Anime-Beta TNG

I have yet more questions to ask the knowledgable members of Anime-Beta

I recently bought two cuts of You're Under Arrest gengas/key sketches and this sheet came with each cut set. I was wondering if someone might be able to identify it for me? Is it something like a timing sheet?

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b251/ ... heet2a.jpg

Also, what are the numbers at the top of the page?

And cel related - today I removed a sketch from a cel, and there was what looked like black cel paint all over the painted area of the back of the cel (Head/shoulders, etc) It sort of looked like tar (but not gooey - it was just like set cel paint) This is only the second time I've seen it, does anyone know what it is, or what it is used for?

Thanks for any help!

Hi,

That green sheet is a timing sheet. I can't see the numbers well enough in the scan, but they are usually the episode and the cut numbers.

The thick black paint on the back of the cel usually means that the cel was backlit. Instead of having a regular painted background, a light was shone on the cel from the back. Its a kind of special effect. The black paint is so that the irregularities in the thickness of the colored paint don't show up during filming.

That explains why only some cels have the black paint on them.

Awesome. More cel knowledge to add to my brain database

Thank you for the help!

Blaster wrote:Also, what are the numbers at the top of the page?

Graymouser is correct on both counts. Each studio had a different style of timing sheet, but they are similar enough that I can say that the first number is probably the episode number (Episode 9) and the second number is the "cut" or sequence number. Episodes were divided up into cuts in the planning stage, so that series of cels relating to the same scene and perspective could be worked up in a single batch. In some cases, the sequence would be broken up into two cuts, with a cut to another character in the middle, and then the rest of the first character's action. In some cases, then, you'll see two cut numbers on the timing sheet (and layout, and gengas, etc.). In other cases (as with TnN and Tonde Buurin) the cut takes the same number no matter how often it's divided up.

It would be hard to tell what's what in your case without screening the episode. But if you screen the first part of Episode 9 of your show, you'll find Cut 28 pretty quickly, as episodes typically have 280-320 cuts total.

Below that, there's the animation directions to the douga artist, and from the latter to the cel painters and the cameramen. The thin columns on the left are the key animator's directions, using the numbers of the gengas and little dots or slashes to show where an inbetweener should come in for continuity.

The wider columns to the right of these are the numbers of the dougas and show how they should be filmed. In between, in the wider column, are the words of the dialogue spoken by the characters in this scene. (You've got two characters talking, as you can see from the B and E layers, which must be the mouth layers, and so you have a kanji indication circled before each one to show who's talking.)

If there were any special camera instructions, they would be indicated farther to the right (e.g., fades, zooms, pans, etc.).

I don't know what "5 + 0" means at the top, but I think it has to do with how many frames represent a second of the final product. Can anyone clarify this point.

sensei wrote:I don't know what "5 + 0" means at the top, but I think it has to do with how many frames represent a second of the final product. Can anyone clarify this point.

I'm not positive, but I think it might be how long the cut appears on screen, which, in this case, is 5 seconds.

タイム = Time
秒 = seconds

I'm not sure what コマ stands for though...

コマ means frame in a film or video. That being said, I don't know enough about the filming portion of animation to tell you what "5 seconds + 0 frames" actually means.

If you'll notice, the sheet is actually divided up into two sides, both showing the same (printed) thing. The left is the beginning of the cut, and the right is only used if the cut is that long.

I edited your picture, translating the Japanese and adding a couple of notes.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/ ... heet2a.jpg

Sorry, I have a personal photobucket account, so the picture got scaled down. I think you can still read it, though. If not, pm me your email address and I'll send you the full file.

klet wrote:コマ means frame in a film or video.

Thanks for the info, klet! I'll have to remember that.

Thank you very much for the help everyone

In regards to the cut number - Just for future reference, I take it each episode (generally) starts from cut 1? and then goes up to whatever?

That"s right, Blaster. Cut One is the first scene after the opening (sometimes before the OP comes in). Storyboards (usually available as photocopies alone) are also organized by cut numbers.

Blaster wrote:In regards to the cut number - I take it each episode (generally) starts from cut 1? and then goes up to whatever?

Typically 380-420 cuts make a 30-minute episode so if you see a number wildly above that, it's not a reference to Cut number.
Obviously, if the anime is big budget AND is fast-paced there will be more cuts. Anyone know of an episode that has more than 450 cuts?

I find that's a useful reference because if I see some artwork for sale that states the cut is 200, I know it's placement in the programme is about halfway. That saves time when scanning through the video to find the shot in question. I do that when I want to check a scene or get a screencap.

Krafty wrote:Typically 380-420 cuts make a 30-minute episode.

Maybe true in shonen series, but shoujo series tend to use fewer cuts. Two examples where I have episode-ending images for CCS are numbered C-318 and C-268. A TnN episode ender was C-302. Saiyuki used an unusually low number of images, repeatedly using a "Ken Burns" technique of panning slowly over an (exquisitely drawn) image of one character while another character speaks in a voice-over. So it's not surprising that my one episode-ender from that series is C-262.

Anyone know of an episode that has more than 450 cuts?.

Not an episode, but the Takamura full-length movie "Tree of Palme" ran to at least 1975 cuts (the highest number on a cel I've obtained) ... and as the movie then had 15 minutes to run, the score must have run well over 2000 cuts.

Most studios divided movie storyboards into scenes, roughly corresponding to the way the term was used in drama for a segment of action unified in time and space, then counted cuts within these. So movie gengas tend to be labeled something like 12-22, meaning Scene 12, Cut 22. Both CCS movies were organized this way.

To make matters a little more confusing, all shows done by Toei Studios, including standard 25-minute episodes, are also divided into scenes, then cuts. (For examples, see my KKJ and PPGZ galleries.).

Did we lose you there, Blaster?

Everyone pretty much covered all I was going to say but I thought I'd also add that timing sheets are not always green, I own some blue timing sheets as well.

sensei wrote:
To make matters a little more confusing, all shows done by Toei Studios, including standard 25-minute episodes, are also divided into scenes, then cuts. (For examples, see my KKJ and PPGZ galleries.).

Did we lose you there, Blaster?

Nah, I think I got all that

But I thought a cut was the same as a scene? But judging by what Toei does, that isn't the case?

sensei wrote:Most studios divided movie storyboards into scenes, roughly corresponding to the way the term was used in drama for a segment of action unified in time and space, then counted cuts within these. So movie gengas tend to be labeled something like 12-22, meaning Scene 12, Cut 22. Both CCS movies were organized this way.

To make matters a little more confusing, all shows done by Toei Studios, including standard 25-minute episodes, are also divided into scenes, then cuts.

Hmmm . . . that might explain my One Piece genga, though I think it's from a video game.

However, I don't think they did the same thing for all of their cel-based shows. For example, the layout for this Yuu cel from MMB has no scene numbers, and two cut numbers (222, 224). The layout is in the second sketch slot. Though, a closer look at the top of this Michael cel from MMB reveals what looks like a "1-5." I will have to take a closer look when I get home.

It seems easier to do movies in the scene-cut way than it is to do single episodes considering the way storyboards are drawn.

Sorry to double post, but I somehow missed your last post, Blaster.

Blaster wrote:But I thought a cut was the same as a scene? But judging by what Toei does, that isn't the case?

A cut is basically the same as a sequence. So, a scene is made up of many cuts, and I imagine that it is set in one place. So for example, one scene would be in Aya's bedroom, another would be her walking to school with her big brother, and a third would be in the hall putting her shoes in the locker and staring at a cute boy. There might be several cuts/sequences in each of these scenes. A cut is basically the same as switching to a different camera in a movie.