disraeli wrote:When did any Star Wars film occupy 3,000 screens?

Anyway, one 90-minute film has 90*60*24 frames, or, if you will, "cells." You do the math.

No, seriously. Do the math. Then multiply by 19.99 plus 5 for the "idiocy quotient" of tonight's wooters.

Dear "disraeli",
Your basically on the 'right track' with your math, but your still off just a bit. You forgot to divide the total number of frames by four. (The number of frames/cells of film for each product made. And if you really want to get accurate, then you have to also include the small fractional portion of the additional frame/cell that gets cut off from a 5th frame/cell when they were making the products... but we'll leave out all the fractions here for simplicity's sake, okay?) So, the correct way of figuring out YOUR formula would be as follows: 90min X 60sec = 5400sec total in a 90 minute movie. Then the 5400sec X 24fps (frames per second)= 129,600 total frames for a 90min film. Then since each product includes four frames, divide the 129,600 by 4, and you then get a total of 32,400 total potential products to sell per roll of 90 minute film. (However, the actual number will be somewhat less once you account for any of the useless scene frames they don't use, and all of the fractional frames that got cut up as they were making the products).

Regardless, using your base formula, lets assume there are no 'wasted' frames, and take the potential number of total products (32,400) and multiply them by the total cost of (approximately)$25.00 ($20/per + $5/shipping). It would then come out to $810,000 in potential sales for every complete roll of 90 minute film. (By the way, I KNOW the cost per item is really $19.99, but to keep the math simple for anyone trying to 'check my math' in their head, I rounded it up a penny to the $20 that I used in THIS EXAMPLE...remember, it's just an example I was trying use for anyone else who might be 'concerned' with just how many, or how much $$'s 1 roll of film could possibly produce.)

Darkimagesoflight wrote:Episodes II & III were shot 100% digitally on the Sony HDW-F900 24p camera system. Absolutely no physical film. Therefore two of these offers are simply impossible. IV,V, VI, and I were shot on 35mm.

Dude, check this out, the movie theaters still used the 35mm to play these, just cause they were shot digitally doesnt mean the movie theaters didnt use 35mm to play these..that is what you are getting.

I thought that a cell (usually spelled cel) meant an actual piece of art work (on celluloid originally) that was then photographed and used as a frame in a movie. Cels are bigger than movie frames as they are drawn by artists and then reduced for the film. These being offered are movie frames, not cels as originally meant.

Usually, Woot descriptions are accurate and quite amusing.

Forget the .c.r.a.p. inside, 6 nice small picture frames for $20! What a deal!

CTarna wrote:Forget the .c.r.a.p. inside, 6 nice small picture frames for $20! What a deal!

Actually, it's only for ONE...

willb285 wrote:Since this is actual film cells, does anyone have any information about the optimal temperature and light to store this stuff in? I had a Disney hand drawn cel when I was little and remember it cracking for some reason and film can be finicky...

Just curious.

I'm a projectionist, the film should be fine at room temperature. Light wont be a problem considering it spends its life being illuminated by a high intensity bulb. The only thing that I can think off is the humidity... you might want to have a humidifier in the room you display them in. That is probably why you Disney film cracked. Hope that helps

trd90toyota wrote:They are originals, however, these are the prints from the theaters. So figure there are well over 3,000 movie theaters in the US, there are going to be well over 3,000 prints of the movie.

(used to work at a theater)

Well, which print are you talking about? The movies came out in different years. And there are way more than 3,000 screens out there...

If you are talking about Episode IV....when the original Star Wars opened on May 25, 1977, it did so in just 32 theaters.

And according to the National Association of Theater Owners, the number of "movie screens" in the US as of 2009 is 38,990. In 1987 it was 22,679.

My son who is 11 is beyond thrilled and will enjoy his Framed Star Wars Film Cells. He loves Star Wars. Sometimes it's just about happiness!

That Jar Jar guy is hilarious

In for 1 ep 3! I can feel it...the force is strong with this one!

willb285 wrote:Since this is actual film cells, does anyone have any information about the optimal temperature and light to store this stuff in? I had a Disney hand drawn cel when I was little and remember it cracking for some reason and film can be finicky...

Just curious.

I think you misunderstand. These are prints. The cels you're talking about are the original used in the animation, and those are probably worth a lot. This is just a cut from one of the thousands of film reels distributed across the country.

SWANIACHI wrote:That Jar Jar guy is hilarious

Meesa think you eesa right!

I wonder how many lucky people will get 4 frames from a transition between scenes.


