Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Frames or cells?

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Posted by Peter Mork (Member # 1336) on 09-23-2005, 01:46 AM:

I don't usually go in for finger-wagging, but...
Twice in the last week I've seen the word "cells" used on this board to mean frames of film.

quote:
Whoever had that Dr. No print last most probably was an Ebay cell chopper.

quote:
Splicing together black cells [title of thread]

Is this legit? Never heard it used like that before. I did some searching and found the word "cells" is being employed by what I'm guessing is a recent cottage industry - selling mounted strips of 35mm film as movie memorabilia. Perhaps they adopted the word from "cels" (spelled that way): animation drawings painted on celluoid, which have been marketed for years. Just a hunch, but if that's where it comes from, I vote we banish it from here! Or am I wrong and has the word got respectable parentage?

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 09-23-2005, 05:13 AM:

You are correct. Louis

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 09-23-2005, 08:57 AM:

Cells are paintings on acitate used to make cartoons. Frames are the individual pictures on a roll of film.

Posted by Heath Dutton (Member # 3265) on 09-23-2005, 11:05 AM:

I agree... We put criminals in "cells", we get cancer from using "cells", bacteria are made up of "cells", battery acid leaks from "cells"...

But FRAMES... they keep our houses together, protect our family photos and they are spelled the way they sound!

frames > cells

Posted by John Hawkinson (Member # 1135) on 09-23-2005, 08:55 PM:

Furthermore, the preferred spelling for an animation cel is "cel," not "cell" (but if you go by the dictionary, "cell" is ok; many disagree).

--jhawk

Posted by Wayne Keyser (Member # 2420) on 09-23-2005, 10:55 PM:

A slight aside: does anybody else snicker at the inflated prices people pay for Disney "sericels"? These are not used-in-filming animation cels, but silkscreen prints on cel-like plastic sheets.

I love the description of their creation onb the "cartoon-factory.com" site:

"In keeping with the original animation technique, the paint is applied to the back side of the cels. As each color is applied, the image comes to life, capturing your favorite characters in an affordable, limited edition serigraph artwork."

In other words, they print 'em just like your favorite T-shirt is printed!

And they want $295 for one printed "in an edition of 2,500" and [gasp] $1650 for one from a "limited edition of 500"!!

Other cels are printed by the fine art of "Giclée" - that means they run 'em off on a computer printer! "Four precision nozzles spray up to a million microscopic droplets per second on to fine art paper."

I get my favorite silk-screen-prints from www.tshirthell.com for a lot less.

Posted by Olivia Coleman (Member # 3193) on 09-24-2005, 01:47 AM:

quote: Wayne Keyser
Other cels are printed by the fine art of "Giclée" - that means they run 'em off on a computer printer! "Four precision nozzles spray up to a million microscopic droplets per second on to fine art paper."

Would that be a lithograph???

Posted by Wayne Keyser (Member # 2420) on 09-24-2005, 02:18 AM:

No, not the "fake cels."

But the backgrounds they're matted with are lithographed. You know, like those incredibly valuable posters by Toulouse-Lautrec. And your daily newspaper.

Posted by Olivia Coleman (Member # 3193) on 09-24-2005, 02:22 AM:

Ok, I was just wondering as I have 3 lithographs of artwork for 3 different Dreamworks films... Still learning things out there.... [Wink]

Posted by Peter Mork (Member # 1336) on 09-24-2005, 03:21 AM:

I have a for-real, honest-to-God cel from "101 Dalmatians". My parents bought it at Disneyland in the 60s - I think they paid $4 for it.

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 09-24-2005, 01:10 PM:

When I was a kid growing up in Hollywood in the early '60s my stepdad at the time brought home several production cels from Hanna Barbera, which were hung on the walls in my room. Wonder where those went? They're probably worth a fortune to some collector these days.

Studio Ghibli in Japan has followed Disney's lead and gotten into selling limited-edition cel and background sets of scenes from their most popular titles. Very pricey--definitely out of my league. Actual Ghibli production cels were hard to come by since they would have to be snuck out of the studio by a staffer, or given as gifts to friends or associates.

And now of course there are no production cels at all since Ghibli switched over to scanning the drawings directly to computer for ink & paint and cleanup. The two monsterous multi-plane cameras in the basement at the studio are now used only for some background photography.

I make do collecting the next best thing--theatre posters and art books and 35mm trailers (actually only one so far) and strips of frames from 35mm prints. No I'm not a 'cell chopper' nor would I ever buy from one. These strips of frames come from the studio's art museum in Mitaka in the western suburbs of Tokyo, and are used as admission tickets.

[ 10-27-2005, 01:54 PM: Message edited by: Paul Mayer ]