The biggest complaint when it comes to the direction of J.J. Abrams, and the biggest fear for Star Wars: Episode VII, is the man's excessive use of lens flare in any given shot. It has long been a joke amongst fans, and now the man himself is apologizing for what he calls an addiction and an obsession.
Talking with Crave Online, J.J. finally stepped up and admitted he has a problem, even going as far as to say he ruined a couple of shots in Star Trek Into Darkness because of it.
Lens Flares, for those who don't know, are a photographic effect that creates a haze in the film negative, and it has been overused in such films as Super 8 and the 2009 Star Trek reboot.
Here's what the director had to say for himself.
"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.'"
How far did he actually go? J.J. admitted for the first time that he actually had to have the VFX house Industrial Light & Magic go in and clean up one of the more important scenes in Star Trek Into Darkness, because it was unwatchable with Lens Flares.
"This is how stupid it was. 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."
How will Star Wars: Episode VII fare when it comes to an overuse of J.J. Abrams' Lens Flare? We won't know until opening day, but maybe he's owning up now, because LucasFilm knows it's an issue and wants to squash it early.
Esto ya es más de lo que harían muchos juntaplanos.
