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Darren Holloway Finds His Calling as an Animator: “Laughter is the best medicine.”

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UK-based animator Darren Holloway and his daughter working on animations together.StudentFilmmakers chats with Darren Holloway, the animator behind the Filmmakers Network profile, MrDazAnimation, in the Filmmakers Global Network Community online. Darren is a self taught animator from London, UK. A married and proud father (and stepfather) to five, he devotes his life to his family. In the past, Darren has worked in many different industries which have included Real Estate, Insurance, Hospitality and more before he found his calling as an animator.

 

Tell us about yourself and how you started as a beginner, self-taught animator to now having your own YouTube Channel with over 80 videos?

Darren Holloway: Back in 2020, when the whole world got told we had to isolate, I was already a stay-at-home dad and contemplating what I wanted to be doing. I had written a couple of books by that time, but it was something I lost interest in pretty quickly. That had always been a problem of mine; I would start something and end it just as quickly before jumping on to the next interest.

When I started to animate, it felt that I had found my calling. I created a few characters and had some story lines ready to create, but something was missing. That is when the idea of Mr. Daz came to mind, and from the moment, I created his first animated short, and  I was hooked. Before I knew it, I had over a dozen different situations that I wanted to put him in. Now just a few months later, I have released the pilot episode of “Colleagues Are Not Friends,” which will run for 20 episodes in the first season, and scripts have already been written for a full three seasons which will cover 60 episodes.

Can you tell us about the technologies that you work with and how that’s evolved or stayed the same during the beginnings of your journey as a new animator and during the creation of over 80 videos on your YouTube Channel?

Darren Holloway: For me, iClone was always going to be the software for me. I did some research on what others had to offer, but the Reallusion package is best bar none. iClone makes animating for beginners so much easier, and with their vast array of tutorials online, I was up and running in no time. I still have a lot to learn and a lot of improvements to make on my animations, but it is a work in progress. Everything for the channel is a one man operation. From writing to animating, editing to promoting, it is all done by me, except for the odd voiceover which is usually my 5 year old daughter wanting to get involved.

Audacity and Cyberlink Power Director have been my other go to pieces of software for recording and editing, while Daz3D has played its part as I find a lot of their marketplace items to be better than the Reallusion Marketplace.

For anyone wanting to learn how to animate, I would highly recommend the Reallusion package, although in this day of age, there are plenty of free learning resources out there to familiarise yourself with any software.

How are you navigating and keeping active and creative during these Covid pandemic months of social distancing, and times of quarantine and self-quarantine? Can you share some inspirational words with fellow creatives?

Darren Holloway: Sadly, the pandemic has broken a lot of people for many different reasons. We all live with different situations and different fears. For me, the fear was always my family and our well being. I am the stepfather to two very vulnerable boys. I have a five year old daughter, and my wife is a caregiver for the elderly, so we have had to ensure the safety of people in our lives are top priority.

I always live with the idea of a silver lining, and no matter what situation I find myself in, I will always look at the bright side.

The bright side of this pandemic has been animation, and it has really helped me and my sanity. When I am not taking care of my kids, I am always doing something for the channel. Whether that be writing a script, creating a new episode, or just chatting away with the small following I have accumulated so far. If not for this pandemic, I may have never started to animate, Mr. Daz may never have been created, and I may never have had the chance to participate in a Q&A with StudentFilmmakers. While the pandemic has brought a lot of my life to a halt, it has actually started a career path for me that I plan on continuing for many years to come.

What kinds of stories do you want to tell and share with the world?

Darren Holloway: Laughter is the best medicine. This is a saying that I have lived by most of my life and that is what I want my channel to be about. If my videos can make one person laugh, one person feel just that little bit happier, then my goal is achieved. The Mr. Daz Animation channel will always be a comedy-based channel. In the Autumn of 2021, we will be releasing a new Sci-Fi series called, “DroidLand,” but that does not mean Mr. Daz will disappear. He will always be the main focus of this channel.

I would also like to get more people involved in the series. I had one viewer who was a massive Prince fan, so I created an episode with a picture and video of Prince in it. In my most recent video, “When Mr Daz Met The Doctor,” I decided to put something in for another YouTube creator. The colourful photo in the background is his YouTube profile picture. I decided to do this because he comments on every single video I upload, so I wanted to show my appreciation.

I will do everything I can to make people laugh and smile with my content.Darren Holloway Finds His Calling as an Animator: "Laughter is the best medicine."

YouTube Channel: www.YouTube.com/MrDazAnimation

UK-based animator Darren Holloway creates animated series on YouTube, "Colleagues Are Not Friends"

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