Animation

An original background painting in an animation that is put into the final animated film.

The mood and location of a scene is established by a production background.

An animation cel not used for production that is made for marketing purposes.  Characters are drawn in their “best” poses. 

An animation background that is made for solely showcase or publicity purposes. 

An animation cel with the measurements of 12 inches by 16 inches. 

A hand-painted sheet made of nitrate or acetate that is put on a background and then photographed.  The character’s outline is put on the top of the animation cel and the colors are painted on a cel’s back by hand.

An original animation production drawing made by an animator.  Animation cels are made from this original drawing.

An animation background made by a studio artist to finish an animation cel setup.

A single animation cel or group of cels along with their original pairing background as shown in the finished animation film. 

An animation cel made into only a small set number.  It is made by a hand-painting technique and is created from either a certain time frame from a cartoon or from the artwork in a film. 

A cel or cels that are both attached to the same animation background in a film; however, the cels are not viewed at the same time in the film. 

A drawing completed by an artist to show the pose and position of a character.

A drawing in animation production that explains the artist’s drawings used as the foundation for creating animation cels. 

An animation cel with the measurements of 10 inches by 12 inches. 

A film’s emulsion position.  A film is printed emulsion against emulsion, and because of this any print made against the original is called an A-Wind.  The original from the camera is known as a B-Wind.  These are the only possibilities of the positions because there exist just two sides to a piece of film.  One can tell if he/she is looking at a piece of A-Wind because the image will read correctly, as opposed to the B-Wind side that will read backwards.  If one is going to use the negative from one’s camera, one will need the B-Wind track. 

A waist fitted skirt that flares outward into an A-line at its hem. 

    A solution of acrylic resin in a solvent that is not stable.  Paint that contains an acrylic solution binder is similar to oil paints.

Amber is a type of fossil resin taken from the land; the coast of the Baltic Sea in East Prussia contains many deposits of amber.  It is often used in ornaments and bead-making.  Because amber is such a hardy resin, it is highly desirable as a varnish resin despite the fact it is among the least soluble.  Amber varnishes actually are made up of only a small amount of amber, because even when combined with various resins and oils not much amber can be placed in solutuions at hot temperatures.  

A drawing created as the foundation for a background painting along with the action and placement of the animated characters.

An animation cel made to ensure correct coloration.  Also known as a color test.

A plywood square that is joined to a bracket; a tripod can be joined to a hi hat.  A hi hat is utilized in order to get the camera very close to the ground during shooting.  In the past, a hi hat was used to hold the camera very high up. 

An animation drawing that may either include camera movements as wells as positions of characters, or may include master backgrounds. 

The logarithmic spiral is a spiral frequently sighted in nature and that was analyzed first by Descartes.  Later, another man named Jacob Bernoulii researched the spiral, and dubbed it the “Spira mirabilis” - the marvelous spiral.  Jacob was so taken with the spiral he wanted it engraved on his tombstone.   One of the reasons he was so interested by the spiral was because of its unusual mathematical property of retaining its shape despite the size of the spiral increasing.  

The spiral is related to the golden ratio, the Fibonacci numbers and the golden rectangles.  The spiral can be created by spacing rays equally at a point along a ray and placing a perpendicular line to the nearby ray.  The more the rays increase, the smooth the logarithmic spiral becomes.  It is also called the equiangular spiral and the growth spiral.  It is different than another type of spiral called the Archimedean spiral because the revolving of a logarithmic spiral grows in geometric progression, whereas in an Archimedean spiral those same distances remain the same.  

Animation cels that were used until the 1940’s and 1950’s.  Yellowing and rippling on the cels are signs of their aging. 

A high-quality animation production drawing.  It is often framed side by side with a hand-painted animation cel that is a limited edition of the drawing.  

A background, drawing or animation cel with measurements up to 12 inches by 30 inches. 

A number of original animation pencil drawings all grouped on a single sheet.  The sheet is used to show the many positions and expressions of an animated character. 

wall that is framed between the foundation and the first floor at the structure’s perimeter

A drawing made for the creation or development of an animated film’s production.  The drawing may or may not be used in the final film piece.

a truss that at the structure's edge is raised to allow for ceiling insulation

A method by which limited editions are made by carefully screening the hues of an image on the backside of an acetate animation cel or on the top of canvas or art paper with each hue layered one at a time. 

A number of animation art drawings or just one drawing that functions as a visual plot line of the film.  Usually these drawings show the main theme or a particular scene in the film.