Rotoscoping is the process of creating animation by superimposing live-action footage. Walt Disney also used it in films like Fantasia and Alice in Wonderland to make characters move more fluidly. American filmmaker Robert Breer first experimented with it in Gulls and Buoys, although by 1972, the technique was already considered outdated.

Breer’s short film is reminiscent of an abstract holiday video on the beach. The director is not concerned with realism but with experimentation, where forms and meanings mix. For instance, a minimalist swan becomes one with itself and eventually drowns in its own reflection.

This short film of barely six minutes brings together many of Breer’s signature ideas: an ideal introduction to the filmmaker’s work!