Cel
A cel, short for
Technique
Generally, the characters are drawn on cels and laid over a static background drawing. This reduces the number of times an image has to be redrawn and enables studios to split up the production process to different specialised teams. Using this assembly line way to animate has made it possible to produce films much more cost-effectively. The invention of the technique is generally attributed to Earl Hurd, who patented the process in 1914.
The outline of the images are drawn on the front of the cel while colors are painted on the back to eliminate brushstrokes. Traditionally, the outlines were hand-inked, but since the 1960s they are almost exclusively
Typically, an animated feature would require over 100,000 hand-painted cels.[3]
Collector's items
Production cels were sometimes sold after the animation process was completed. More popular shows and movies commanded higher prices for the cels, with some selling for thousands of dollars.
Some cels are not used for actual production work, but may be a "special" or "
Disney Stores sold production cels from The Little Mermaid (their last film to use cels) at prices from $2,500 to $3,500, without the original backgrounds. Lithographed "sericels" from the same film were $250, with edition sizes of 2,500–5,000 pieces.[6]
See also
- Cel shading, a non-photorealistic rendering method of computer graphics to give it a feeling that it is drawn on a cel
- Traditional animation: information about the process of using cels to produce animation and has a section about cels and xerography, APT, etc.
References
- ISSN 1041-617X. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
Disney's next animation smash was The Little Mermaid - the last Disney feature to utilize hand-painted acetate cels...Beauty and the Beast, Disney's next hit animation feature, was the first to use, instead of hand-painted cels, Disney's "CAPS" computer-generated characters.
- ^ McCall, Douglas L. (1998). "The Black Cauldron". Film Cartoons: A Guide to 20th Century American Animated Features and Shorts: 15.
[The Black Cauldron was] The first film to utilize Disney's revolutionary Animation Photo Transfer Process, which transfers drawings to cells with greater speed and resolution than the usual Xeroxing Method;
- ISSN 1041-617X. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
A cel-animated feature requires over 100,000 hand-painted cels, so from Beauty there was obviously far less production artwork.
- ISSN 1041-617X. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
Prices at the Roger Rabbit sale went through the roof. One cel, depicting a large group of characters, sold for $50,600!
- ^ O'Brian, Dave (January 1, 1990). "The Daffy Demand for Cels". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
- ^ Disney Store Catalog, June 1993