Why aren't we happy anymore?
Videography | Motion Design
A video exploring the declining happiness in modern society.
My Role
Strategy
Art Direction
Motion Design
Tools
Premiere Pro, After Effects
Challenge
Studies have observed that while general life conditions have improved, people in the modern world have been becoming more miserable. The new challenge of the modern world must be to find ways to balance our needs as human beings with the growing demands of consumption and capitalism.
Solution
Explore what makes us unhappy in modern life and how to increase our individual happiness.
Research
01.
On a scale of 1 to 3, where 1 represents “not too happy” and 3 means “very happy," Americans on average give themselves a 2.18 — a hair above “pretty happy.” That’s a significant decline from the nation’s peak happiness, as measured by the survey, of the early 1990s.
02.
Girls spending 5 or more hours a day on social media are three times more likely to be depressed than non-users, and heavy internet users (vs. light users) are twice as likely to be unhappy.
03.
Over our lifetime, the time spent with loved ones such as friends, family, and children steadily decreases while our time spent alone increases. At a certain point of our lives we even spend more time with coworkers than any of our loved ones. Time with a partner increases until it sharply drops when one of them dies.
04.
It sounds cliche but we need to do all the things the “how to be happy” articles tell us to. We need to decrease our screen time, go outside, read a book, exercise, seek therapy, do things we’re passionate about, and learn to enjoy all that time we spend with our coworkers.
Appreciating all the little things turns them into big things that can make us happier in the long run.
Takeaway
This process was an exercise in scripting, storyboarding, and
combining filmed footage with motion graphics.
