Introduction:
The animation process is a very sophisticated type of filmmaking involving many steps. The development of characters and storylines is as important as the drawing itself. Animators write storylines and sketch characters on storyboards and then paint hundreds of thousands of cells on acetate. They then arrange and rearrange them while taking photographs/filming. Today we will make our own "2 1/2 dimensional" cell. We will use background and foreground to create our cell layers.

Materials:

• 8x10 or smaller pieces of glass with all edges duct taped
• Watercolor paper
• Markers
• Newsprint
• Pencils and erasers
• Acrylic paints and brushes
• Self adhesive packaging tape
• String

Directions:
1. On a piece of newsprint trace around your 8x10 piece of glass. Do the same thing on a piece of watercolor paper. This will allow you to sketch your idea so it approximates the final piece. Be sure to draw a smaller square ( 1/2 to 1 inch smaller all the way around) inside your 8x10 to account for the duct tape. Your sketch should include a distinct background and a foreground. *I have found it helps to show some examples from newspaper photographs or National Geographic to illustrate this.

2. When your idea is complete, decide which elements you want to have in your foreground. It is important to decide this first because we will be painting on glass with acrylic paints. This allows your foreground to dry completely while youÁre working on the background. The 2 pieces should be dry before you tape them together at the end. Place your 8x10 glass plate over your newsprint sketch. Tape 2 opposite corners with masking tape to keep it from sliding while you work. Now recreate your foreground elements with paint on the glass. When the foreground is finished, set it aside to dry.

3. Now take the piece of watercolor paper with the 8x10 drawn square and using markers or watercolors, complete your background. Remember that in real life, things that are farther away seem bluer and grayer the farther away they get. Periodically take your foreground glass and place it over the background you are working on to make sure that you are not drawing something that will be hidden by either tape or what you painted on the glass.

4. Once the background is finished and the foreground is dry, tape the two layers together on all four sides with duct tape or self adhesive brown mailing tape. You can also tape a string at the top for hanging.

Art Terms:
Cell – Early in the history of cartoon films, various attempts were made to avoid the tedious labor of redrawing the entire scene for every movement drawing. With the advent of transparent celluloid (hence "cell" the problem was solved. A single background could be used with all the movement drawings.
Storyboard – Cut out panels or pages that have space for drawing and writing which sequentially lay out the events in a story.
Acetate – a cellulose derivative used in the manufacture of photographic film, plastics, textile fibers, and lacquers. Here it is used to describe thin sheets of plastic which can be painted on, layered, and photographed.
Background – in pictorial arts, the part of the composition which appears to be farthest away from the viewer.
Foreground – In pictorial arts, the part of the composition which appears to be closest to the viewer.

Resources:
Mayer, Ralph. The Harper Collins Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques. Harper Collins Publishers, New York. 1991.

Taylor, Richard. The Encyclopedia of Animation Techniques. Running Press, Philadelphia, 1996.

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