ANIME PRODUCTION CEL
Anime "Cel" (short for "Celluloid", セル画 in Japanese) is a transparent sheet of plastic used in the production of animation. Each frame of an animation is hand drawn and painted on the cel, placed over a background (often painted with watercolour) and photographed in sequence to create the vision of movement.
This first video illustrates how an animation sequence for Sailor moon is produced:
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0:32: Creating the Storyboard
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0:48: Producing the Douga
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0:58: Checking that the Dougas form a sequence
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1:18: Xerographing the Douga onto a cel (alternatively, the outline on the Douga may be hand traced onto a cel)
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1:39: Painting the Cel
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1:57: Preparing the Background
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2:05: Scanning each Cel with its matching Background
The second video is the sequence that was being produced in the first video
Frame
A shot is often made up of multiple frames and each frame may involve multiple layers. For example, this cel is marked "A6".
"A" denotes the bottom layer. "B" is the layer above "A", "C" is the layer above "B" and "A" and so on.
"6" denotes the 6thth frame of the sequence.
Key Cels
Certain frames have additional markings:
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Circled numbers, e.g. A①, B①: denotes a key cel of the sequence and is often handled by a senior member of the animation team (a "Key Animator")
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Marked with "End", "止め" / "止" / "トメ": last frame of the sequence. End cels are also considered a key cel and is therefore also often handled by a Key Animator
Opening Cel
An opening cel is one that is used for the opening sequence of the anime.
Ending Cel
An ending cel is on that is used in the ending sequence of the anime.
Bank Cel
A bank cel is one that is repeatedly used across multiple episodes. For example, any cel from a transformation or attack sequence from Sailor moon would be a Bank Cel.
Book Cel
A cel that has a foreground and a background, forming the front and the cover of a book. The cel(s) are sandwiched in between.
Harmony Cel
Where the outline is painted on the cel, but the colour is painted on the background of the cel, rather than on the cel itself. Colour of the image is less vibrant and is relatively muted. Harmony cels often appear at the end of an episode or right before a commercial break.
Oversized Cels
A regular sized TV cel is typically
9 inches x 10 - 11.5 inches. However, there are a number or cels that are bigger than this size:
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Pan Cel: used to create pan shots or zoom shots.
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Movie Cels: generally larger in size than cels used to produce TV animation.
Hanken Cel (版権セル画)
Not used for the production of an animation, but for advertisements with anime characters or merchandise (CD covers, posters, trading cards etc.)
Other items that may come with the Cel
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Storyboard (ストーリーボード):
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Genga (原画): a rough pencil sketch of the frame.
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Douga (動画): also a pencil sketch, but the drawing is an exact outline of what is to appear on screen. Some Dougas only contain an outline whilst others may have shading, instructions on the colour to use and where to paint and not to paint.
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Timesheet: a chart showing which cel is to be used at a given point in time.
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Certificate: cetain cels have passed through auction houses like Mandarake, who may issue a certificate of warranty to the successful bidder o fan item.
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Others: some cels were given out as lottery prizes or part of movie previews. For lottery prize winners, the cel may sometimes be accompanied by a cover letter thanking the receipient for their support of the anime series and congratulating them for winning the lottery.
