Watch: Shane Acker’s Original Animated Short ‘9′

Posted by Dr. Cole Abaius (cole.abaius@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 9, 2009

ShaneAckers9

The highly anticipated (if not completely warmly received) 9 hits theaters today on this numerically significant day, and while you are scrambling to hit the box office, we thought you might want to check out the short that started it all.

Director Shane Acker got his start with Atom Films, but soon started working for WETA – getting a chance to do FX for The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Then, in 2005, he directed a short film that caught the attention and nominations of the Academy Awards. It also caught Tim Burton’s eye and Acker got a chance few short film directors ever get.

If you haven’t seen 9 yet, there’s a chance you may want to skip watching the short because it has a lot of the story elements (including a redacted sort of ending), but there’s also something to be said for seeing the evolution of a story like this.

Related Reading:

Comment Policy: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Film School Rejects reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. We also reserve the right to modify any curse words in your comments and make you look like an idiot. Thank You!

Keelin

Forget what the article says, you'll WANT and NEED to see this short first before you see the movie! Compare both in their own medias, and see the brilliance both radiate. Watching the feature film, then seeing this short is like watching a degrade, like playing a remade video game, finishing it, then playing it's 8-bit original. It feels like you're going backwards and upside-down.

Both are amazingly well done, and this short continues to amaze me with it's chilling realism and realistic storyline - that maybe, just maybe, making machines just as smart as us that lack souls is a bad thing...

NOTE to movie-goers though: Scope out your theater before you settle in. Many moms think that since it's a CG film, it's okay for their toddlers, despite the PG-13 warning. My theater was filled with crying brats and dopey goths pretending to be Burton fans (because the films are relatively dark), and unfortunately only the criers were shooed away.

yosh

don't go see it if you're as elitist as keelin, because no one wants you in the theater if that's the case :)

i personally thought it had some pacing problems, it was a bit slow at some parts. the character and set design was brilliant. the plot was a little pedestrian, but they had some details that made it unique and really worth seeing. i love movies like this because it's like an ultra simple exercise in psychoanalysis (what parts of a split soul can you name?) you won't really have to worry about many children in the audience(unless you live in a podunk town and see it during the day), see it at night and all you'll have to worry about are fat nerds and maybe some highschoolers.

HGMIV

I honestly liked the short more than the feature film. :-\

Watch: Shane Acker’s Original Animated Short ‘9′

Related Topics:

Related Reading: