We’ve hit peak lens flare. Here’s how it started.

[@PaddyCollector]

if the flare is coming from an actual light source in the movie then it can make sense. But when directors like jj abrams make lens flare come from literally no where it just looks stupid and is distracting.

[@ReyTheGreat]

Good point! Lmao

[@vikdaddy]

+J. M. How do you know? The amount of flare in his movies (especially in the Star Trek films) suggests it was added digitally in post as well.

[@vikdaddy]

+J. M. So it's both, like I suggested.

[@PaddyCollector]

***** even if those flares were from real light sources they often were still not natural elements of the set so they were still out of place.

[@JuanesYEG]

+J. M. I don't really care if the lens flare effect was created digitally or by using real lights, it's more of the final effect and how it plays out in the film that matters to me. So if the shot is outside, and is supposed to have a lens flare from the sun or something but the lighting is difficult then they can just add it in afterwards. It's just adding in unnecessary lens flares that are out of place that bothers me.

[@Emma-hf4lt]

I actually love the effect, but JJ Abrams does go a bit overboard.

[@Nhxn_]

nah its clean ma hitta

[@thereisnospace]

heheheh "a bit" heheheheh

[@TheBrokenEclipse]

only "a bit"?

[@lettherebelamp5102]

Emma he does have a FLARE for the dramatic......

[@ella_komiya]

Not as over board as Michael Bay and explosions and orange skin tones.

[@Kaitos11]

I like the effect, most of them time I'm not consciously aware of it....but what Abrams does is borderline insane.

[@WobblyBits_X]

+reiymi It was pretty hilarious when the first Abrams SW trailer came out and everybody was bitching about lens flare despite the trailer showing exactly 0 examples of lens flare... After watching this video I can assume he uses it in the ST movies because of the reasons stated here and doesn't use it in SW because SW is more fictional, it's solidly set apart from our reality whereas ST is supposed to be set in our future.

[@Kaitos11]

WobblyBits_X I think it's a combination of Abrams listening to his critics and the possibility that he got told by Disney to knock it off.

[@danielmocsny5066]

Abrams probably has a running bet with someone to see just how much lens flare and other production gimmicks he can cram in before the average viewer notices and thinks to complain.

[@CaliberBeats]

lens flares in first person games blow my mind. am i looking through my characters eyeballs? or am i looking through my characters cameras that have magically replaced their eyeballs? we'll never know.

[@Franklin_Araujo]

crysis is excusable, since you character wears a helmet with visor, battlefield in other hand.

[@ControlAllDa1337]

Kek

[@iac8757]

It's just cool

[@gabrieleriva651]

CALIBERBEATS I remember when first reviewer of Unreal (1999) saying that. They were right.

[@cripwalklover8380]

Glasses?

[@nickzardiashvili624]

CG/3D artist here. I love how these series highlight all the subtleties of filmmaking and in case of CG we indeed use them in order to make shots look more real as the video noted. Fully CG shots that don't actually have a physical lens will often incorporate a lens flare in order for it t be more convincing. Flares are not the only thing we use there, everything from depth of field to motion blur to grain to chromatic aberration is often used in order to subconsciously suggest to the viewer "this stuff has passed through a real lens", even though it obviously never did. I've always loved how this action of making something that is in actuality less realistic generates result that feels more realistic. We create representations of reality (3D and CG) and in order for them to look and feel real we do not even appeal to reality itself, but to another form of representation (something shot on a film) simply because people are used to seeing that on the screen. In order for something to feel more real, it needs to be made less real.

[@jessegilbert8623]

For heck sake. Vox is too good.

[@iissamiam]

You only briefly touched on the main reason , beyond nostalgia, that lens flare is used. It allows the film to indicate that something is intensely bright. The movie screen can only get so bright and a lens flare helps film makers show the blinding brightness of looking into headlights or the sun. Most of the clips you show use it in this way.

[@lemonierfroggie4904]

thats vox for you, one of the worst and least reliable news sources

[@PSquared-oo7vq]

As someone who has done a fair bit of optical design over the years, intentional lens flare drives me crazy. Optical engineers have spent decades researching and developing lens designs and coatings to minimize lens flare (and camera lenses are DARNED expensive because of it!!!), and now directors are intentionally adding it back - even when it wouldn't be there naturally! It's as if tape hiss were intentionally added to an audio track, or pixelation added to a photo. Or putting solid wheels on your car, instead of pneumatic ones. Yes, I know movies are an art form, but... this just hurts my engineering brain.

