An artist who took the long road

Sometimes, when he’s waiting for a maxi to take him to El Dorado, he sketches the faces of fellow would-be passengers using charcoal. Some grow curious about the dark skinned man with the huge sketch book, others blush and look away. But that’s how artists are; they want to capture what is real. Roger Allan Jackson is no different. His name may not ring any bells just yet, but Jackson is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s top animators, currently making a name for himself at 20/20 Productions run by Anthony Harford. Chances are you may have already seen some of his work in local TV advertisements (Witco Sports Awards, etc), similar to the type of animation done by Pixar Studios (think Toy Story and Shrek). What’s different is that he is self taught in animation, even though he possesses an associate’s degree in Graphic Design from Broward University in Florida. He has received recognition through Anime Caribe, Trinidad and Tobago’s yearly animation and new media Festival. At its first ceremony held last year, he won an award for his submission Run Henry, Run, a light-hearted tale of a boy’s attempts to get his lost school bag. This year’s entry Given Enough Rope picked up two awards — Most Original Script and Most Outstanding Animation — with the subject matter — a man who was contemplating suicide — getting critical reviews from all.

“I had written that at the time when a lot of people were killing themselves and a lot of murder-suicides were taking place,” Jackson began. “I even remember the case of a little boy who killed himself when he didn’t get the present he wanted and it made me wonder what would cause somebody to want to commit suicide? What would push them to actually do it and what could stop them from doing it? Then I thought of the saying, ‘Give someone enough rope and they will hang themselves,’ so I started off and wrote a short story about this man who was feeling neglected, no one appreciating him at work, trouble with the wife and so on. Now I’m not a psychologist, but I think that that level of despair exists in everyone, but there is something in most people that stops them from doing it, and that “thing” is lacking; that hope that says ‘Tomorrow will be better,’ or ‘There are people that need me still.’

In the story, he is saved in the nick of time (by the girl’s swing breaking and needing a new rope), but in the original I didn’t end it with him being saved, I just stopped it with him wondering if he had enough rope to go through with the act, but it was too depressing!” Born in Canada, Jackson came to TT at age four. His love of art began as a small boy growing up in Pashley Street, Laventille, along with his extended family. His mother, a teacher, bought him dot-to-dot books while she taught at Lower Morvant Government school, which Jackson also attended. Flourishing in his love of drawing, he next attended Richmond Street Boys, followed by Queen’s Royal College until 1989. His next step was to enter The John S Donaldson Technical Institute, but it would prove easier said than done. Students for the three-year course had already been selected in 1988, so to pass the time he did an auto and diesel mechanics course. He tried again to do Graphic Design, but they could only accommodate 20 students at a time. However, they told him about a new printing technician’s course, so he did that instead.

“While I was there, my aunt in Florida told me about Broward Community College,” he said. “I was already disheartened about John D and she offered to help me get to Florida, so I gladly made the move. School wasn’t hard. I had my own system for making sure that I maintained a 4.0 grade point average, doing courses like English, Physical Education and so on, things that I already knew. By 1995 I graduated with an Associates Degree in Graphic Design and couldn’t wait to return home to start teaching, as a lot of my art teachers suggested I do. that. I said I’d try, but when I came back to Trinidad, that was another story.” Jackson submitted his qualifications to the Ministry of Education, but they replied in writing that he couldn’t teach art because he had to know handicraft and basket weaving. “I found it strange. People generally have this idea if you’re doing art, craft stuff is all you can do. It’s only now with animation and 3D graphics that people are realising that you don’t have to be a graphic artist, you can be other things too. So I am registered as a teacher, but I can only teach primary school children,” he said.

“It was still confusing, because I saw that we have a problem with perceptions with art in TT — I think it’s changing now probably — that when you do art in school, you are not shown all the outlets that you can have, you think that you’re just going to have to be a painter, and painters don’t make much, unless you’re a Leroi Clarke or a Jackie Hinkson (the latter was one of my teachers, actually). But I got most of my inspiration from one of my teachers in QRC, Anna Serrao. She kinda got me into computer art, although she doesn’t know it. He worked at many places before finally settling in at 20/20 Productions where he specialises in compositing and motion graphics. Everything in ‘Rope’ was done by Jackson, including the voice overs, which he said were the easiest parts. He even lent a bit of himself to the character, by having him walk around the room, which is something he admitted he did when thinking.

Given Enough Rope took him about six months to complete, (including planning), but he admitted that the original concept was something he wanted to do for television, a compilation of disturbed people in various situations, but managed to get out of them somehow. He almost didn’t send the short film in because of its content, but his good friend Eniola Adelekan insisted. “Obviously it wasn’t something I wanted little children to see, because of the subject matter,” he said firmly. “But I was pleasantly surprised at copping two awards. I wanted to leave it up to people to decide what they would have done in that situation, would they have gone ahead and did it, or would they have done their last unselfish thing and given the little girl that piece of rope?” Of course, there is a lot more to come from that mind of his. Given that he’s been on a very long road to finding his dream job, he takes things one day at a time, and has adopted many philosophies about life and his work. He won’t mind sharing knowledge, in fact he insists on doing it.