4th best of all-time. Eric goes to 11. Follow him at:
{ 4 comments }
Oh come on, Star Trek needed a little flair at this point…
I really didn’t notice it to a distracting degree, but maybe I was consumed by my own geekdom.
Oh come on, Star Trek needed a little flair at this point…
I really didn’t notice it to a distracting degree, but maybe I was consumed by my own geekdom.
Really didn’t notice?! Whole scenes disappear, for several seconds, to all consuming light flairs. Consumed by your own geekdom? I went to a screening in my Kirk costume & I noticed. You would have to had to see the brail version of this movie not to be annoyed by those light flares. I liked the movie. It was well done… Good but not Great. Would have been better with out all those light flares.
Really didn’t notice?! Whole scenes disappear, for several seconds, to all consuming light flairs. Consumed by your own geekdom? I went to a screening in my Kirk costume & I noticed. You would have to had to see the brail version of this movie not to be annoyed by those light flares. I liked the movie. It was well done… Good but not Great. Would have been better with out all those light flares.
Comments on this entry are closed.