[@angelpygs72]

Lens flare is good as an affect. only then. not at random moments, either. maybe in a flashback, a dream, or when something mind blowing happens. but not when a character is looking at a train, like in super 8.

[@the80386]

+PSquared1969 "as if tape hiss were intentionally added to an audio track"? man you have no idea! part time hobbyist semi pro mix 'engineer' here. the intentional anomaly craze is a big deal here in the audio world. adding tape hiss and tape saturation, transformer saturation, sag, tube saturation, broken mic simulation, world war era radio impulse responses you name it. heck you can even 'be' in certain famous studio by loading impulses of that studio into your bedroom recorded tracks. People pay hundreds of dollars to buy 'emulation plugins' of technically sub par (but sonically soothing in many case) equipment from bygone era because they add certain feelz.

[@danielmocsny5066]

Put solid square wheels on a car, bolt it to a paint mixer, and now you have shaky cam, the even more atrocious filmmaking fad. Engineers also spent decades figuring out how to stabilize cameras, then Hollywood came along and shoved their foot through the Rembrandt. Eventually computers will save the consumer from the producer's one-size-must-fit-all decisions. All the stupid techniques like lens flare and shaky cam should be user-selectable options. As should the amount of clothing on the female leads.

[@undirectedmedia328]

+Angel Pygs I disagree with the Super 8 part. It was used well in Super 8. It not only added to the sleeker aesthetic of the film, but there's a lot of actual Super 8 footage in the film (Super 8 is pre-anti-reflective coating), and by having the normal footage have lens flare, it's somewhat mimicking Super 8. It also the tone to feel older and more grounded in this scenario.

[@josephcorridon9314]

I think it's similar to putting studio chatter in songs. It makes it feel real, even when it's a mistake.

[@smhdpt12]

The JJ Abrams flare is just too much.

[@amcghie7]

+scottdpt12 Its just distractingly flarey.

[@zhengbq]

+scottdpt12 Cuz JJ is a MLG player.

[@TheHaloGamer]

Good thing he toned it down in Star Wars.

[@mygacommunity9517]

no problems about JJ Abrams lens flare, but Michael Bay slow motion and explosion is so fucking annoying

[@Lyw1234567890]

I personally love it. That's my own personal taste, though

[@maxspringfield]

Imagine lens flares in Citizen Kane. ....terrible.

[@daniel-j-ross]

Lena flares are fine, but when they're DIGITALLY added in, I'm done.

[@ArtisNovo]

+Daniel Ross Good luck telling the difference.

[@Carphi2000]

if you can tell the differnce it fuckin sucks and should have been left out bus as long as it's not to extreme and looks good ain't nothing wrong with lens flares

[@banana551000]

+Daniel Ross Digitally added lens flares are fine, it's when they are added in for absolutely no reason is when they are bad.

[@daniel-j-ross]

banana551000 They're usually only added in digitally for no reason lets be honest here

[@Hugh.Manatee]

+Daniel Ross Go tell that to a movie director and you'll probably get schooled. Digitally added lensflares (which are most of the lens flares you see in movies today) are never added for no reason; they're a conscious choice by the director and while you may disagree with them on whether it makes the shot look better, the director can probably give a long tirade on why they are there.

[@Ratiosaurus]

I honestly find lens flares, and especially anamorphic ones extremely kitschy and ugly. They look really cheap to me and I will never understood their appeal.

[@SkiDaBird]

I like them in a more natural state. Bay and JJ went a little overboard on them.

[@yaxl]

yeah everyone started being annoyed about the flare since JJ (Super 8, Star Trek etc) went nuts on it. it wasn't the case before those films.

[@schwarzerritter5724]

It is like tilting the camera. It was used sometimes to create a feel of unease. Then Battlefield Earth came and ruined it for everybody.

[@Badmuthaa]

battlefield 3 and crysis have started the horrible trend if lens flares in video games. We can never go back now

[@osamabinladen7113]

*of

[@tiggerbiggo]

+Moeyz69 if(lensflare) hopeInHumanity = false;

[@tiggerbiggo]

+airlegoland Compiler error: "++=" is not a valid operator

[@k9feces]

There was lens flare on ps1

[@trinitygod863]

+tiggerbiggo but the var is not being set any condition such as lensflare = true

[@desapole]

Vox should make a video on the massive failure that is the war on the drugs.

