4. Spielberg Loves Lamp (Light)
What many originally assumed was a style chosen specifically for his reboot of Star Trek turned out to be a J.J. Abrams love; both Super 8 and Into Darkness showed off the directors bizarre obsession with lens flare. While Abrams has been lambasted on multiple occasions for this, few have question where it came from. And its really obvious. Abrams has never shied away from trumpeting Spielberg as his main filmmaking influence and its here the love of lens flare comes from. No matter if its in his most gleeful blockbuster to somber Oscar contender, the master of cinema has his stars bathed in light. Pretty much all of Spielbergs films have scenes where the characters are presented almost in silhouette or a bright light stares down the lens obscuring the audiences view. With all his films being fantastical or historical tales, it really helps ground the films in reality. The best example has to be Jurassic Park, where some sets were designed purely to allow for this effect (think the meal scene just before the tour). This trait is so overrising for Spielberg that in Lincoln, a film he repeatedly said hed toned down for, still had it.