Last Word on Lens Flare

Yesterday Jeff posted a very entertaining, informative and succinct lecture on lens flare, in which one of his cartoon characters bemoans director J.J. Abrams' imagined penchant for shooting right into the sun. When that happens, you don't need to resort to Photoshop's lens flare filters at all, as seen here. Authentic lens flare, accidentally captured in the wild!

EJ Abrams

J.J. Abrams, director of Star Trek (2009), made lens flares trendy again with his unique artistic vision. Now Star Trek and lens flares go hand-in-hand, which is why I combined them in my last two posts. Of course some may claim that lens flares were a trifle over used in Abrams' Trek, but the tool is just so flashy and easy to use that it's hard to resist adding them to any old photo, whether it's appropriate or not. Lens flare and prosper!

Titling Star Trek 2

Apparently the producers of the next Star Trek film are having trouble coming up with a title. They can't call it Star Trek 2 because it might get confused with The Wrath of Khan. And they want to avoid using a title with a colon, such as Star Trek: Multiplication or whatever.

There used to be a time when movie sequels had unique titles that didn't necessarily repeat the title of the first film in the series. Christopher Nolan used that technique with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. And the James Bond films, of course, each sport a unique title; they're not called James Bond 3: Goldfinger, James Bond 25: Diamondkill,  and so on.

J.J. Abrams and his team should let the marketers do their job and give their movie a title that evokes its theme. Not knowing the story, I can't make suggestions specific to the new film's theme, but any Star Trek fan should be able to offer a list of titles that evoke the general feel of the show. Here's mine:

Strange New World, preferably for a story featuring an interesting scientific and/or cultural discovery
Fatal Frontier, for a story involving severe peril such as war or a threatening disease or interstellar phenomenon (Final Frontier has already been used, sadly)
Voyagers, for a team-building film (might be good for this movie, actually, since this'll be the first time we see the crew all together working as a unit with each member having already earned his or her spot on the ship)
Where None Have Gone Before, for a story of exploration
A Star to Steer Her By, for a character study
Starship Enterprise, for a truly epic film that captures all the most important Star Trek themes; perhaps the last in a trilogy, perhaps a crossover film featuring parallel universes

There you go, Damon and JJ - enough titles to take you through the next decade. I ask only for an invitation to the premiere!