FA7036 - First Session with Darren Doherty

On 19th October 2015, Darren Doherty visited my university. Here is what I learnt about him:

He started as an animator in Bournemouth and his main area is in writing.

There was no digital animation when Darren started out - only analogue and film.

Darren showed us his Vimeo page - link: https://vimeo.com/darrendoherty. He has an MA in Screenwriting. He also showed us the storyboard sketches for The Wooden Leg.

The Wooden Leg (1994) is a 2D animated film that has a Christmas theme and a simple sketchy style.

The piano music for The Wooden Leg took between 4 and 5 hours to compose.

It took Darren and his team five months to complete the film.

Darren’s first job was working on Spitting Image. One producer of Spitting Image also produced Creature Comforts.

Mark Thomas Lloyds Sketch has a pixilation/cut-out style.

Igor was Darren’s first cut-out project. Equipment used included glass layers and a rostrum camera.

Darren also made a series of idents for BBC America and the now-defunct UK Horizons. He had to change the style of the BBC America idents in case he would get sued for their similarity to Monty Python.

The Furry Lady (2000) uses combination of cut-out animation, live action and hand-drawn animation. It has a style reminiscent of Picasso paintings. It is about a man who falls for a cat after the lady he loved is murdered.

A lot of Darren’s work involves relationships.

He does a lot of mixed media work.

He worked on a live action film called Tied (2012). In it two brothers are tied to a train track and ask a young boy for help.

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