The notion is irresistible. An animator, beavering away, alone in a dark bedroom studio. His face is bathed in the light of a computer screen on which is forming the result of a labor of love; a strange tale of ragdolls in a post-apocolyptic wasteland.

For Shane Acker, that notion isn't just a romantic idea of what it means to be a modern-day auteur. It's his reality, and the result is the fantastic animated short "9".

And to any would-be director dreaming of following in Acker's footsteps, the dream is big indeed. Because Acker didn't just finish the film to worldwide acclaim. His film was spotted by the right people in the right festival, and is going on to a greater life than perhaps even he dreamt: a feature film based on the short, with a Hollywood brand name behind it!

That's what you're here to read about, isn't it? Well, Shane Acker took time out from his busy film schedule in Luxembourg to answer our questions about his short and its promising future.

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OGDEN: What inspired the story of "9"?

ACKER: Well I knew I wanted to make a non-verbal film, something that would force me to focus on character acting and visual storytelling. For several years I had this idea rolling around in my head of these ragdoll creatures that would scavenge the wasteland of a ruined world, adapting, evolving and finding a way to survive.

I am a huge fan of stop-motion filmmakers like the Brothers Quay, Jan Svankmajer and the Lauenstein Brothers. I love the worlds they create, haunting metaphorical spaces where these little self-contained stories play out. So I took all of these ideas and inspirations and started boarding out the film.

OGDEN: How did you stay focused on it over the 4 years? Were there times you felt like giving it up?

ACKER: I don't know. I did 2 years of production at school. I was learning Maya, and 3D animation production, so it was exciting and challenging. I spent a great deal of time working on the story and made a really solid story reel.

Because the 3D side of things was moving so slow, I kept noodling and refining the animatic. I think that's what kept me focused after I started working professionally. I always knew where I was going because I had this blueprint I was working from. About year 3 I was over it. I was starting to freak out a bit, overwhelmed with the feeling it might never get done.

OGDEN: One of the most interesting things about the film is the way the story unspools. At first, you don't realize what the character is doing, and then at the end, you pay it off. How did you write that?

ACKER: I was inspired by a Moebius comic strip of Arzak, one of his fantasy characters. It was only about 4 pages long and contained no text or dialogue. In the story, Arzak puts himself in grave danger, challenging an enormous creature. A chase ensues and at the last moment when we think Arzak is going to meet his end, a twist happens and we realize that Azrak was leading the creature into a trap all along.

I thought it was a unique way of telling a story, and I wanted to do something like that with 9. Yeah I storyboard and write a lot. It's a quick and easy way to test out ideas and think through staging.

I knew I wanted to make a non-verbal film, something that would force me to focus on character acting and visual storytelling.      -- Shane Acker

OGDEN: Did anything influence the look of the short?

ACKER: The paintings of Zdzislaw Beksinski, Street of Crocodiles by the Brothers Quay, ruins of European cities destroyed in WWII, and a film by the Lauenstein Brothers named Balance.

OGDEN: What impact did working at WETA have on the short?

ACKER: I learned a TREMENDOUS amount about character animation while I was at WETA. There were so many amazing artists there. I took a hiatus from production while I was working there. I was so busy and I didn't want to send over my workstations to New Zealand.

I did show my film to a lot of people for feedback. One of my friends from WETA animated a shot in the film.