User:Thecoreybelford/sandbox

Style and Philosophy
Abrams has been primarily attached to action/adventure and science fiction film and television projects. Abrams has been quoted as wanting to reinvent Star Trek as a more spectacular, action-based blockbuster franchise through his own adaptations; in a DVD interview for the 2009 film he stated, “The truth is, I wished that Star Trek had more resources when they were making the show, because it felt like they were so clearly limited by the amount of time and money that they had. So one of the things we looked to bring to this version of Star Trek is imbuing it with a certain type of energy and spectacle that for many reasons, mostly I think for resources, they’ve never been able to have before.” He went on to compare his new franchise to Star Wars in terms of its faster pacing. “I didn’t want to sort of impose a Star Wars tone on Star Trek. But there’s a certain kind of pace that Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi had that I just thought, that was the pace that I loved.”

In an interview composed of questions from readers of Time Magazine, when asked about his primary focus on adapting television franchises for film, Abrams replied, “Because of the risk in budget, because films cost as much as they do, it's simply harder to find opportunities to take those kinds of creative risks in film. For right now, I think TV might be a place where there are more unexpected stories being told.” In that same article, when asked about his own personal style, he replied, “I have no style. There are certain people who just have a visual sense that defines their work. You could probably watch 30 seconds of anything they do and you'll know exactly who directed it. I don't have that skill.”

However, Abrams has been widely criticized across the internet for his use of “lens flare” in his films, in reference to the very prominent light reflections in many of his shots. When asked about it in an interview for io9.com, he replied, “[Smiles] I don't know what you're talking about. [Laughs] I'm kidding. 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.” Abrams’ seemingly extensive use of lens flare was parodied on YouTube in a mock movie trailer “Lens Flare: The Movie,” in which every shot contained excessive use of this technique, as well as other subtle jabs at Abrams’ films and one character finally proclaiming “I can’t see a goddamn thing.”