GLADIATOR cinematography- use of 16mm? (1 Viewer)

[Vincent_P]

Hello again Charles,


On another forum it's been suggested that 16mm was used for some of the cinematography on GLADIATOR. This is due to the old American Cinematographer article which states that an Aaton XTR camera was used for some hand-held work. Is this correct, or did AC possibly get the Aaton camera model wrong back then? I only saw GLADIATOR once theatrically circa it's original release and don't recall anything jumping out at me as having possibly been 16mm sourced.


Vincent

 

[Charles de Lauzirika]

Hi Vincent,

 

Sorry this has taken so long to find out. I e-mailed John Mathieson directly about this and he was kind enough to answer me from a (very) remote location. Here's his response:

 

 

Anyway to answer your question. It was a an Aaton, but a 35mm one, supplied by Ahmad at Aimimage in London and very good it was too. You will have to ask him the model No. and type. There was no 16mm it was all super 35mm with an optical blow up, some digital work (I think 50 real shots from the Mill in London, the rest clean ups), no D.I. Hope that helps.   John.   I'm sure certain people will go out of their way to conjure some new controversy here, and far be it from me to deprive them of such enjoyment, but there you go, straight from the D.P. himself. Further research courtesy of my frequent collaborator Jon Mefford reveals that an Aaton 35-III was employed on "Gladiator," so perhaps the confusion stems from there. Hope all of this is of interest.

 

[Vincent_P]

Thanks again Charles, and thanks to John as well for taking the time to clear this up!

Vincent

 

[KarenID]

I've heard those rumors about 16mm in Gladiator as well. I nerded out and went to see Gladiator three times in its theatrical release (once as a rough cut that was sneaked several months before the theatrical release and twice in it regular release) but never peeped anything that said 16mm to me either. Good to know. Thanks for raising the question and thanks for the answer.