Edit: meant to reply to thread, not reply to a quoted post.

jpm100 wrote:How did they get film cells for II & III? I thought those were shot purely digitally?

Many theaters still use film/projectors. Many of the ones in my area (NJ) still do. In fact when the final star wars came out a movie theater not far from me got a defective reel of the movie, and, on premiere night to a packed audience, halfway through the movie went blank, and then reappeared in JAPANESE. It was ever so slightly epic but, it made me realize "oh yeah some theaters do still use a film reel"

birge wrote:I think you misunderstand. These are prints. The cels you're talking about are the original used in the animation, and those are probably worth a lot. This is just a cut from one of the thousands of film reels distributed across the country.

Right. Actual handpainted cells from early Disney days are probably many thousands if not more. They are made more valuable by the fact that they weren't treated as particularly valuable once transfer was made, and were neglected if not discarded, and good quality ones can be very rare.

juicius wrote:Right. Actual handpainted cells from early Disney days are probably many thousands if not more. They are made more valuable by the fact that they weren't treated as particularly valuable once transfer was made, and were neglected if not discarded, and good quality ones can be very rare.

They used to sell those in the Disney store in the mall near my house! Usually for around $400, and that wasn't even for a rare one. But cells and film reel are much much different.

I can't see how this would be of any value to anyone, even hardcore Star Wars fans. An original clip from 'an' original print. Not to be 'Debbie Downer', just providing an opinion.

stonefry wrote:How to you have so many quality posts if you can't even read the description before you reply? They are originals.

"Quality post" status is often given to postings that ask [what Woot considers] important question. In that sense, people who don't read descriptions are actually more prone to get a quality post! After all, they are the ones to ask more questions.

For what it's worth, I'm totally against that system and think that only informative replies should be labeled "quality post."

I would like to plot the individual's number of woots (1, 2, 3 or more) vs. hours of computer games per week just to see if the relationship is linear or exponential.

toddnet wrote:Hollywood, I think.

BAAA! Hollywood.

HILARIOUS.

I wonder what the odds are of getting frames from a scene that was altered between the original theatrical release and re-release? I suppose those might be worth more.

I love STAR WARS, glad I made this purchase.

Really? No one is going to mention The Simpsons episode where Bart spends all the money on the Itchy and Scratchy cell and only gets a portion of an arm?

This is why Star Wars is cancellation compared to the Simpsons.

Woo! In for one from Ep. IV. I can only hope that I get four frames of a tracking shot across the deserts of Tattooine. "See that, kids? Those indistinguishable shots of sand dunes are from a very famous movie."

Better yet, I hope I get four frames from one of the wipes between scenes. Three frames of just plain black, and one frame that's 3/4 black and 1/4 of a sliver of the Death Star.

KFuette wrote:You could hang these on your wall right next to your "40 year old virgin" film cells....

Right next to your framed poster of Asia . . .

kossorihana wrote:In for one. I'm a huge star wars fan. I even have a SW related tramp stamp! Not my thing though. Got it for my bf for his birthday. He'll love this! Then I forbade him to go to woot.com.

Star Wars tramp stamp? I cant even imagine *what* star wars could go on a tramp stamp.

djbowyer wrote:Depends on what kind of wood it is. Once you get your hands on it, you'll know what kind of wood it is. Then it will be easier to know how hard it will be too.

CoveAxe wrote:Am I the only one who got a good laugh at the blatant innuendo in this post?

Please tell me I'm not the only one.

decaman wrote:You're not the only one, but you are the only one doing it while reading the how-to.

No, I think I was doing it too.
Doing what???

Sometimes it's just about owning a tiny fragment of history.

Hope this arrives in time for hubby's birthday. He is a huge Star Wars fan, as am I.

May the force be with you.

ps: wish I had of been in time for any of the new hope set, but I'm sure he will be happy with Phantom Menace, esp since we both played SWG and my exotic dancer/musician character owned every costume from Princess A's wardrobe. Yes, we are gaming geeks. Deal with it. = )

philey wrote:since that is unpossible, I am in for 0.



There's nothing wrong with 'unpossible', it's a perfectly cromulent word.

It embiggens the rest of us.

Satertek wrote:Looked like it would be $20 for one of each movie. $20 each is kinda meh.

Also no way to tell which part number is what.

I agree! $20 for 1 is not a great deal plus can't tell which # is which scene. Kna cancellation.

stonefry wrote:How to you have so many quality posts if you can't even read the description before you reply? They are originals.

