John Mathieson

John Mathieson, (born 3 May 1961) is an English cinematographer and commercial director. He is one of a group of filmmakers who emerged from the music video industry of the late 1980s and 1990s.

He is a frequent collaborator with director Ridley Scott, winning a BAFTA Award and a nomination for the Academy Award for his work on Gladiator (2000).

Life and career Mathieson was born on Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, England. Beginning his career in the British film industry as camera assistant to Gabriel Beristain, Mathieson worked his way through the ranks. In 1988 he garnered recognition for the ground breaking video "Peek-a-Boo" for Siouxsie and the Banshees, directed by Peter Scammell. He collaborated with John Maybury, director of the Sinéad O'Connor video "Nothing Compares 2 U", going on to photograph Maybury's award-winning film Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon. Mathieson honed his craft through the 1990s shooting numerous television commercials and music videos for artists including Madonna, Prince and Massive Attack.

In the mid 1990s 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 cinematographer 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 five 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.

Mathieson acted as cinematographer on the DC Films production Batgirl. The film was cancelled in August 2022.

Filmography

Feature film

Television Year Title Director Notes 1997 The Hunger Tony ScottJake Scott Episodes "The Swords" and "Ménage à Trois" 2012 Playhouse Presents Iain Softley Episode "The Man" 2013 The Vatican Ridley Scott TV movie TBA The Good Shepherd Roland Joffé Miniseries

Music video Year Title Artist Director 1990 "All My Trials" Paul McCartney Nigel Dick 1991 "Mysterious Ways" U2 Stéphane Sednaoui 1993 "Heart-Shaped Box" Nirvana Anton Corbijn1998 "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" Madonna Walter Stern "Special" Garbage Dawn Shadforth "Rabbit in Your Headlights" UNKLE ft. Thom Yorke Jonathan Glazer 1999 "The World Is Not Enough" Garbage Philipp Stölzl2000 "Ex-Girlfriend" No Doubt Hype Williams "American Pie" Madonna Philipp Stölzl 2008 KylieX2008 Kylie Minogue William Baker 2012 "Black Chandelier" Biffy Clyro Big TV!

Awards and nominations