Well, this is kind of great. If you were one of the many who were squinting to see actual scenes during Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness because of all those goddamn lens flares, don't worry — J.J. Abrams knows he has a problem with them, and is seeking help immediately. In a new interview with Crave Online, Abrams admitted he went overboard in the film, and commented that he actually had to use Lucasfilm's ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) to remove them in a few scenes:
"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."
Indeed it is, J.J. Abrams. Indeed it is. Now, if he could only stop making new TV shows left and right then leaving them to other showrunners just as they get good (cough, Alias when Lost started), then we'd be getting somewhere.
