Research 9, the Short

  So the short film, already fills me with some confusion because the storyline seemed as if it started well,  mid-story. I honestly am not a big fan of animation so I’m not sure how much I actually enjoyed the short. Although it was well written and well thought out. Aside from this, it did begin to make sense and following the hardships that both 9 and 5 were dealing with. They had some sort of beast following them, seemed as if he needed something they knew they had. Once 5 is killed by the creature, it almost seemed as if 9 was trying to his death by taking out the creature and trying to escape his own persecution. This is an obvious computer animated film, and for that I thought the animation would be more like cartoonish. And it wasn’t! It actually gave off a real sense of reality throughout the whole short. When watching an animation I think its important, to forget that you’re actually watching an animation. And thats what the screen writer did well. 

   Researching the screen write and director of 9, Shane Acker, I discovered that he was actually an animation teacher. So the fact his movie was of course animated, his directorial style shines in these ways. Also he went to school for architecture and I feel that reflected in the dolls because they were sort of put together and just very needle and thread like. I didn’t get a huge sense of character development from the short. 5’s life was very short lived and if a development in character did take place it was from 9 because he seemed to have been somewhat scared but then turned brave. Through the entirety of the short, the creature actually wore the number 5 on his back after he killed 5. So it did raise the question to me was the creature actually 5 turned evil? If it were that possibility, the plot of the short would be that much more interesting and engaging. Lastly, my favorite part is when 9 unleashes the ghosts of other dolls and numbers and he sees 5 again. It really made me smile because I felt it gave 9 a different sense of emotion.