J.J. Abram's Star Trek Lens Flares

[muckymucky]

How did they adjust their lenses to do this almost every second?
(you have to notice they're not only just hexagonal flares, there are retangular flares, ray flares, mostly horizontal flares~)
and:

How can we produce this on our own?

[OsmosisStudios]

They didnt do anything with the lenses: it's likely done in post.

[no.absolutes]

Watch the making of on the dvd.... they do some really cool things. Of course, the lens flare is done in post... they also do some cool stuff with mirrors.

[jdepould]

They actually did most of the flare in non-CGI shots in-camera. There was a really great interview with the DP, but I can't find it now.

http://www.icgmagazine.com/wordpress...s-gone-before/

To create the effect, Mindel employed various techniques using anamorphic tension to generate a flare. “Literally, at every opportunity, we tried to allow the lenses to physically do what they wanted to do without interfering,” the DP explains. “We also introduced flares manually by shining lights at the lenses to take away from the sterile feel that often arises when you shoot on sets and with greenscreens. We could add atmosphere and kinetic energy to what was happening by physically flaring the lens. After some time, we came up with two Xenon flashlights, and had an operator mirror the flashlight with the camera’s movement."

[dcclark]

Interesting. I really noticed the lens flare when watching the movie -- a little too much. It felt like it was edited -- not because it looked fake, but because there was just so much of it!

[muckymucky]

so how much and what kind of post are we talking?
do you know how to replicate in photoshop?

i'd rather know about how to do it on the lense tho~ maybe some kinda special filter?
is that even possible? lens flare filters?

[jdepould]

Originally Posted by muckymucky

i'd rather know about how to do it on the lense tho~ maybe some kinda special filter?
is that even possible? lens flare filters?

Just shoot into a light source, or place one just outside the frame. Different lenses flare differently, so it's a lot of trial and error. A lot of the newer stuff has coatings to cut down on flare. I can shoot my 24-70 into the sun without much drama. A cheap (emphasis on cheap) UV filter might increase flaring too.