John Mathieson (cinematographer)

Infobox Celebrity
name = John Mathieson, B.S.C.


caption = on the set of Gladiator
birth_date = birth date and age|1958|11|30
birth_place = Dorset, England
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = cinematographer
spouses =
website = imdb name|id=0558822|name=John Mathieson
footnotes =

John Mathieson B.S.C. is one of a group of film makers who emerged out of the music video industry of the late 80's and 90's. His peers include cinematographers Tim Maurice Jones ("Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels") and Seamus McGarvey BSC ("World Trade Center") and directors Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") and David Fincher ("Se7en"). The inventiveness and visual style of music videos did much to shape the evolution of contemporary feature films.

Beginning his career in the British film industry as camera assistant to Gabriel Beristáin, Mathieson worked his way through the ranks. In 1988 he garnered recognition for the ground breaking video "Peek-a-Boo" [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9415tgSlPo] for Siouxsie and the Banshees, directed by Peter Scammel. He collaborated with John Maybury, director of the Sinéad O'Connor video "Nothing Compares to You", going on to photograph Maybury's award winning film "". Mathieson honed his craft through the 90's shooting numerous television commercials and music videos for artists including Madonna, Prince and Massive Attack.

In the mid 90's Mathieson photographed two feature films for director Karim Dridi, for which he was later bestowed the honour of Chevalier by the French government. He came to the attention of Tony Scott whilst shooting television commercials for the London based company RSA films. After working as visual effects cinematograher on "Enemy of the State" for Tony Scott, Mathieson photographed the film "Plunkett & Macleane" for Jake Scott. Having seen Mathiesons work on Plunkett, Ridley Scott invited him to work on his next project. Mathieson has photographed four films for Ridley Scott, nominated for an Academy Award for "Gladiator" in 2000 and won the BAFTA award for best Cinematography in the same year. His second Oscar nomination came for "The Phantom of the Opera" (2004) directed by Joel Schumacher.

Despite a career now cemented in big budget film production, Mathieson maintains links with independent British film, working on more modest budget projects including "Trauma" directed by Marc Evans and "Stoned" directed by Stephen Woolley.

John Mathieson lives in the United Kingdom and is currently working on "After.Life" with director Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo.

Filmography

* "Peek-a-Boo" (Siouxsie and the Banshees) 1988 dir Peter Scammel
* "Never Come Morning" (1989) dir Tim Burke
* "Imaginary Landscapes" (1989) dir Gabriella Cardazzo & Duncan Ward
* "3 Chains o' Gold" (1994) (V) dir Prince & Parris Patton
* "" (1994) dir John Maybury
* "Pigalle" (1994) dir Karim Dridi
* "Bye-Bye" (1995) dir Karim Dridi
* "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out (1995) dir Peter Martin
* "Mirror, Mirror" (1996) dir Baillie Walsh
* "Twin Town" (1997) dir Kevin Allen
* "The Hunger": The Swords (1997) dir Jake Scott
* "Angoisse" (1998) dir Blanca Li
* "Vigo" (1998) dir Julian Temple
* "" (1998) dir John Maybury
* "Enemy of the State" (1998) dir Tony Scott (visual effects director of photography)
* "Plunkett & Macleane" (1999) dir Jake Scott
* "Gladiator" (2000) dir Ridley Scott
* "Hannibal" (2001) dir Ridley Scott
* "K-PAX" (2001) dir Ian Softley
* "A Fairy Story" (2002) dir Ben Gooder
* "Matchstick Men" (2003) dir Ridley Scott
* "Trauma" (2004) dir Marc Evans
* "The Phantom of the Opera" (2004) dir Joel Schumacher
* "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005) dir Ridley Scott
* "Stoned" (2005) dir Stephen Woolley
* "August Rush" (2007) dir Kirsten Sheridan
* "After.Life" (2008) (pre-production) dir Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo

Selected Awards for Cinematography

* 1996 Awarded Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contribution to the French film industry
* 1998 Kodak Award for 'Orange' commercial
* 1999 Art Film Festival Golden Key - "Love Is the Devil" (1998)
* 1999 Fantasporto Directors' Week Award - "Love Is the Devil" (1998)
* 2000 Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards (Nominated) - "Gladiator" (2000)
* 2000 San Diego Film Critics Society Award - "Gladiator" (2000)
* 2001 Golden Satellite Award - "Gladiator" (2000)
* 2001 Academy Award (Nominated) - "Gladiator" (2000)
* 2001 American Society of Cinematographers (Nominated) - "Gladiator" (2000)
* 2001 BAFTA Film Award - "Gladiator" (2000)
* 2001 Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards - "Gladiator" (2000)
* 2001 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards (Nominated) - "Gladiator" (2000)
* 2001 Online Film Critics Society Awards (Nominated) - "Gladiator" (2000)
* 2004 San Diego Film Critics Society Awards - "The Phantom of the Opera" (2004) (Tied with Christopher Doyle for "Ying Xiong")
* 2005 Golden Satellite Award (Nominated) - "The Phantom of the Opera" (2004)
* 2005 Academy Award (Nominated) - "The Phantom of the Opera" (2004)

External links

* [http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9781856693349/New_Cinematographers/index.aspx New Cinematographers] by Alex Ballinger ISBN 978-18-5669-334-9
* [http://www.cameraguild.com/awards/oscars-05/mathieson.htm The Phantom of the Opera Oscar nomination]
* [http://www.cinematographers.nl/PaginasDoPh/mathieson.htm Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers]