‘Happiness’

A 16mm film, merging real answers to ‘What makes you happy?’ with an AI model to create an original story.

I applied for the commission with an idea to collect real human answers to the question ‘What makes you happy?’ and use ChatGPT to transform them into a story. I love to play with new technologies and find interesting ways to use them to make art.

The opportunity to spark a conversation about how technology influences mental health for the new Public Health Wales campaign was really exciting.
I created some videos for 73 Degree Films’ social media asking people to answer the question and we had 179 responses in total. I used these to compose a prompt for ChatGPT, which took the answers and formulated a script for a film based in Wrexham.

I then worked with my DP Leighton Cox (Emmy nominated for his work on the Disney+ series ‘Welcome to Wrexham’) on a plan to push the analogue-meets-digital idea further by shooting on 16mm film. We were supported by Sunbelt Rentals to hire some of their kit and assembled a small cast and crew to shoot over 2 days in Wrexham. After we finished, I drove and hand delivered the film canisters to Kodak at Pinewood Studios myself.

Eventually the final piece of the puzzle came together when I met the DAACI team at SXSW. I had been looking for a company that could help us create an original score using AI, so it felt very serendipitous that they were working on this solution and wanted to support a Welsh project.

As new technologies greatly affect how we feel about ourselves and the world around us, this film is an experiment to blend digital and analogue worlds together. I wanted to make something short, sweet and human. I hope it serves as a reminder that our coexistence with technology doesn’t mean that what we create is less resonant to our experience. I hope it can help people reflect on how technology affects their own mental health and consider how the future might be as positive and real as possible.