Ed Catmull’s static digital model of a woman becomes the starting point for an experiment in motion and embodiment. Drawing on her own experience as a swimmer, the filmmaker studies the fluid movements of the body underwater, even performing the gestures herself in order to translate them into code. The result, Swimmer—created in 1981—is one of the earliest 3D human animations and the first animated female figure, bringing to life a body that had previously existed only as a frozen model.
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