9

A rag doll fights a monster that has been stealing the souls of his people.

I saw this on you tube. Having a running time for about 10 minutes, I decided to watch this film and you know what? It was actually a fantastic and brilliant kind of "short" film. The animation is fantastic and original-looking and what I love about this film is that it's not afraid to be a dark animated film. There are some moments in here where it might be truly frightening for a child.

More on animation: It looked fresh, original, and gritty. I loved it! Another great thing is that this film has NO (ZERO) - NADA - dialog but yet it still pulls off for great character development through the actions of the characters! This is just an animated film with a simple plot done in an extraordinary way. The look is fantastic and I'm sure Shane Acker will be a great animator when he makes more of these types of films. So if you have ten minutes to kill, go to you tube right now and search up "9".

This is a really fun animation, mostly because it's just so simple of a story very detailed in animation and visually exciting. I mean, for all the complicated methods of the computer animation with great lighting effects and detailed skins and movements of the characters and their effects on the environments, it's a very easy man-vs-monster story that can appeal to everyone.

A ragdoll named 9, or marked 9, or the ninth ragdoll or something to that effect is tragically left alone after its partner 4 sacrifices itself to a monster that steals its soul. 9 devises a way to defeat the monster so that it will no longer torment it, and in the process discovers a way to provide closure to the souls' entrapment (the souls of 1 through 8). This is presented through actiony fantasy pretty much existing as never-before-seen.

It's very enjoyable and visually amazing. The monster seems almost perfect for the environment they come from, and the characters are very well emotionally presented considering their darned faces. The plot contains no real desire to be stretched into feature length or accepted as important, just presents six minutes of about as much fun as six minutes can give.

--PolarisDiB

9 is a visually creative short animation by Shane Acker. It was nominated for a best animated short Oscar and later Acker got funding to release a feature length version.

There is no dialogue so the story is hard to fathom. There are two ragdoll type creatures. One of them is designated the 9th one left alone when the other one perishes and loses its soul to a mechanical type monster.

9 has to find a way to defeat the monster and ends up releasing the souls devoured by this monster.

The short animation has a post apocalyptic Gothic steampunk style, it is very well lit and clearly a labour of love.

When you are wanting to create an idea for a feature film, it's great to start somewhere small. That small start comes in the form of a short film, which can introduce not only the primary idea or concept of the story but it also can introduce a wide range of elements. When an aspiring filmmaker introduces these elements in a short form first, it allows them to create a blueprint for something even bigger- "The Feature Film". Shane Acker's thesis project from his time at UCLA film school, brings about the beginning of something he would build upon later to the 2009 feature length film version.

9 takes animation to a dark and bizarre realm where a living rag doll like being struggles to survive and fight against an enemy of terrifying proportions. Acker's dark animated world gives off such a ruined and atmospheric world resembling that of the apocalypse, where a world has ended and what remains struggles to survive. In the midst of this apocalyptic realm, there is a little more being offered to us here in terms of mystery and science fiction, but it's explored only to a certain point. Despite not going to extreme lengths in those areas(being that it is a short film and time is limited) it still manages to feel compelling and intriguing all the way through its 11 minute runtime. It is not in any way a perfect short film or concept, but having said that 9 is an excellent model for a short to feature film process.

Shane Acker created this all computer generated world that is both visually creative and detailed with stunning visuals and sound design. The animation appearing on screen is well detailed with very clear textures and modeling, but what enhances that animation is the lighting. Just like in live action and non-animated films, the right lighting setup can have a great impact on what's being shown on scree- creating mood, emotion, atmosphere and so on. Lighting throughout the film acts as a constant reminder of the darkness of the world and how fearful the characters are in this world. Then one of the last things to notice in 9 is the sound design, which is quite good. Each and every sound feels right on point with the interactions between characters and environment. Even though there is no actual dialogue being spoken, the film's sound design and visuals all come together to tell an interesting story.

Once 9 has ended you are left with an interesting concept for a story, where you might be asking yourself, "Is there more to this world?". The answer to that is yes there is, which came as Shane Acker's 2009 full-length feature film version. As I said earlier in this review that this film is in no way a perfect idea, but it does show great promise for future endeavors to further explore the world of 9. Overall Star Rating: 8/10

Great Visual Effects, stunning work!!! Shane is an inspiration to all short film makers.

Brilliant Characters set in a visually fantastic backyard war zone. Dramatic lighting and gutting CGI environments create an astounding miniature world in trouble. Simple yet profound story telling without words, transcends past language barriers producing a universal story for all.

With this film you can definitely see Shane's progress of his previous Good films to this breath taking achievement in short film making.

A must see for any fan of animated shorts with stunning imagery.