Cel-ga

Cel-ga (セル画) is the Japanese term for Celluloid Picture. This refers to the transparent material used to make frames of animation in the production of Japanese Anime shows. Each cel is one frame.

To create the illusion of movement, each drawing differs slightly from the one before it, then the completed cels are photographed one-by-one against a painted background by a rostrum camera onto motion picture film to produce the final animation.

When creating the cel-ga, the frame is initially drafted out, then a cleaned up version of the sketch is made known as a dou-ga (動画). The accompanying sketch includes the outline of the image and instructions for the next artist for shading, colouring and framing of the shot. This pencil sketch is then placed underneath the celluloid and traced with ink.