"Original" is a subjective term. Yes, they are a clip from one of many original copies. There were several thousand copies made of all of these films. One film for each screen in each theater it plays in. I should know, I have worked for movie theaters in projection for years. IMHO, its not worth very much... but for all six... a collector might think so. Unfortunately, you just get one. So, no thank you Lucasfilm. You've already cashed in enough in my book.

woohoo i'm in! this will go nicely with the Star Wars Vault/book that I bought from Woot! months ago...

trd90toyota wrote:They are originals, however, these are the prints from the theaters. So figure there are well over 3,000 movie theaters in the US, there are going to be well over 3,000 prints of the movie.

(used to work at a theater)

Add to that number all of the international prints. Even subtitled ones can be cut up for 4 frames here and there. As for dubbed...

* Sigh * it is sad how many people do not read the descriptions. Half of these posts are ridiculous. Personally, I think that these are pretty cool - They would make a nice addition to my office wall. Im in for 2, and I loove Woot BTW.

Still looking for that elusive baby of the cosmos.

camaroboy101 wrote:2279
2280
2302
2362
2380

SOLD OUT!

Update

2298

SOLD OUT!

sdc100 wrote:Here's an informative guide on collecting film cells. Keep in mind that the info may not be objective, as the ebay seller's goal is to extol his/her own inventory for selling.

http://stores.shop.ebay.com/More-Dizzy-Deals/FILM-CELL-TUTORIAL.html_

ps - for those who asked, yep, I'm aiming for 30 "quality posts." Once that happens, my days of obsessive Wooting can finally end. So far, I have 29 "quality posts" out of 655 postings. Not bad for someone who has only been Wooting for 1.5 years (May 7, 2008). And no, none of those "quality posts" asked for info...

Wow. You appear to be in dire need of some new goals in your life. Or a girlfriend.

larryl9797 wrote:Star Wars tramp stamp? I cant even imagine *what* star wars could go on a tramp stamp.

http://media.photobucket.com/image//tessaeleanor/tattoo2.jpg

Un0fficial wrote:Who is the certificate of authenticity signed by?

I'm guessing it certifies that that is an authentic piece of film from the original made films?

The picture, is it just a picture?

A certificate of authenticity is only worth something when it's a true provenance - a statement as to the authenticity of a valuable antiquity or object by a known scholar on the subject. It's like the CoA's that are issued by the Frankin Mint. Is someone going to bootleg and item that can be bought by anyone that calls and orders? Printing up a CoA gives an air of "value" to an otherwise worthless bauble.
A real CoA or provenance is typically used for insurance purposes or valuating an item in an estate settlement. What they sent with scaffolding like this is worth exactly as much as the paper it's printed on...

Darkimagesoflight wrote:Episodes II & III were shot 100% digitally on the Sony HDW-F900 24p camera system. Absolutely no physical film. Therefore two of these offers are simply impossible. IV,V, VI, and I were shot on 35mm.

Aaaaaaerg. Rather than explain again why you're wrong, I'm just gonna quote my previous post:

sdc100 wrote:Being shot (and edited) digitally doesn't mean that it was distributed digitally. These cells come from the film reels used by theaters to project the film on to their screens. Digital projection is still too crude and expensive for general use so film is still the preferred distribution medium. The resolution of digital movies is simply too low to project onto a huge screen without appearing grainy.

In other words, there was physical film!!!! The movie was distributed to theaters on physical film, and these cells come from those films.

brainville wrote:--------------------------------------------------------------

The number of 70mm copies was extremely limited. Only 8 copies when originally released in May, then...

"By the winter holidays over two dozen 70mm engagements could be found in the U.S."

source - http://www.in70mm.com/news/2003/star_wars/index.htm

Tons of interesting stats found above.

The majority of theaters used 35mm prints, so they can't be discounted as 'not original'

(in for one 2280,btw)

I was a silly geek sitting in the front row of the first showing at the old Stanley Warner (Paramus, NJ) on May 25, 1977. There were about 20 people in the auditorium and balcony combined. I was sitting on a hoard of Star Wars #1 (about a thousand) comic books that I had bought from a distributor a few weeks earlier. I was going to make a killing - or so I thought. Greedy little teen I was. Little did I know that the real evil empire was about to be created by Lucas and Kenner. Of the trillions of trinkets that have been churned out over the years very few have real value. And those of real value tend to be very early pieces that were issued BEFORE folks actually started "collecting". These days generally anything that is uses the phrase "collectors edition" in it's description is worthless as a true, valuable collectable.
And by the way - those thousand or so #1s that I picked up for .17 each - Best price I was able to unload them for (in bulk) was about a buck each. Nice profit for a 17 year old, but hardly a killing...