Directing

Richard Reeves

Born 1959-09-21 · Weymouth, England, UK

Richard Reeves creates animations by drawing both sound and picture directly onto film and has produced award winning films that have screened at festivals around the world. He has taught animation courses across Canada, Europe and South America. Reeves has collaborated with artists often involving dancing human projection screens, 16mm violin, interactive animation installations, online animation jams and large outdoor projections and he continues to explore animation as a visual music, time and space art form.

Acting credits

Behind the camera

Zig Zag poster
NR

Zig zag pictures dance to zig zag sounds; both sound and picture drawn onto 35mm film.

Zig Zag

1994

Aura poster
NR

Celebration of film as an artform for the Liaison Independent Filmmakers of Toronto: 25 Film Manifesto’s. Both sound and picture drawn onto 35mm film.

Aura

2006

Twilight poster
NR

An exploration of the relationship between sound and picture inspired by the two lights (twi-light) found inside film projectors.

Twilight

2019

Sea Song poster
9.0

This animated film flows through a vibrant underwater landscape, shown at night time. Sound and picture are drawn directly on film - cameraless animation.

Sea Song

1999

Fusion poster
6.0

Drawn directly onto 35mm motion picture film without the use of camera or musical instruments, a visual and aural feast for the senses.

Fusion

2024

Linear Dreams poster
8.0

The sound of a heartbeat pumps life into Linear Dreams, a scratch animation film that moves from the simple lines of the unconscious to representational realism.

Linear Dreams

1997

Intersextion poster
NR

Handmade optical sounds and drawing directly to 35mm film. Two abstract energies fall in love, unite as one then disappear into a vanishing point.

Intersextion

2022

Dunvegan poster
NR

Story about creation as told by the Dunne-za people of northern Alberta. Richard Reeves' animation excerpt, which was originally commissioned as part of "Dunvegan: Where the Trails Cross".

Dunvegan

2026

Garbanzo poster
NR

A short camera-less animation by director Richard Reeves

Garbanzo

1992

Sailor's Grave poster
4.0

The horrors of a shipwreck, the bells of aforgotten lighthouse and the coming and going of the tides surround a tale about the sea. 'Sailor’s Grave' is the result of a workshop based on a work method taking its inspiration from the exquisite corpse game, a mechanism of collective creation where the participants manipulate and transform one another's drawings to construct an intuitive, improvised narration.

Sailor's Grave

2014

TV poster
10.0

TV: transformational vibrations.

TV

2019

1:1 poster
NR

This cameraless animation is about the 1:1 relationship between sound & picture: the 1:1 concept became the structure for the entire piece and spawns further thought about relationships between elements in cinema (artist to medium, viewer to screen, projector to film).

1:1

2001

The Yarwood Trail poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

The Yarwood Trail

2009

Wood and Metal Bars poster
NR

A meditative journey through colour, form and sound. This film was created for Toronto chamber music composer Frank Horvat. The composition is performed by Canadian percussionist Beverley Johnston. The animation is created by painting ink directly onto 16mm film.

Wood and Metal Bars

2021

No artwork available
NR

C’est La Vie: The Chris J. Melnychuk Story documents the award-winning animator’s (Alien, Zap Girl Makes Toast) battle with tongue cancer. Building on live footage from Chris’s last, unfinished film, C’est La Vie was created posthumously through the collaboration of 19 animators from Quickdraw Animation in Calgary, Canada.

C'est la Vie: The Chris J. Melnychuk Story

2011

Countdown to Animation poster
NR

A countdown leader spliced with found film introduces a very short painted-on-film animation. The soundtrack was made using samples of handmade 35mm optical sounds composed on a computer.

Countdown to Animation

2015

The Element of Light poster
NR

A direct-on-film piece

The Element of Light

2004

1/24 Pink poster
NR

Homage to the single frame of film and the colour Pink in 1/24 of a second. 16mm scratch on film image with handmade optical sounds.

1/24 Pink

2024