Richard Reeves
Richard Reeves is an accompished animator, excelling in the Cameraless technique, where animated images and sound are created by scratching directly onto film.
Richard's Magnum Opus, "Linear Dreams" (which includes hand-made soundtrack and visuals) took two years to complete. One year for all the sound work, testing, re-dos, editing, and reverb adding. Then all the pictures took another year to create, edit, sync, and finally print.
Richard Reeves served as QAS Production Coordinator from 1994 - 1997.
Richard currently lives and works in British Columbia, Canada.
Linear Dreams
1997
35mm, cameraless animation
Linear Dreams Synopsis by Richard Reeves
Linear Dreams is an experimental cameraless animated film, As the title suggests the word Linear is composed of two words, line as in drawing, ear; as in hearing. Both sound and picture were drawn directly on to 35mm motion picture film.
Starting with a dot a light that expands into a line into a pulsating circle , a circle of life that explodes into free flowing forts and colour. Stream of conscience abstract reality produced by coloured inks on clear film leader.
Spaces of intermittent imagery separates the scenes. These spaces, to me, represent the forming of ideas, subconscience flickers of thoughts. Created by scratching into black leader, the spaces are sporadic. The size of the shapes correspond to the size, or volume of the sound. Occasional black-outs produce aftervisions which are complimented by echoing sounds. The persistence to vision equals the persistence of sound.
These sounds were created by scratching into the emulsion of blank audio stripes along the edge of 35mm motion picture film. This narrow, but very long stripe is sensitive to fluctutations of light and dark patterns. Rhythms are composed of repeating shapes. Echo was added later to give depth and a persistence of sound or aftersound.
A rhythm starts scene two. A rhythm symbolizing the tempo of life at a given moment in time and space. Zooming through a pictographic representation of cosmic dream-catchers. Weaving safely through most , yet becoming entangled in the web produces a chaotic tension as the rhythm builds. This scene uses orange-mask motion picture film. A handmade negative. This part was challenging because all the ink colours applied become reversed upon printing. While this produced some surprises, it also allowed for creating softly sprayed colours on a black background. Something quite impossible with clear or black film.
I had been considering the passing of genetic thought, primitive ideas or memories from prehistoric ancestors , and perhaps this is a release of those ancient illusions or a connection to then through a time and space kinetic artform.
The visual tempo ard drum sounds build again before crashing into silence. The void of darkness where sparks ignight, new ideas, visions, or dreams. Dreams and animation share parallel worlds.
The final scene unfolds into a dream flight over symbolic mountains. I have had these dreams in which it appears as though I'm flying , so this part represents that type of dream.
While the film started with exploding into light, in the end it blows apart into darkness , completing anothier type of circle, from a linear thought.
The animation has passed through phases of abstract realities, representational and pictrographic realism, separated by spatial visions. Some parts accelerate slowly then build to peaks. The randommness shuts down logical thinking and prepares the mind for new concepts.
Other parts massage the very retina , preparing the eye for new images. Compositions of small dots overlaping like pointalistic impressionism and the very grain of photographic images. Yet unlike most filmmaking where the camera lens or eye records images from the outerworld, the cameraless animation technique records on to motion picture film , the inner world of imagination. While this is true for all animation , I find cameraless animation the most direct in approach and spontineity.
As an interdisciplinary artform and vehicle of self-expression, cameraless animation is also an experience of fun to create and watch.
Images frame the minds eye / Music from the minds ear.
Zig Zag
1994
1 minute, 35mm cameraless animation
Garbanzo
1992
2 minute, 16mm cameraless animation
Major Rebouf
1992
3 minute 16mm cel animation/+500 page flipbook
No picture available
Story from the Stone
1991, 1 minute 16mm pastel on paper
No picture available