[@johnbaker7102]

More like failure of willpower more than anything. Extreme liberal sentiments have completely eradicated personal responsibility. Now you can inject meth and claim it was because someone else made you sad, and that would be perfectly acceptable if not completely encouraged by movement who has made feelings more important than the truth. A large part due to SJW and feminists, who often view personal feelings as legitimate evidence for oppression or pain.

[@legendp2011]

+DesapoleEdits "in an nutshell" already covered that

[@the80386]

+DesapoleEdits people just don't get it do they? war on drugs is not a failure because something can't fail if it never existed on the first place. it's a wash, it doesn't exist. if there genuinely was, it would take a few months to get rid of drugs almost completely. politicians gain a lot from the cartels and they keep the 'prison business' alive. look up on the huge 'private prison' business. you have never felt more ashamed and baffled about what the political leaders can allow simply because the population is too dumb to see the reality.

[@danwroy]

Is this post a parody

[@desapole]

Dan Roy No I'm pretty damn serious mate

[@olofljunggren1189]

Stripping coatings from lenses isn't only to get more flaring - it affects contrast and colors produced by the lenses too. Vintage glass is awesome, but not only for flaring haha.

[@vinylhedgehog5574]

I love all the videos made by Phil. Great choice of topics and well produced! Also I dig the little extra informational bits with him talking at the end.

[@zleeloo]

This is by far my favourite Vox video!! Well done!!

[@carbontae]

love all these video about analog film and cameras, very interesting, keep it going vox!

[@sixstanger00]

The difference between films like Cool Hand Luke, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, etc is that lens flares were only used in select shots where an actual light source created the effect. The flares were subtle enough that they didn't become intrusive to the viewing experience. That's not the case with JJ Abrams' Star Trek where virtually every single shot is carpeted in lens flares, many of which have no apparent source. For example, at 3:23, the lens flare is so over-exaggerated that it's actually making the shot look hazy and/or clouded.

[@slatt9022]

Great quality video, Vox. Keep up the amazing work!

[@HoneyBeauBeau]

I like lens flares as long as they're not over-done or too intense.

[@xolotto8584]

At around 3:16 you guys showed E.T yet listed its debut year as 1970 even though it came out in 1982

[@toodle171]

These are truly great and thank you for making them.

[@JesseCaul]

Good job on the good videos, Vox!

[@kezadrone]

Best way to use an anamorphic flare is in subtle way, overkill looks like you are chuffed with your expensive lenses. Reserve it for a torch beam or car headlight shot for one or two moments in a movie, the best effects are those balanced in so well they are hard to split up into components later by a viewer.

[@danwroy]

Vox, buddy, the sprockets go on the sides of the filmstrip, not the top and bottom. You know that. The image stretches out horizontally between the sprockets on either side. The only exception to this is VistaVision.

[@FlingflingTv]

Tru

[@therealpohlio]

with a name like vista you know your computer will be ashamed.

[@mallory9486]

man this is so interesting. film is such an underrated medium, most people have no idea how much work and thought goes into every aspect of it. i just love the history film and how its techniques evolve

[@MedEighty]

How very apt! I watched this video with the sun shining brightly, in my face.

[@NatalieSirens]

I have astigmatism, for all my life, I've seen everything with lens flare.

[@navycalvin9337]

New Video Games : *CPU BURNING*

[@SebWilkes]

Great video, and I love the Star Trek in it! :D

[@timpauwels3734]

As a lifelong wearer of glasses, I actually thought lens flare was normal, and that was how a sunny day or a car's headlights looked to everyone... Now I think about it, as the deterioration of my vision slowed, I started buying more expensive lenses and have been seeing a lot less flare in my life for the past few years.

[@sjh3217]

I like lens flare when the subject matter makes sense, like with the Sun in outer space. The right amount of flare can add a real sense of depth to the scene and sell the contrast of colour, which is why I liked them for the most part in Star Trek. All the stuff on board the ship with the bridge, however, got too excessive.

[@AlexPotvin]

mfw vox thinks five sided polygons are hexagons.

[@victoriadupuis4106]

Only a nerd would notice that detail.... Good job bro

[@pipois]

+Nick Nack From Guam Only a French Politician will think that a hexagon has 4 corners...

[@lilacbuni]

+pipois 4?

[@JonahTyree]

Even though I'm here early, I'm going to state an actual opinion instead of just trolling everybody. I feel that lens flares can be a good thing if used in moderation. You don't have to have a lens flare in every single frame! But, I feel they should never be put in with software. If you want your film to have them, learn about your lenses, and the way your camera works, and make them happen naturally.

