Media Credit: Nancy Rosenthal Film director Robert Rodriguez stresses the importance of using one's creativity, keeping current with advances in technology and acting as an energetic, involved leader in a last-minute lecture to radio-television-film students Tuesday. "Write down what you want to be doing and then do some of it," said the UT graduate.

Demanding attention with a black cowboy hat and leather jacket, independent film trailblazer and UT alumnus Robert Rodriguez said money and technology take a backseat to creativity during a speedily arranged lecture Tuesday.

The lecture, announced only earlier in the day, filled the Will C. Hogg lecture hall with a standing-room only audience.

"It just shows how some people can draw a crowd," said Charles Berg, a radio-television film professor who once had Rodriguez as a student.

Berg said Rodriguez was an exceptional student despite not originally getting into the radio-television-film program because of his grades. Berg added that Rodriguez ended up teaching him a lot of things and that connections are not what makes him successful.

"He got where he is because of his talent," Berg said.

Rodriguez said that determination was an important factor in achieving his early success, which he did with award-winning films such as "Bedhead" and "El Mariachi." He made both of these films while attending UT. Rodriguez said that his determination stemmed from making movies since the age of 12 and the desire to make something great.

"You always gotta work harder than everybody around you," he said.

AJ Gonzalez, a film student at the University of Texas at San Antonio, said that many people are motivated by the hard work shown in Rodriguez's works.

"Seeing the work that he's done, it's very inspiring," Gonzalez said. "Especially for Hispanics and Mexicans."

Rodriguez said creativity is also important for making films and other art forms that are worthy of being seen. He added that too often filmmakers are concerned with the technical aspects of filmmaking and they ignore their creativity.

"Creativity always overrides technical," Rodriguez said. "I think the best technology you can do is make all that stuff go away."

Radio-television-film senior John Jarzemsky said he agreed that Rodriguez is a definitive role model of creativity and the independent spirit.

"I think in a film school you miss a lot of that sometimes," Jarzemsky said. "It's not enough to be a fun filmmaker."

Rodriguez said that allowing creativity to drive a project would create a project that people could relate to better than a technical masterpiece.

"You can't get perfection," Rodriguez said. "It's not human, and artists are human."

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