After receiving an Academy Award nomination for his 11-minute short UCLA thesis film "9" three years ago, Shane Acker thought he'd closed the book on his fantastical post-apocalyptic world populated by a civilization of miniature rag-doll creatures. But then the short gained momentum at local festivals and got the attention of some of Hollywood's biggest tastemakers -- including Tim Burton, who went on to produce the full-length film, out in theaters Wednesday and with voicings by Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly and Elijah Wood (pictured below).
TheWrap grilled Acker on how he expanded his short into a full-length feature, the state of shorts in Hollywood and his anxiety over working with the legendary Burton.
How did you make a virtual world seem realistic on-screen?
It started with me gathering all these found objects, like gears and gizmos and bolts and screws and using them as raw material. Then I constructed all the characters in a way that, if they were in the real world, they could really function and move. I tried to stay true to the material. I think it has a real tactile, believable quality to it -- even though it's all just virtual.
How did you decide on animation, instead of live action?
For me, it's all about the story. Once you have a good story and characters, the discussion becomes, what's the best medium to present the material in? This story could only be told in the animated medium. We stylized a world in such a way that the only way to make the humans fit in our world was to make them in the computer as well, which was a huge challenge.
Was it difficult to expand upon a project you were finished with?
I come from a design background, I studied architecture for many years, so it just became another design problem and challenge. The fact I was able to expand it from just two characters that are in the short to all nine characters was really exciting. You get to explore what all these different personalities are.
What was the evolution, into a feature film?
It wasn't very long after it was done and out in festivals. I got an agent at ICM, and he started sending me out into rooms. And he didn't represent animation film-based directors, so he was just sending me out to everybody. I'd meet people who'd say, "I do low-budget crime drama," and I was like, "Well, I do animation, I don't know why we're here together."
One of the people I came across was a producer named Jim Lemley, who had worked at Icon Pictures with Mel Gibson for a long time. He was just really taken by the short. He thought there was something there.
Had you always wanted to turn the short into a full-length film?
Not really.
