Animation Art Terminology
A mini dictionary to explain common terms you will hear on the road of your cel/animation art collecting journey.
- Background (背景)
- Cel (セル画)
- Production Cel Types
- Opening (OP) Cel, Ending Cel (ED)
- END cels / "A1 END" cels / Tome (止) Cels
- Key Cel
- Bank Cel
- Eyecatch Cel
- Book Cel
- Backlit Cel
- Kabuse Cel (Correction Layer)
- SFX Cel (Special Effects Cel)
- Pan / Oversized Cel (大判 セル画)
- Harmony
- Hanken Cel (版権セル) / Hanken sketch (版権原動画)
- Color Test/Model Cels
- Concept Art
- Douga (動画)
- Genga (原画)
- In-Betweens
- Layout (レイアウト)
- Rough Genga
- Settei Sets/Model Sheets (設定)
- Shuusei/Correction
- Storyboard (絵コンテ)
- Timing Sheet (タイムシート)
- Non-Production Cels
Background (背景)
Backgrounds are usually drawn and painted with watercolor or gouache paint. Acrylic is not normally used for backgrounds because it has a nasty habit of sticking to itself and thus might stick to and damage the paint on cels. Backgrounds are a specialized field of animation. They require a lot of talent and a good understanding of blocking. Even though modern day animation has switched to digital many studios still utilize hand painted backgrounds. While some can be pricey they generally will not cost as much as you would think.
Original Background from Saiyuki Reload: Burial OVA Episode 1, Sanzo's Chapter
Cel (セル画)
Production Cel Types
A further breakdown of the types of cels you will run into and what people are generally talking about when they are talking about them.
Opening (OP) Cel, Ending Cel (ED)
These are the cels that make up the opening of the show. Most shows have 1 opening that is animated per season and then the sequence is reused for every episode. The same applies to End credits. Only one set of cels is made for each opening or ending. These cels are generally the most sought after as most fans of the show find them easily recognizable. They also tend to be super pricey as well so they are often a target for for fakes and reproductions being sold as the real thing, so watch out!
This is an example of the SDFM Macross TV series opening credits. Artwork from this sequence is very rare and expensive.
END cels / "A1 END" cels / Tome (止) Cels
An END cel (marked with either END/ E/ or the kanji 止) is the last cel in an animation sequence. A1END cel setups are sometimes referred to as Tome/止 cels. When a cel is marked with a letter A/B/C/E..+ 1 + END/E/止 then that means it is the only cel for that particular animation sequence. So an A1END cel setup starts and ends with only that frame. Since there is only a single frame in this type of setup it will generally bring up the value of a cel/setup depending on the quality of the image. In the case of a multiple cel setup, a B1End/止 will increase the value of the setup, because any other setups with the A2 or C3 for example will always be missing that B1End/E.
Below are examples of how an A1 end cel can be labeled
1st is "END"
2nd is "E" with a circle around it
3rd has the kanji "止"
Key Cel
Bank Cel
A bank cel refers to a cel that is used/filmed repeatedly rather than remade for every instance that it is needed. A good example is a cel used in a opening or ending sequence. Other notable uses for bank cels are for the transformation or attack sequences in Sailor Moon. Rather than redraw the cel each time they just reuse the same bank cels.
Eyecatch Cel
In many anime series', there is a commercial break about halfway through the episode (depending on its length). To demarcate these breaks, sometimes a quick animation will play. These are often repeated throughout a season. In some cases—Sailor Moon is an example—there is an animation both before and after a commercial break. In other shows (Fullmetal Alchemist is one), there is simply an image that flashes, and they are different for every episode.
Book Cel
Book cels usually refer to a full setup of multiple layers including backgrounds. The setup will include the main background, the characters or character involved in the scene, and then another layer that is actually part of the background. The example below shows the background including the trees, blue sky, and building, two separate layers of the characters Sakura and Yukito, and finally notice how the bench arm is in front of Sakura's arm that is the top background layer. This setup helps to give 2D animation the illusion of depth.
Weird JD Note: I never thought book made much sense I always personally called them sandwich cels cause you have two layers of background around a nice cel center. ^_^;;
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| Book Cel from Cardcaptor Sakura the Movie 2 - Sakura and Yukito |
Backlit Cel
A backlit cel is a type of special effects cel. The typical way to figure out if your cel is backlit, is, when you look at the back of your cel the paint on the back has been covered with another layer of black acrylic paint. This was done so that when they shine a light from the back of the cel causing a bright effect when filming, i.e. power ups and attacks are typical examples of this, there are no points of light coming through that break up the character image.
A backlit cel of Asuka from episode 9 of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Note that the white areas are paper leftovers from the douga being torn off.
Kabuse Cel (Correction Layer)
Kabuse cels (also known as correction layers) are layers added to fix mistakes in the original cel painting. These mistakes can be anything from using the wrong color to messing up the painted cel itself. Depending on the scene, budget, and animation procedures, it can be more effective to add a corrected layer on top instead of completely repainting the cel. In this case, the tracing lines are Xerox'd onto a new cel and the relevant area is repainted.
