YouTube Blockbuster – Life In A Day
YOUTUBE FILM: Life In A Day set to be a global blockbuster
FILM director Ridley Scott of Gladiator and Blade Runner fame is currently in the process of producing a documentary film called “Life In A Day”. With the help of Oscar-winning director Kevin MacDonald, “Life In A Day” will feature a series of carefully selected and edited YouTube videos that people were encouraged to submit on 24 July 2010.
The brief was to film a day of your life and is framed as a historic cinematic experiment documenting what it’s like to be alive on that one day – 24 July. The idea is to document a single day on Earth seen through the eyes of thousands worldwide and submit these to YouTube.
The Life In A Day channel on YouTube has received more than 18 million views to date.
The “Life In A Day” channel on YouTube has received over 18 million views to date and describes the brief as follows:
“Life In A Day is a historic global experiment to create the world’s largest user-generated feature film: a documentary, shot in a single day, by you. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a glimpse of your life on camera. The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into an experimental documentary film, executive produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin MacDonald.”
Since the launch of this idea, thousands of people from around the world have documented an aspect of their day and have submitted these videos to YouTube. The only criteria involved was that each video was something personal and was filmed on the same day.
Recorded footage could range from someone’s journey to work to a walk in the countryside, but MacDonald did try to encourage participants to consider three important questions: “what do you fear most in your life today, what do you love, and what makes you laugh?”
Ridley Scotts explains that his idea for Life in a Day can be traced back to his childhood when he bunked a day of school and documented his actions, thoughts and feelings. He began to understand that different people around the world attach different value and meaning to events and experiences that we all share, such as the sun rising and setting each day.
Participants were therefore also encouraged to film what they had in their pockets on the day and explain the significance of what they were carrying.
Director Kevin MacDonald explains his vision for the film: “It would be like a kind of time capsule, which people in the future could look at that and say, ‘oh my God, that’s what it was like.’ A portrait of the world in a day … It is going to be something unusual and something I think will have social value to it. It’s going to be a unique kind of documentary,” says MacDonald.
YouTube submissions are now closed, but updates of the film’s progress will be available at: www.youtube.com/lifeinaday over the next few months. The final production of Life In A Day is scheduled to premiere in January 2011. Those whose footage is included in the final film will be credited as “co-directors” and twenty lucky participants will be selected to attend the film’s world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.
This is largest, global cinematic experiment ever undertaken and is bound to be a great success. Be sure to follow their progress on YouTube.
YouTube has had an interesting development since its birth in 2005. It has gone from being a simple video sharing website featuring a few great sporting moments to a platform for creating Hollywood movies. It can be vigorously argued that, in just five years, YouTube has reshaped the way we use the Internet.
LINK: The Brief But Impactful History of YouTube
UPDATE: Ridley Scott’s Life in a Day movie receives 80 000 submissions
UPDATE 2: SA filmmaker makes YouTube’s ‘Life in a Day’ cut
Nice! I’m looking forward to this. It’s such a great idea.
You and me both! Not to mention billions of others. I don’t think people quite understand how huge this film is going to be.
Imagine that a video from China is chosen for inclusion in the final film. That alone would encourage a huge Chinese audience to watch the film. In other words, Life In A Day has the potential of attracting a massive GLOBAL audience – the ramifications of which are staggering.
I believe that this “cinematic experiment” is the start of a new trend in film-making. It’s just a pity that we have to wait so long before we can see it. Come on 2011!