- Born
- Birth nameDonald Maxwell Morgan
- Height5′ 8″ (1.73 m)
- Donald M. Morgan was born on February 11, 1932 in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. He is a cinematographer, known for Starman (1984), Se7en (1995) and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995).
- Member of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).
- Son of Max Morgan.
- Being typecast as a specific kind of cinematographer is the worst thing that can happen to you. After I got out of aerial work and started lighting sets, people joked for years that there was no way I could fit my helicopter into the soundstage. To others it was more serious: how could I know anything about lighting? To them I was just an aerial cameraman. Later, after I went from features to TV work, I had to re-prove myself to some people because now I was a "TV guy." It hasn't always been easy.
- I learned an important lesson while we were shooting Starman (1984), but not from the actual making of the film. We were in some small town in Texas, and one day I was eating breakfast in a little pancake house. This guy came in and sat down next to me, and he asked if I was one of the "movie guys." I told him I was the director of photography, and we talked a bit about what I did. He said, "I hate it when I'm watching something on TV, and there's a scene where someone comes in the room and turns off the only light, but the room looks the same. That looks fake." I'll never forget that conversation. There are always ways to create light if you feel that a dark scene needs it.
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