J.J. Abrams Discusses 'Star Trek 2'

Thanks to the TCA (Television Critics Association) having a panel on the latest television series Alcatraz, J.J. Abrams (who produces the show) spoke a little about the much anticipated sequel Stark Trek 2 which begins production this week.  Abrams also spoke briefly on post-converting the film to 3D.

Here’s what Abrams had to say on Star Trek 2 being post-converted to 3D and particularly his over-use of lens flares:

We’re shooting on film, and the reason for that is I wanted to shoot with anamorphic, and you can’t shoot 3D in anamorphic… we’ve done some tests.  Not only lens flare tests, but we’ve done 3D tests. We actually converted a bunch of the original movie, which looked really good. That was the thing that made me feel like, maybe that would be okay.  But, I didn’t want to shoot the movie digitally… It will be converted, for those who want to see it in 3D.  But, I wanted to match the look of the first one and shoot it anamorphically.

The fact that some testing was done with the first film surprises me.  Unfortunately when Abrams continues to talk about the popularity and “commercial viability of 3D?”, things get a little more interesting:

I did not fight for the 3D.  It was something that the studio wanted to do, and I didn’t want to do it.  And then, when I saw the first movie converted in sections, I thought that it actually looked really cool.  So, I was okay with their doing it, as long as I could shoot the movie the way I wanted to, in anamorphic film, and then let them convert it.  So, those who want to see it in 3D, which looked pretty cool, can do it, and those that want to see it in 2D can do that too.

Saying that it was not his choice, but the movie studios’ (Paramount) choice, in converting the film to 3D (a maligned format that isn’t impressing moviegoers) doesn’t surprise me.  Even expert directors James Cameron and Martin Scorsese haven’t been impressed with post-conversion.  Moviegoers aren’t easily fooled lately and sometimes 3D can spell bad voodoo for a film. 

Abrams also states that shooting on the film will last approximately four months, which is in line with the production schedule of the first film.  Abrams finally discusses the pressure of making another Star Trek film: 

I think the job of the first movie was just to establish it.  I don’t want to give anything away, but I would say that the burden we had in the first movie was just existing at all.  With this movie, instead of having to stand on the shoulders of the original series, we built a little bit of a platform for us, with the last movie, to tell this story.

Star Trek 2 is directed by J.J. Abrams.  Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve and Karl Urban.  The film will be released 17 May 2013.

Source: Collider