YouTube's Life in a Day project showcases 80,000 videos from one day in July
September 01, 2010
By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk
Today is the first of September. It feels strange to say September first because we're having a heat wave with a week of 90 degree days. So it definitely still feels like summer. However, it begs the question, were did the summer go?
I've been keeping up with my online reading this week and the bloggers and columnists who are not on vacation are writing about vacation. We're all supposed to take this last week before Labor Day to unplug, unwind and relax and then jump back in next week. Easier said then done, right?
So here's an interesting program that I thought I'd write about for those that are still online and want to take some time to explore and reflect on the summer. Back in early July Google announced the launch of “Life in a Day,” which they called a historic cinematic experiment which will attempt to document one day as seen through the eyes of people around the world. They chose Saturday, July 24, and invited people during that 24 hours to capture a snapshot of their life on camera. They suggested filming the ordinary such as a sunrise, a commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary such as a baby’s first steps, a reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.
A video gallery has now been launched on the YouTube LIfe in A Day Channel making available raw footage from some of the 80,000 user-generated videos submitted from 197 countries in 45 languages. The gallery is searchable by geography, time of day, mood and more. Life in a Day is directed by Kevin Macdonald and executive produced by Ridley Scott at Scott Free UK. They will choose clips of the submissions to create a video of life on the planet for that day. The final video will become available in different languages via captioning on YouTube.
Kevin Macdonald will then choose 20 contributors who make it into the final feature-length movie to attend the 2011 Sundance Film Festival for the world premiere in January. Those whose footage makes it into the finished film will also get credit as co-directors. The movie will be available on YouTube at the same time as the Sundance screening.
LG Electronics is a partner and supporter of the project and their "Life's Good" brand expression fits in nicely with the theme of the project. The project is one way for YouTube to promote itself as a facilitator of art.
So I invite you to visit the gallery, take a look around the world and try to remember what you were doing on Saturday, July 24, one day during the summer of 2010.
Wow pretty impressive how 15 years ago nobody would care what people were doing and today we can see what people all over the globe were doing on one day. I was probably laying on the couch all day or laying the pool all day, nobody wants to see that! haha
Posted by: Jenny | September 02, 2010 at 12:49 PM