Provided that cinematographer John Mathieson‘s work on director Ridley Scott‘s 2000 movie “Gladiator” contributed so many photographs to the pantheon of iconic film pictures, it would come as a shock to listen to the director of pictures’s evaluation of his personal work. “A few of the lighting continuity in that movie is appalling,” Mathieson instructed IndieWire, noting that he usually utilized what he referred to as “a BBC reverse,” by which protection on reverse actors in the identical scene was shot from the identical angle. That meant that technically the sunshine made no sense, as a result of it meant there have been two suns, “however nobody ever referred to as me on it.”
That nobody caught the inconsistencies is a testomony to the facility of Mathieson’s beautiful particular person pictures, which garnered him an Academy Award nomination and appeared implausible even when they weren’t technically “right.” “Ridley doesn’t care that it’s not precisely just like the final shot,” Mathieson stated. “He does care that it appears to be like nice.” Now, Scott and Mathieson have reunited for “Gladiator II,” which boasts much more gorgeous cinematography than its predecessor — Mathieson’s lighting is extra diverse, extra haunting, and extra evocative of the work of the Victorian Pre-Raphaelites he appeared to for inspiration.
Not like these painters, nonetheless, Mathieson needed to create his pictures on location with a military of collaborators and the problem of crafting stunning pictures when Scott’s desire is to shoot with as many cameras as attainable — one thing Mathieson says makes lighting exponentially tougher. “I can’t say I prefer it,” Mathieson stated, “however Ridley does, as a result of he will get it multi functional go.” For the motion set items, Mathieson’s staff was usually taking pictures with a dozen cameras, which is in line with the movie’s epic scale — when Mathieson first arrived on location earlier than assembling his staff, he realized it was going to be monumental.
“By the point I bought to Morocco, I do not forget that somebody stated we have been 2,700 for lunch,” Mathieson stated. “And I didn’t even have my crew on then.” Given the dimensions of the manufacturing, Mathieson noticed the knowledge in Scott’s multi-camera strategy, even when he felt it compromised his lighting at occasions. “Getting everybody dressed and prepared within the morning meant a few of them have been coming in at 2:30 or 3, so that you don’t wish to be plodding together with one digital camera. You wish to get as a lot as you possibly can. Not all of the photographs are nice, however what they do have is power and continuity. It’s a trade-off — what are you going to lose? You’re going to lose numerous time and power.”
Mathieson famous that the desert warmth was one other issue that meant the less takes, the higher. “You’ll be able to’t have individuals on the market too lengthy,” he stated. “You’ll be able to’t be fiddling round with completely different lenses and dragging one digital camera this manner and that.” Usually, Mathieson’s operators would gown in costume in order that if one other digital camera occurred to catch them, they wouldn’t must be digitally erased from the body; the cameras themselves, based on Scott, have been simply faraway from the photographs when essential in submit. “Typically we have been in full Mufti turbans, or we had a giant basket of fish on our heads. We used to shove Katie Swain, the second unit DP, in gladiator slave clothes.”
Mathieson additionally factors out that not every little thing each digital camera movies at each second is meant to be usable; primarily, by working by means of a complete sequence with a number of cameras, Scott is solely getting all of his protection directly. “Typically cameras see different cameras, and it doesn’t matter as a result of they’re not on display at the moment,” he stated. “It’s choreography and it’s logistics planning quite than strict pictures with strict lighting.”
For Mathieson, the restrictions of Scott’s strategy are countered by the sense of liberation that comes from working for a director unbound by conventional movie grammar. “[Scott’s brother] Tony was like that too,” Mathieson stated. “You’re launched from that form of choosing the important thing tone, matching the reverse, matching the lens dimension, matching the gap — screw all that. It’s, ‘Let’s simply go,’ and I like that. I like to maneuver fast as properly. I like attending to go to mattress on time.”
One thing else that Scott brings to the desk is the arrogance of a director who has been cranking out masterpieces for over 40 years. “Typically you suppose, ‘Did we get that? Ought to we go yet one more?’ And you then see Ridley’s automotive driving away and say, ‘Effectively, I assume he preferred it,’” Mathieson stated. “That’s the sensation of success. Then you definately go and drink a bucket of Negroni and go once more.”
“Gladiator II” is now in theaters.