Love it. Hate it. But J.J. Abrams apologizes for the lens flares in the Star Trek movies.
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.
Personally? I didn’t mind them. Even liked them. I thought they added an atmosphere to the movies. But that’s just me, and I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority on that. But still nice to hear filmmakers respond to the fans like this.