Correction cels can be labeled in many different ways, even within the same series:
- Sometimes it is labeled with かぶせ, the Japanese writing for "kabuse"
- Sometimes it is labeled with the same frame information as the cel the it is correcting
- Even yet, sometimes it has no label at all
A correction cel (right) that is fixing a painting mistake (left). In this case, the kabuse cel is labeled with the same frame information as the original layer.
The final product that the audience sees.
SFX Cel (Special Effects Cel)
Special Effects cels refers any cels made to create special effects. This includes airbrushing and other methods like backlighting/masking.
Pan / Oversized Cel (大判 セル画)
Pan or oversized cels are larger-than-normal cels which are used for a panning effect. "Pan" is short for "panoramic" and refers to how the camera has to pan/travel across the frame to reveal more of the image. Pan cels can be horizontally, vertically, and sometimes even diagonally long. The camera can also do a zoom-in or zoom-out of an oversized cel. The sizes of a pan cel vary greatly, but are all larger than a normal cel.
Pan Cel - Horizontal
Horizontal pan cels refer to cels where the camera moves right to left or left to right. These cels are wider than they are tall.
Pan Cel - Vertical
With Vertical Pan Cels, the camera takes a picture using the same cel (or multiple pan cels) while moving up or down after each shot. When each of these shots is combined, it creates a panning motion in one direction.
A pan cel of Misato from End of Evangelion. In this shot, several pan cels are used to create a breathing effect during the pan. The right-hand side shows the section of each shot that is in frame.
Pan Cel - Diagonal
Diagonal pan cel from Metal Armor Dragonar ( image taken from Yahoo Japan Auctions)
Harmony
Harmonies are traditionally highly sought after cels, as they area made differently from the traditional cel. In the case of a harmony there is little to no paint on the cel and only lines on the acetate, and the colors are traditionally only painted on the background. Giving the piece an overall water color effect. Harmonies are generally done as A1Ends and are usually stills that are either panned, zoomed in on, or will just serve as a freeze frame to the end of an episode. They are typically pivotal scenes of said episode or anime to deserve the harmony treatment.
Hanken Cel (版権セル) / Hanken sketch (版権原動画)
Hanken cels are super rare one of kind cels made for use in for in promotional items like magazines, cards, merchandise, posters, calendars, etc. They are usually made by an animation director, character designer, or senior animator. Hanken cels are usually hand inked and hand-painted. Because hankens are generally very recognizable, high quality, and one of kind they are usually very pricey and can be very hard to get as most studios do not sell them to art dealers for sale. In some cases studios produced copy Hankens in numbered editions of around 100 specifically for collectors to buy.
Hanken drawings also come up for sale. The rough (genga) and finished ( douga) sketches used to make the final Hanken cels are generally a bit easily to find and more affordable.
Sailor Moon Hanken (image taken from Mandarake Auctions)
Sailor Mars / Rei Hanken (image taken from Mandarake Auctions)
Card Captor Sakura Hanken Douga (image taken from Mandarake Auctions)
Card Captor Sakura Hanken Douga Copy with Shadow Designation (image taken from Mandarake Auctions)
Color Test/Model Cels
Like settei/character models, model cels are references that help a film/series remain consistent. While character models define how a character should look, model cels define what color(s) they should be. These cels are often simple and may feature one or several characters. Model cels are far more common in pre-2001 animation, having fallen out of use as digital coloring became common practice. As a replacement for model cels, modern character models will often include a color guide that references the digital colors.
Collector's Note: The rarity and value of a model cel will vary from series to series and character to character. See some examples of model cels below:
The main character model cel for The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley.
Model Cel of Tsukishiro Yukito from Card Captor Sakura the Movie in a traditional Chinese outfit. This movie had a complete set of model cels made for each outfit used in the movie.
Concept Art
This type of art is created and used during the pre-production phase of a project; often when the production committee is deciding whether to give it the green light. This may include: proposals, cels, sketches, and painted art. Disney has been known to use sculpture as well. The medium(s) used will depend on the artists' preference and the requirements of the committee. Concept art can be much more difficult to find than other types of art created during the animation process.
See some examples of concept art below.
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A background concept painting from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (80s/90s).
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A scene color concept painting from All Dogs Go To Heaven.
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| A vehicle concept sketch from Mummies Alive! |
Douga (動画)
Douga (動画) roughly translates to moving image and is sometimes translated into "video". Douga are the cleaned up/polished versions of genga sketches. During the animation process genga ( key frame drawings) are made and then in the next step are sent to the douga-men. There the drawings get cleaned up and retraced onto clean white paper with the sketch number in the top right corner. Additional in between frames are made at this point as well. This is usually done by younger or new animators. These douga sketches are what finally makes it onto the screen. If it is a computer animated show the douga sketches are scanned and then digitally colored. If it's a pre-2001 show they were copied onto acetate and then painted to make Cels.
Genga (原画)
A genga from Pokemon (episode 148) of the original series featuring Jessie and Wobbuffet (i.e. Musashi and Sonans in Japan). This portion of the Pokemon series was animated in the traditional way.
A genga of Agamatsu Soubi from Loveless (episode 1). Loveless was digitally animated, but all of the sketch work was done on paper.
