Richard Crudo began his career in New York City, learning from some of the best in the business, including László Kovács and Gordon Willis, and helping shoot movies such as Ghostbusters 2, Raising Arizona, and Broadway Danny Rose. He then served as cinematographer on movies including American Pie, Out Cold, and Brooklyn Rules, as well as television series such as FX Network’s Justified, The CW’s Jane the Virgin, and CBS’s SWAT.
In this podcast, Richard discusses the transition of motion pictures from film to digital, and the concurrent rise of new visual effects techniques. He also talks about being president of the American Society of Cinematographers, the popularity of dark shots in Netflix TV series, and the rise of artificial intelligence and the democratization of movie making.
It’s an enlightening and entertaining discussion, and it’s great to get another perspective on the filmmaking process.
Links:
0:04:39 The accidental cinematographer: introducing Richard
0:10:23 Working with Gordon Willis Laszlo Kovacs, and Michael Chapman
0:14:33 How making movies has changed
0:20:45 Getting involved with the ASC
0:24:21 The development of VFX techniques
0:30:16 The history of what DOPs do
0:35:36 "The Prince of Darkness:" From "The Godfather" to Netflix shows
0:39:18 Thoughts on "Oppenheimer," Tarantino, and the importance of story
0:44:32 The collaborative process of making a movie
0:50:50 Opening access to movie making via YouTube
0:54:03 Should we worry about the rise of AI?
Chris is a CG industry veteran and Director of Chaos Labs. He can also be heard regularly as the host of the CG Garage podcast which attracts 20,000 weekly listeners. With a background in both VFX and Design, Chris has worked for Gensler, Digital Domain, Imageworks and Method Studios. His credits include Maleficent, Oblivion and Tron: Legacy.