Every time I saw a lens flare (and there are TONS of them in this movie) it completely took me out of the movie. It was obvious that the director added them in post since many times there was no light source for them --they just came out of nowhere.
shareYou don't actually need an onscreen source to get a lens flare.
And the cinematography, anamorphic lens flares and all, was heavily inspired by Close Encounters of the Third Kind:
http://www.cinemasquid.com/blu-ray/movies/screenshots/sets/close-encou nters-of-the-third-kind/74d9d262-7bcc-4882-9c4a-c07fdfa30469/af479145- e268-4704-bac1-5a8512bcea2d
http://www.cinemasquid.com/blu-ray/movies/screenshots/sets/close-encou nters-of-the-third-kind/74d9d262-7bcc-4882-9c4a-c07fdfa30469/dfb5c7ee- d9ba-43e4-874c-177e89967ce8
even more distracting in the new Star Trek film made by more or less the same people. They like lens flares.
shareIt isn't about what the film maker wants or likes.. If that was the case 90% of the films today would be Parkinson shaky mess.
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My men fight just as well when they are stinking of P*U*S*S*Y- Julius Caesar
Awesome links dude. Thanks!
shareI just watched this movie and this is the only thing that really bugged me! I actually came here to see if anyone else mentioned it, and sure enough lol The movie would have been better without them. I don't know why they felt the need to add those flares. They weren't even subtle.
shareI loved them. I thought they added an element of wonder to the shots.
shareHere the director talks about it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-1DqrgGZiM&t=6m58s
I really like the lens flares in this movie. It's well known that they went a little crazy with them in Star Trek, but they contained themselves for Super 8
shareI thought it was distracting to be honest
shareI usually don't mind lens-flares, but the ones in this movie were just so ugly and harsh; bright mono-colored blue and sharp-bordered. Btw, I watched the blu-ray of the movie.
shareTotally agree!
They seemed a little off by the way it looked for the reasons you mentioned.
I didn't mind lens flare in some of the Die Hard movies because it felt natural (there was lightbulb visible) and it popped up rarely. This movie and Star Trek just use them too much and post converted flares is just pointless IMO.
I wouldn't mind it but at times it covered the faces of the actors while they were delivering lines. It's an odd artistic choice.
shareThat was exactly the problem. There were even lens flares on both emotional crying scenes from Alice. Those were scenes where the attention should be on the actor's performance and where lens flares are only distracting.
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