[@Arcsinner]

+Jonah Tyree I totally agree with you but at the same time your statement is somewhat stale. You can say about basically anything that it should be used in moderation^^

[@jessaarons7282]

I was LITERALLY just watching Super 8 and noticed the insane amount of lens flares. Thank you for making this video :)

[@polarlarve]

your videos are so well made.

[@MarkKoolen]

THE reason I bought the old Nikon lenses, including the 135mm DC. No coating, pure magic.

[@pinkpandamiranda]

This is a wonderful video. Good job.

[@CadetGriffin]

I think the flares are to make movies look more like what we see with our own eyes.

[@HeatherSpoonheim]

+Jacob Griffin You have glaucoma.

[@CadetGriffin]

Nevermind, but when I make my eyes ajar a dim but noticable rectangle appears below the computer screen for example. But that's not a problem.

[@xponen]

+Jacob Griffin , do you see any lens flare when you drive car at night? (which's really dangerous)

[@CadetGriffin]

I think I'm watching too many computer animated space videos of the sun rising.

[@augusto7681]

xponen I see flares because i use glasses.

[@bloubear2557]

0:44 that optical formula is beyond light bending, and has reached the widest telephoto focal length.

[@LukeBeacon]

This was a really well made video. Cheers.

[@AntonioKowatsch]

The weird thing is that they coat the camera's in opticoat to avoid the flares just so that they can add the flare in post.The logic.

[@GamesFromSpace]

Lense flare is the autotune of cinema.

[@JordanCann]

LoL!!! I like that

[@liverpool0690]

Joshua Pearce LOL

[@GamesFromSpace]

Kyle Curness Lense flare is by definition NOT a natural phenomenon. It is a flaw in camera design. There's nothing natural about leaving in the reflections of internal components of the camera.

[@TheAkashicTraveller]

More like adding tape hiss into music. You can apparently even buy emulation packages for old audio hardware.

[@Onimirare]

You know there's also lense flare in your eyes, right? Only one lense, but still. You can see it pretty easly in the dark, looking not directly at a bright light.

[@smawtan]

I really really enjoyed this!

[@TherealToppo]

They need to stop with this lense flare bullshit. It hurts my eyes

[@UncleFeedle]

All modern blockbusters are required to have: 1. Lens flares 2. The orange and teal look 3. Bridges being destroyed

[@edwardduarte7393]

A friend of mine who directs commercials was telling me that vintage uncoated lenses are going up in value. When you see lens flare in Cool Hand Luke, ET or Close Encounters it really creates a feeling that you are there with the characters. Feel the light smacking you in the face.

[@pantonal]

Kurosawa did it in Rashomon in 1950. And again in 1965 to amazing effect in Red Beard’s earthquake scene. One of my all time favorite shots.

[@Moiso25]

First time i really noticed was in Saving Private Ryan, in the moment they take the beach the lens get this cloudy flares like having tears in the eyes. Other different and completely digitalized was in Make me Bad from Korn, the effect was always the same and constant. Just two examples who came first in mind.

[@Dr.Caligari-scabinet]

This video answered every question I had. Even questions I started to ask myself while watching the video “ wouldn’t it of been considered an error in cinema”? Was answered. Thank you

[@evanrowland553]

that was pretty cool, surprised there's not more comments

[@titanuranus3095]

If we outlawed lens flares, could we call it the 'haze code'?

[@TheTonyMcD]

0:40 EPIC!

[@PlainsPup]

Fascinating stuff, Vox and Phil Edwards. Now, I have a request. Shaky cam is another film technique that adds realism when used sporadically, but is now so overdone that it makes some movies unwatchable and even literally nauseating. Would you please do a similar segment on the history of shaky cam, too?

[@dontcallmelil8619]

Extra love for all the star trek footage

[@Shady36]

So if lens flares were rebel from the norm, Star Trek (2009) was the ISIS of lens flares. God that movie was blinding af!

[@alexanderg1297]

JJ Abrams and Michael Bay: *WRITE THAT DOWN!*

[@CuriosityRocks]

I learnt something new. Very cool video :D

[@bob15479]

1:57 funny how much better the sound of music looks with flare

[@samphire]

I agree with it being used sparingly for dramatic effect but when you have a show like Star Trek Discovery blocking half the screen with flare, it becomes a joke.

