A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid (consisting of cellulose nitrate and camphor) was used during the first half of the 20th century, but since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable it was largely replaced by cellulose acetate. With the advent of computer assisted animation production, the use of cels has been practically abandoned in major productions. Disney studios stopped using cels in 1990 when Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) replaced this element in their animation process.

Technique[link]

Painting with acrylic paint on the reverse side of an already inked cel.

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 xerographed on. Another important breakthrough in cel animation was the development of the Animation Photo Transfer Process, first seen in The Black Cauldron, released in 1985.

Collector's item[link]

Production cels were sometimes sold after the animation process was completed. More popular shows and movies demanded 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 "limited edition" version of the artwork, sometimes even printed ("lithographed") instead of hand-painted. These normally do not fetch as high a price as original "under-the-camera" cels, which are true collector's items. Some unique cels have fetched record prices at art auctions. For example, a large "pan" cel depicting numerous characters from the finale of Who Framed Roger Rabbit sold for $50,600 at Sotheby's in 1989, including its original background.^[1]

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.^[2]

See also[link]

• Cel-shaded animation, a non-photorealistic rendering method of computer graphics to give it a feeling that it is drawn on a cel.
• Traditional animation, contains info about the process of using cels to produce animation and has a section about cels and xerography, APT, etc.

References[link]

1. ^ "The Art of Disney and Sotheby’s, Animation Magazine, Jan. 1995; May 1995
2. ^ Disney Store Catalog, June 1993

Marcellus McCarver, better know by his stage name Celly Cel, is an American rapper from Vallejo, California. He released his first single, Lifestyle of a Mack, on his independent record label Realside Records in 1992. He released his debut studio album, Heat 4 Yo Azz, in 1994, and released a second album, Killa Kali, a year later.

In 1996, he appeared on the Red Hot Organization's compilation CD, America is Dying Slowly, alongside Biz Markie, Wu-Tang Clan, and Fat Joe, among many other prominent hip hop artists. The CD, meant to raise awareness of the AIDS epidemic among African American men, was heralded as "a masterpiece" by The Source magazine.

His next appearance wasn't until 1998, with his third album: G-Filez. Deep Conversation followed in mid-2000.

Celly has collaborated with fellow Bay Area rappers E-40 & B-Legit on several occasions.^[1]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

Compilations[link]

• 1999: The Best of Celly Cel
• 2000: Live From the Ghetto
• 2002: Song'z U Can't Find
• 2006: The Wild West
• 2006: Brings the Gumbo Pot
• 2007: Cali Luv
• 2007: Best of Celly Cel 2: Tha Sick Wid It Dayz

Collaborations[link]

• 2001: Criminal Activity (with Criminalz)
• 2006: Bad Influence (with The Hillside Stranglaz)

External links[link]

• Celly Cel on Myspace

References[link]

This biographical article related to hip hop music in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e