vdonovan
Vince Donovan
A good friend of mine works in special effects for George Lucas. One of his projects was the new Star Trek film (which I highly recommend).
A few months ago, while the movie was still in production, I asked him what he was doing for the movie. He said that he had developed a technique to introduce lens flare, spherical aberration, and other optical distortions INTO computer-generated special effects to make them look more authentic. Now he was spending long hours putting these effects into the many special effects shots. I remarked, of course, that it was ironic that lens manufacturers have spent millions trying to get rid of these lens effects and now directors are spending millions to put them back in!
When finally saw the movie, I noticed that not only were the computer-generated special effects loaded with flare, but the live action scenes were too, to the point be being distracting. It was like they shot the whole thing with uncoated lenses from the 30s!
I called my friend and asked him what the deal was. He said that the director, J.J. Abrams, wanted flare all over the movie. "Did you go in and touch up all the live stuff with CG?" I said. "Oh no," he said. "Abrams just had a grip stand a little off-camera during filming with a flashlight. Every once in a while the grip would shine the flashlight into the camera and bounce some light off the side of the lens. Much cheaper than CG."
By all means go see the movie. It's hugely entertaining and, like me, you might get an extra laugh out of it every time there's some phony lens flare on the screen.
A few months ago, while the movie was still in production, I asked him what he was doing for the movie. He said that he had developed a technique to introduce lens flare, spherical aberration, and other optical distortions INTO computer-generated special effects to make them look more authentic. Now he was spending long hours putting these effects into the many special effects shots. I remarked, of course, that it was ironic that lens manufacturers have spent millions trying to get rid of these lens effects and now directors are spending millions to put them back in!
When finally saw the movie, I noticed that not only were the computer-generated special effects loaded with flare, but the live action scenes were too, to the point be being distracting. It was like they shot the whole thing with uncoated lenses from the 30s!
I called my friend and asked him what the deal was. He said that the director, J.J. Abrams, wanted flare all over the movie. "Did you go in and touch up all the live stuff with CG?" I said. "Oh no," he said. "Abrams just had a grip stand a little off-camera during filming with a flashlight. Every once in a while the grip would shine the flashlight into the camera and bounce some light off the side of the lens. Much cheaper than CG."
By all means go see the movie. It's hugely entertaining and, like me, you might get an extra laugh out of it every time there's some phony lens flare on the screen.