In-Betweens
Layout (レイアウト)
Layout drawings (レイアウト) are sketches of a scene. They will be more detailed than a storyboard, but still rougher than the final animation. Where a final animation drawing will be dedicated to a particular cel layer, a layout drawings will generally contain elements of the entire cut (often including multiple characters, objects, and background elements). The drawings literally "lay out" the scene in deference to the storyboard and are a reference for both the key animator and the background artist. Original layout drawings are often produced by the key animator of a scene. In some larger productions studios, specialized layout artists may be hired.
Collector's Note: Layout drawings will often come as a set with backgrounds or final animation drawings. However, you may also see them being sold separately.
Original Hand-drawn Layout from Saiyuki Reload: Burial OVA - Of Son Goku Episode 2, this show was computer animated although all of the sketch work and backgrounds were done on paper.
Layout Copy
Layout Copy from Episode 54 of Card Captor Sakura of a young Kinomoto Touya came with original cel, Douga, and Copy BG. I posit the BG and the original layout were sold separately.
This is a photocopy of an original layout drawing. It is common practice for the layout to be copied and distributed to the necessary people in a studio (key animator, background artist(s), etc).
Collector's Note: Like original layout drawings, layout copies are commonly paired with backgrounds or other drawings when sold on the collector's market. Unsurprisingly, layout copies are more common, less desirable, and less expensive than their hand drawn counterparts.
Rough Genga
Settei Sets/Model Sheets (設定)
Settei/Models (設定) are drawn by a character designer and define what a character should look like. Everyone involved in production (primary animators, "in-betweeners", directors, etc.) will reference settei/models to ensure that the characters look uniform. When the animation is consistent, this is often referred to as being "on model." Conversely, when someone says that a portion of animation is "off model", it means that it does not match what the character designer intended.
Collector's Note: You will most often find these as photocopies. The hand drawn sets will come up occasionally, but they are rare and often expensive.
Shuusei/Correction
Storyboard (絵コンテ)
Like live action TV, animation production involves storyboards. In both cases, storyboards are used to show the flow of a scene, character positions, movement, camera angles, tone, etc. A storyboard may include notes about or lines from a scene. Additionally, a storyboard sheet may include only one image or several, often hand drawn within printed boxes with space left below for any notes.
Collector's Note: Storyboard sheets are often copied during production. It is important to determine whether a storyboard is the hand drawn original or a production copy. The price difference between the two is usually quite large.
See some examples of storyboards below.
An early storyboard from Disney's Gummi Bears. (Original)
A storyboard from the film Titan A.E. (Original)
A storyboard from the film Balto. (Original)
Timing Sheet (タイムシート)
Timing sheets contain instructions on how each part of a sequence/cut are to be animated for a scene.
Please see "How to Read a Timing Sheet" for even more detail.
Front of timing sheet from Episode 23 Cut 225 of anime Darker Than Black.
Back of timing sheet from Episode 23 Cut 225 of anime Darker Than Black.
Non-Production Cels
Cels that were not created in the regular production of Anime creation
Fan Cel (同人セル)
Fan cels are unofficial fan made works. They are typically made by hand inking, printing, or photocopying lines onto acetate. They are then painted with acrylic or cel vinyl paints. Artists can be commissioned to recreate images that would otherwise be difficult to obtain such as works that are from digital only anime. Collectors should proceed with caution as some sellers may try to pass off fan made cels as real production cels.
Rilezu (リレイズ)
A Rilezu is a newish sort of reproduction, they are not Production pieces persay, however, a true rilezu comes in an edition of 1 and based upon the final production douga of one of the more famous sequences. Each rilezu will be hand painted and in some cases numbered as a traditional cel would be. The legit Rilezu will come with the original production douga used in the making of the show.
Reproduction Cel (複製)
Reproduction or Repro cels very much resemble a regular cel. They are usually hand-painted on acetate and may have peg-holes and a sequence number. The background is usually a color print out. They were typically made for shows that were CGI so no actual cels were made for the show. Multiple copies of an image or frame were made so they usually aren't too hard to find. Studio Pierrot for example produced many reproduction cels for Naruto. You will often see these repro cels with a colored paper frame on top. Sometimes reproduction Hanken cels were also made. These are usually numbered i.e. 1/100 and made in a limited quantity.
Studio Pierrot Naruto Reproduction cel with green paper frame
Limited edition 30th Anniversary silk-screened Ghibli Reproduction cel
DIY Cel
In the 80's/90's, Do it Yourself/DIY cel kits were released for fans to paints themselves. The lines came preprinted onto acetate and you could buy the paints separately and apply the paint according to the color guide.
Pre-printed lineart of a Dororo (どろろ) DIY cel
Paint placement guide/instructions
Tips for painting your DIY cel
Princess Knight (リボンの騎士) DIY Cel
Candy Candy (キャンディ♡キャンディ) DIY Cel
Paint charts showing what cel paint colors were available to purchase. Cel paints are no longer produced in Japan so it is not possible to source these paints unfortunately.
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Animex Cel Paints アートカラー アニメックス