Donald McAlpine, ASC, ACS
Moulin Rouge

Donald McAlpine, ASC, ACS was born and raised in a small, rural community in the New South Wales region of Australia. He got interested in still photography at around the age of nine, and built a darkroom when he was 11. He first used a 16 mm camera to record the motions of swimmers who were preparing for the 1956 Olympic Games. McAlpine began his career shooting news footage and segued into documentary programs. He subsequently moved on to Film Australia, a government sponsored agency, which produced movies promoting tourism, business, and documentaries. His other feature credits include Breaker Morant, Moscow on the Hudson, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Predator, Parenthood, Mrs. Doubtfire, Patriot Games, Medicine Man, Clear and Present Danger, Stepmom and The Time Machine. Moulin Rouge marks McAlpine's first Academy Award and ASC Outstanding Achievement Award nominations. He won the 1997 Australian Cinematographers Award of Distinction and received a 1998 BAFTA nomination for William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.

When the struggling poet Christian meets the beautiful courtesan and performer Satine at the Moulin Rouge nightclub, the two fall in love. Satine, however, is desired by a wealthy Duke, whom the club's owner hopes will finance a new theater. The young lovers must keep their affair hidden as Satine attempts to entice the Duke into supporting the Moulin Rouge.

"I worked on Moulin Rouge for a year prior to shooting-doing film tests, working out the costumes, everything. It was fun, like taking an intellectual holiday."

 

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