Lens Flares Added to Old Star Trek

Published by Jeff Leins on May 13, 2009

One of the first things I said when I walked out of Star Trek was, “What’s with all the lens flares?”  By now you’ve probably seen the reboot, directed J.J. Abrams, so you’ve probably noticed the overabundance of scattered bright lights on the deck of the new Enterprise.  Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the film, but I was a little distracted by them.

i09 asked Abrams about this very issue, which seems to be causing a bit of a stir now that the initial “Wow, that wasn’t awful” factor has worn off.  Here’s what the producer/director had to say:

“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.” He adds later that on set they had spotlight operators and powerful flashlights to create the flares live (as opposed to digitally adding them in post-production) before admitting that at times it was overdone.

A Trek fan simulated this effect on old footage of the TV show with obviously exaggerated lens flares.  It’s funny, take a look: