More tells the story of an inventor who lives in a drab, colorless world. Day by day, he toils away in a harsh, dull, and dehumanizing job, his only savior being the memories of the bliss of childhood. But at night, he works secretly on an invention that could help him relive those memories and spread their joy to everyone in his despair-filled life.
When he finishes the invention, it changes the way people look at the world. His success changes him, however, because he loses an important part of himself.[3]
More was written and directed by Mark Osborne, and created by a team that included, among others, Keith and Shannon Lowry, Rick Orner, Nick Peterson, and David Candelaria. Although it was only a 6-minute short, it was, as Osborne put it, an "absolutely massive undertaking"—as it was the first short to be shot using the IMAX format.[4] In addition, it was filmed using stop motion, a much more time-consuming method than live-action filming techniques.
Nameless main character of More
Filming More took nine months, and it was first screened in fall of 1998. While it had a positive critical reception—including an Academy Award nomination—commercial options proved limited once the initial hype died down.
Although More was subsequently included in the Short Cinema Journal #7: Utopia DVD, Osborne was receiving e-mails daily, asking for the short to be released on DVD. One of these was a writer from Despair, Inc., complimenting him on his work, which led to an offer for Despair to fund DVD production and to sell DVDs on their website. The DVD thus created included three commentaries and an hour-long documentary on the creation of More. The film was also released on disk in the second issue of Wholphin Magazine.[5]
