Having also covered the glitz and glamour of the 1960s set X-Men: First Class, Mathieson has expanded his varied career as a cinematographer by taking on the grit and grizzle of Logan, a dusty, violent western.
During an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, he opened up about filming Logan’s final scene as Jackman bowed out of a role he’s played for the last 17 years.
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD – DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE YET
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Logan ending EXCLUSIVE: Cinematographer explains Hugh Jackman’s SHOCKING last scene
Logan, the upcoming superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics character Wolverine, has released a brand new trailer. Express Pictures brings you the stunning stills from the trailer.
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Logan Trailer: Stunning stills from the upcoming Wolverine movie.
Mathieson said: “It was talked about a lot, because it was such a big moment.
“Hugh was looking forward to it. He’s done this thing for so many years and was glad to draw it to a conclusion.
“Logan is an immortal and he’s dying saying, ‘So this is what it feels like.’ He was positioned being nailed to the tree, dying like Nelson at Trafalgar, dying on his back, floating away.
“There were several rewrites on it, so you’re earnestly reading it when there’s a new draft of that scene.”
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James Mathieson was director of photographer on Logan
He continued: “For me the most important thing was trying to get them both [Logan and X-23] on camera at the same time.
“Jim [James Mangold, director] only likes to shoot with one camera…but we decided to cross-shoot it with two, so that you’ve got both on the one camera.
“So if an emotional moment happens, you don’t have the issue of shooting with one camera and then turning it around on the other actor and having to re-inject that emotion.
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Wolverine and X-23 go on a bloody road trip in Logan
“That’s the one thing I did insist on.
“I didn’t really wait to be asked, I just stuck the cameras in place and said, ‘Right come on, let’s go’, because you can’t ask a child to do that too many times.
“When you do a loaded scene like that, you don’t worry too much about the lighting, it’s all about capturing the performance.
The cinematographer also spoke out about the rumoured post-credits scene.
He said: “In terms of lighting and shooting something like this, I didn’t really pull any punches. I didn’t glam it up.
“I mean if you look at the other X-Men films, or the one I did [X-Men: First Class], it was so glamorous.
“Everyone looked handsome, the camera was at a height to make them look heroic.
“The colourisation of it was very pleasing, it look like a comic strip; a cartoon.”
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Both Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart have confirmed they are done with the roles
“It had a yellowy, slightly acidic feel, There’s nothing pleasant about where they live. Everything feels about toxic. We didn’t want it to look nice.
“It didn’t look like Lawrence of Arabia, it was burnt out and nasty and dusty – a place you really don’t want to be unless you’re hiding.
“But there’s a beauty to that. There’s a solemnness and a hardness to that land they have to move through.
Logan is out in UK cinemas now.
