Robert Zemeckis Interview (page: 2 / 4) Motion Picture Production	Print Interview

You also said you used your father's and your uncles' eight millimeter cameras. What made you do that? Was that because of television, too?

Robert Zemeckis: It started by wanting to learn how to set the exposure, set the focus. Then I would record family events with a home movie camera, like everybody does.

You were the guy that got to do that?

Robert Zemeckis: Oh, I wanted to do it. And everyone was happy to give that job to somebody else. And then, very, very slowly, I started to make them entertaining, putting funny title cards on, and then editing, juxtaposing faces that relatives might make to get a laugh. Then that expanded to actually telling some linear stories that had nothing to do with photographing Christmas or a wedding.

Was the family supportive of that? Did your friends think that was a kick?

Robert Zemeckis: Yeah. They were supportive. Of course, they never in their wildest imagination thought that I would make a career of it, but they were very entertained. They were my audience.

Any time there was a family gathering, I'd pull out the screen and the projector. Then it got more and more elaborate, trying to synch up sounds, which was like my biggest thing. I was really trying to figure out how to do that. And then, ultimately, making these eight millimeter productions. I started to do a lot of stop motion animation, puppet animation type things, and blowing things up with fire crackers and elaborate special effects. So they were very entertained by that.
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Was there at some point where you thought you could make a life out of this, and they were skeptical or even negative about it? Or did they always figure, "If he thinks he can do it, he can do it."

Robert Zemeckis: Oh no, they were extremely negative. But only in the sense that they were concerned. It was such an outrageous dream that they couldn't help but be skeptical, to protect me. When I applied to USC Film School, I didn't tell anyone right away. First of all, it was in the late 60s, so from the south side of Chicago, we thought going to California was like going to hell.

So the day that I said, "I am going to USC Film School," my father looked at me and said, "You're going to go join the circus?" That was his quote. I said, "I want to be a movie director." And he said, "You're going to go join the circus." He wasn't completely wrong about what I did join, but he didn't understand the subtlety of what I'm saying. And, of course, my mother's attitude was, you know, "Let him get it out of his system." But for my family and my friends and the world that I grew up in, this was the kind of dream that really was impossible. My parents would sit there and say, "Don't you see where you come from? You can't be a movie director." I guess maybe some of it I felt I had to do in spite of them, too.
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If they took that attitude, what was it about you, or your surroundings and friends and family that allowed you to make the dream come true?

Robert Zemeckis: I think that what allowed me to do it was just a personal passion and drive. Because, again, to protect me from being hurt, everyone I knew cautioned me not to do this, because this was something that you could not succeed at.

It was for my own good, but no one could support the idea because it was just outrageous. It would be like me saying, "I want to be President of the United States." It wasn't until I got to USC Film School that I saw the other side of the spectrum. I was finally in an environment where everybody shared the passion for this one thing, and that was fantastic.

Robert Zemeckis Interview, Page: 1   2   3   4