Richard Crudo is one of the rising generation of cinematographers. Although he may have been making films and commercials for around fifteen years, and has already photographed around twenty features, Crudo considers that his career is just beginning. Although he has worked in a range of genres, since the success of American Pie he has been offered a string of teen comedies, something which he has found to be an enlightening experience.

"The production style is very off-the-cuff, which keeps you on sharply focussed on the job. You're constantly having to invent solutions at a moment's notice", he explains. "They're fun, but I am keen to get into some projects where I can work with more darkness and contrast".

Crudo has used Lighttools® Soft Egg Crates® for his last two feature projects and his recent television commercial work. He first tried them out on Down To Earth, a production that was filmed half in Toronto and half in New York. "We used them a lot at night when we were running around the streets of Manhattan", he recalls. "The Lightools® gave me the ability to set up quickly, but maintain control of the night time look in the scenes."

For his next project, Crudo took advantage of the Lighttools® offer to ASC members for a trial use of some Soft Egg Crates®. "On Out Cold, a snowboarding film based in Vancouver, I had a lot of night-time exteriors. We were completely surrounded by white snow, which sounds like a nightmare, but the Soft Egg Crates® gave me flexibility and control because I could put the light only where I needed it. I just left the (Soft) Egg Crate® on the frame the whole time." For this work Crudo was generally using an ARRI 12k HMI behind a 12ft x 12ft or 8ft by 8ft silk with a Soft Egg Crate®.

When asked how he used Soft Egg Crates®, Crudo gave a typical no-nonsense reply. "What is there to say about them® I do what everybody else does: I stick them up on a frame and save my guys a lot of rigging and cutting and flagging. I was really charmed by them. I think they're a terrific tool and I will certainly be including them as a requirement for future projects."