What are film cells

[starside]

What are film cells? I see them on fleabay, and from what I understand, they are the negatives of film as taken during the production / film stage of the relevent film. I see them on fleabay for sale for 99p each. Can anyone clarify??

Thanks

[Tumble]

it's easiest to explain this in terms of a cartoon. What you see on screen is not one picture - it's be daft to try and animate a whole screen at a tim, so each bit is done individually. These individual bits are painted onto clear cellophane sheets (hence the name "cells") and layered up to make the whole. There are loads and loads of cells for each character and thing that has to be animated. so if for example you're trying to animate Goofy walking alongside a barn, you only have to make enough "cells" to make goofy move, and just lay them atop of the barn "cell" as you're taking the picture.


Hope that clears it up for ya

[starside]

thanks Tumble, I think I get it, so there would be 25 cells for every second??

Also, would the cells be a one off?

[Tumble]

not necessarily 25... depends how complex the animation is, and how much movement is involved, cos you have to have a whole set of cells for EVERYTHING that's moving...

By and large, the cells are one off's... some however are more intrinsically valuable than others... Bloke I shoot with for example has just aquired 2 original cells from Dangermouse.... Baron Von Greenback, and his lttle furry mate. they're as I said originals, and he paid nearly £600 for them...

[Rob]

Tumble has hit the nail on the head. His mate bought originals.

The problem with these kind of things is proving originality. You see a lot of these nostalgia shops now selling framed 'frames' from the 'original' movie. The problem lies in authenticating. Much the same in principle as sites selling autographs. How do you know it's not just some donkey signing the authentication.

Now I would imagine Tumbles mate has got some very good provenance with his cells, thus making them £600. And to be fair, although I'm certainly no expert, I would guess that from the cult status of Dangermouse, these could end up being a very shrewd buy. (And I'm VERY jealous )

I guess it comes back to the old - 'Buyer beware'