Lens flare has been used stylistically forever as well.

JJ Abrams is on record saying why he used lens flare (not for reality but to give a sense that we were in an environment where exciting momentous things were happening). But he also admits that he went overboard on it (they were not digitally added or anything and required a lot of work to light them into the picture so probably not a lot that could have been done once he realized this.

I love the shape of the Enterprise D. B, C, & E? Not so much.

I didn't care for the nacelles on the new movie Enterprise.

My problem with the design of a lot of the sleeker ships it that it would appear that the explosion of a well placed M-80 would separate the engines from the ship in a most unsatisfactory manner.

A fun read. (Lengthy too.)

For the exact same reason, I hate them ... because it says "this is not really happening, we have a camera filming this stuff."

I know it's shorthand for what would happen in real photography. But it is a stark reminder of photography. It would be like paying attention to the texture of the pages while you're reading a book. Either way, you're too far out of the story being told.

I guess my interpretation is that it's filmed from "reality", that it's a documentary of sorts. I like film tricks and interesting editing choices, even if they do remind you that you are not actually there but watching a rendition of it.

Oh, I'm sure most people interpret it as reality. Your reference to documentary-look is quite accurate. Commercial filmmakers used to studiously avoid lens flare, because it would not ever actually be seen by human eyes in what they were photographing.

But documentary filmmakers rarely bothered to avoid it, and so it became synonymous with realitstic ... when, of course, it is quite the opposite.


Still ... most people interpret it that way, and it's why filmmakers use it ... and overuse it.

I hate it. But that's just me. Takes me out of the story almost every time.

There are some good uses of lens flare - my favorite two are movies that I know iSm loves (Star Wars - Han coming into save Luke from Darth) & Close Encounters of the Third Kind - but in both those instances, there is an intensely bright light IN THE FRAME- not some dinglecheese off camera with a flashlight just making the scene "shiny" for all the ADHD'ers.