Shane Acker's "9" Gets Big-Screen Treatment, Dialogue

March 11, 2008 5:53 PM

In 2005, Shane Acker released his student film, the atmospheric, masterfully animated "9" [10 min video], to critical acclaim. In 2006, the film toured with The Animation Show. Now, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov and a couple other familiar folks will be helping Acker bring a feature-length adaptation to theaters later this year.

Acker mentions several interesting sources of inspiration in this interview, including Moebius, the Quay brothers, and films like "Balance" [prev], "Delicatessen," and "The Triplets of Belleville."

In addition to the DailyMotion link above, the "9" short is also available on YouTube at a reduced quality.

posted by churl (16 comments total)

Is the the prequel to "10"?
posted by redteam at 5:58 PM on March 11, 2008

nice post...

I come across about two or three animations per year that are worth saving...this qualifies...

thanks...
posted by HuronBob at 6:16 PM on March 11, 2008

Yeah, this is really good, thanks.
posted by jonson at 6:29 PM on March 11, 2008

I love "9." Can't wait for the feature.
posted by brundlefly at 6:29 PM on March 11, 2008

Good stuff. Small, deft touches throughout elevate it above merely good to truly excellent.
posted by WalterMitty at 7:14 PM on March 11, 2008

Great posting and good news. [BTW, characters remind me of MORE by Mark Osbourne.]
posted by humannaire at 8:19 PM on March 11, 2008

Yeah, it seemed like it was influenced by MORE and also the Brothers Quay.
posted by mecran01 at 8:21 PM on March 11, 2008

Wonderful short, btw.
posted by mecran01 at 8:21 PM on March 11, 2008

Excellent. Certainly more impressive than anything Burton's ever done or probably ever will do.
posted by dobbs at 8:33 PM on March 11, 2008

I just busted out my Animation Show DVDs (it's an awesome show, go see them in person in the next month or two?) to find out this isn't on it - bummer. 9 is gooood.
posted by Pronoiac at 10:23 PM on March 11, 2008

So sad. Yeah, he takes care of the big scary thing, but his glowy/dead pals all take off and leave him.

Also, I'm not sure the addition of voices aren't going to make it worse. We'll see I guess.
posted by juv3nal at 10:36 PM on March 11, 2008

Amazing stuff. Thanks.
posted by HighTechUnderpants at 12:12 AM on March 12, 2008

Really great. Thanks a lot.
posted by farishta at 1:17 AM on March 12, 2008

Excellent. Thanks.
posted by languagehat at 6:08 AM on March 12, 2008

Wow, that was amazing! I can't wait for the feature; yet a small part of me feels like a feature would be TOO much, but I would like to see more of the world.

Also I'd love to see the short in higher resolution. :)
posted by sir_rubixalot at 10:27 PM on March 12, 2008

I don't think there's any way to buy it right now, but presumably it'll be on the Year 3 DVD of The Animation Show if you want to see it at a decent resolution. I caught Year 2 when it hit a small independent theater in Portland and it was a great experience -- they really represent all kinds of different animation styles and a lot of the pieces were really stellar work I'd never have seen otherwise. Fallen Art, Pan With Us, and of course Don Hertzfeldt's The Meaning of Life were all fantastic.

I've thought of posting the above-linked "MORE," but I thought I recalled seeing it on the blue before. If I'm wrong, you should post it! This is probably better resolution than the youtube link.

If you want to see even earlier work from Shane Acker, the shorts Mister Grenade and the shudder-inducing The Hangnail are on his site.

I guess we'll have to wait and see how the world of "9" works with dialogue from professional actors. A huge part of what carries the short for me is the nuanced character animation -- like near the beginning when 9 is balancing the book, or when 5 realizes the interloper is coming and waves 9 away -- which kind of elegantly renders dialogue unnecessary. But Acker seems pretty excited about the script they're working on, so I'm hopeful.
posted by churl at 11:22 PM on March 12, 2008