Matthew Walker and the RSA 

Sleep or Die

The Scrapbook

About the speaker

Matthew Walker is a professor of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of California, and the Director of the Center for Human Sleep Science. The international bestselling author behind Why We Sleep, Walker’s work examines the link between sleep, human health and disease. So far, he has published over 100 studies into sleep and continues to probe the subtle link between getting forty winks and the healthy functioning of our bodies.

About our partner

The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) was founded in 1754. Dedicated to enriching society, fellows past and present have included many of the world’s greatest thinkers. Creating the conditions for enlightened thinking, the RSA seek to help find the answers to our most urgent social challenges.

The Challenge

The RSA wanted to revamp the original RSA Animate series but make them shorter since, a decade later, peoples on-line attention span is much shorter!

So the RSA came up with the idea of 'RSA Minimates' which are super-short, information-packed animations for busy people. All audio excerpts are taken from live, FREE events at the RSA’s HQ in London, and animated by us.

For this particular film the challenge we had was trying to choreograph the animations at the start so that after the pullout to the big picture the viewer would see a skull including the tombstones as teeth! This was a tricky process and required some intricate editing skills. 

The film

Sleep isn’t a choice, it is a basic need and part of living a long and healthy life. This is what Professor Matthew Walker has found through extensive research. In his talk for the RSA he explains the very grave consequences that come with a lack of sleep, and calls it out as a public health emergency.

The context

The complete talk by Matthew Walker, 'Why we need a sleep revolution', was held at the RSA in October 2017 and can be watched here.