[@notreallydavid]

_Tons_ of flare in Blade Runner. Blade Runner - which I really like - is in large measure a study in how things look, and all the different things you can do with light (Whistler would have loved it). But as well as looking good, the flare fuzzes the edges on the models - this is a film from the final act of the in-camera effects era, and the blazing lights on the vehicles (and the smoke, and the rain) help us not to notice that we're looking at assemblages of model kit parts flying over plastic junk buildings (and buildings that are silhouette-only). Still looks marvellous.

[@sir_john_hammond]

JJ is to lens flare as Michael Bay is to explosions.

[@Vnix]

Saving Private Ryan had some pretty awesome flares. Worth a mention.

[@notdaveschannel9843]

Lens flair is everywhere, is everywhere and my mind describes it to me.

[@AlessioMichelini]

As a photographer I used lens flare to give depth, but like everything, it should be used wisely and tastefully

[@LoveDoctorNL]

If a blockbuster would come out which had no lens flare and no shakey cam I think I might find it so very very refreshing.

[@01DOGG01]

Cool, now do one on the Frazier lens

[@shinmyung92]

I am noticing this everywhere now. My life will never be the same again.

[@MidtownSkyport]

It's really weird seeing it in 3D movies. Since it's filmed with two lenses any flare would be different in each of them, so If you see it at all it means they've taken real care not to have any authentic lens flare, and added it in afterwards. It looks like a real, tangible thing that's floating in the scene, and I find that distracts from the movie, not adds to it.

[@mrclueuin]

Nice video. A bit of a Star Trek fan, much? ;)

[@specialnewb9821]

Props for all the TNG illustrations. Sneaky blow at JJ Abrams?

[@xylophone897]

I'm looking at you, J.J.

[@DuhAverageJoe]

I think JJ Abrams gets a bad rap for using (or overusing some will protest) lens flares. I actually happen to like his Spielberg-inspired aesthetic. I will admit however, his Star Trek reboot did have a lot of noticeable flares, but personally, it didn't bother me much. It was a sci-fi movie and there were certain effects and aesthetic choices I relate with them. Also, I've never known him to digitally add them. I know he uses anamorphic lenses and a lot of light and that's a recipe for fun lol.

[@jbgood7694]

There needs to be a video on British/Australian/Irish accents in every movie, t.v. show and in many commercials.

[@fanboydee]

I'm too young to have experienced the impact of lens flare in the 60s in cinema, but I remember it blew my mind when playing Sonic on Dreamcast and the sun came on screen, so it's easy to imagine a time when the inclusion of lens flare felt radical.

[@Skrenja]

Lens flares aren't bad if they are naturally occuring, not added in post.

[@TheRolltroll]

Akira Kurosawa was using lens flares in scenes throughout Rashoman (1950). He pointed the camera at the trees and allowed the light to cause flares, 17 years before Cool Hand Luke.

[@JordanCann]

All you guys hating on lens flare? What they do to you besides making your movies look awesome #teamlensflare

[@ellaisplotting]

I appreciate the Jean-Luc Picard demo

[@immortalsun]

I hate how lens flare is everywhere in _video games_ too. Lens flare is not something we see with our eyes. It’s something we see with a camera.

[@silentfox139]

now I wanna see lens flare in every historic movie and Disney animation

[@orange400]

Unfortunately, I really hate lens flare.. Very much.

[@cheegum6296]

Lens flares are why I got into (still trying to) photography.

[@darinalitvina]

I had no idea this has such a thorough history...!

[@robanzo]

This is amazing

[@slothbear3909]

Mass Effect Andromeda slides at the end ... I see you Vox.

[@strawberries1186]

I love minecraft lens flares in shaders packs, so pretty!

[@cold_static]

Lens flares used to be a mistake you tried to avoid. Now it's a choice you try to avoid.

[@mcrazza]

J.J. Abrams. There, I said it.

[@yw1971]

The thing is JJ added those flares with FX. Also was done in several music clips in the late 90's.

[@ShinAdamSmasher]

Best use of Picard ever.

[@youarelife3437]

That's pretty good. Im a film maker who hates film history but this one was good.

[@breth8159]

excellent segment some cinematographers are so good my favorite modern but not so new movie Tombstone I think the best photographed movie I've ever seen!

[@johnrpalacio]

Nice job

[@watermelontreeofknowledge8682]

Lens flares have definitely gone overboard. It's a tacky Transformers technique

[@spunkmire2664]

Came for the lens flares, didn't know i was going to class.

[@anatoleh1]

Phil Edwards is the best Vox presenter, by far :)

[@wadeguidry6675]

It's so common I never noticed it before, nor did I kow it even had a name. Now I'll see it everytime it's used.....thanks alot Vox:(