John Mathieson, the cinematographer for both Gladiator films, has slammed Ridley Scott’s recent filmmaking habits in a new interview.
Speaking on The DocFix podcast, Mathieson described Scott’s tendency to leave things in shot to be later cleaned up in post-production as “lazy”.
“It’s really lazy. It’s the CG elements now of tidying-up, leaving things in shot, cameras in shot, microphones in shot, bits of set hanging down, shadows from [boom mics]. And they just said [on Gladiator 2], ‘Well, clean it up.'"
The cinematographer didn’t stop there, calling Scott “impatient” for getting “as much as he can” using a multi-camera setup.
“Having lots of cameras I don’t think has made the films any better," Mathieson said. "It’s a bit rush, rush, rush. That’s changed in him. But that’s the way he wants to do it and I don’t like it and I don’t think many people do, but people love his films and he’s Ridley Scott and can do what he wants.”
I mean, did people expect anything good from a sequel to a movie that literally didn’t need a sequel?
I mean Blade Running 2049 is the rare lone exception to being a good sequel to a movie that didn’t need a sequel.
Maybe someday another film will achieve what it did, so I gotta keep hoping, but I know it isn’t likely.
