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Download, Watch online Life in a Day Movie.
| Genres: | DramaDocument |
| Starring: | Cindy Baer, Moica, Hiroaki Aikawa, Caryn Waechter, Bob Liginski Jr., Drake Shannon, Reid Martin Basso |
| Director(s): | Kevin Macdonald, Natalia Andreadis |
| Country: | USA, UK |
| Year: | 2011 |
| IMDB Rating: | 7.8 |
What do you get when you ask the people of the world to chronicle a single day in their lives? You get 80,000 submissions, 4500 hours of footage, from 192 countries. Kevin Macdonald has taken this raw material, all shot on July 24, 2010, and created a 90-minute paean to what it means to be human in the world today.
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Life in a Day (DivX) | Resolution: 640x352 px | Total Size: 697 Mb |
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Movie Photos: We have taken some photos of "Life in a Day". They represent actual movie quality.
Visitor Reviews: (20)
bubba_blais 30 April 2012
"Life in a Day" shows us that it was nothing special to be alive on July 24th, 2009.
This was a very cool concept, but I think its one of those things thatwhen its all said and done, it doesn't exactly pan out the way youthought it would. It was definitely intriguing some of the time, but Imostly found it a bore. Its just what people do everyday - chores,work, talk about their problems. Films are made as an escape from this,I don't want to watch one about it! Just because its a new idea and itsset to inspiring music and its "artsy" doesn't make it good. I'm notsaying its terrible, its just nothing special. Just like a regular day.And I mean that bluntly; of course everyday is special, but walking towork? Yawn. Milking goats? An hour and 34 minutes of this and you haveyourself "A Day in the Life". There are some exceptions, but overall,you definitely have to be in a certain mindset to enjoy it.
Robert 30 April 2012
Wow...
Real life is scary and intense and hard sometimes. But real life isreal. There's no escaping it. You either accept it or... well I don'tknow. But a few years ago when YouTube/Google asked us, the people, tosubmit a video or two of our life on that day, I of course took thechallenge. Wasn't surprised to not see my video, but I'm sure mostdidn't see their videos there.This is literately just a series of videos people submitted. Some withmusic, others without. The sequence was what made this interesting. Itshowed early morning, then morning, afternoon and evening. They had afew questions they had answered, including what's in your pocket, whatdo you love the most, and what do you fear. The answers were mindboggling.I was amazed by what YouTube/Google included in the videos. Being in avery politically correct world where you don't offend people and thusreligion and politics are never mentioned, they included some. The onethat impressed me was a guy in a ranch with his son and wife, who saidhe loved his "Heavenly Father" the most. Reality. Some people arereligious, some aren't.There were a few scenes I'd rather had not seen, including animalcruelty, but I accepted it because it's reality. That's how life isevery day. There were scenes of people happy, some almost angry, somesad and crying. This was blended in perfectly. And they ended itbeautifully as well.I rate this 8/10 for a very well done sequence.
palindromeemordnilap 21 March 2012
Simply Overrated
We're entering a period in cinematic history where people hear about a"cool" idea for a film and accept it as being breathtaking andfantastic because the idea dictates that it should be. The idea forLife in a Day was interesting as the technological developments aroundthe world mean that making this film would only be possible now,however the execution of this idea was sub-par.My main criticism of the film comes from the cheap attempts the filmuses to evoke emotion in the viewer. For example, in order to evokesympathy there was almost a non-exhaustive showing of poor people. Toevoke humour, the film relied on people pulling silly faces or doingsilly things which may have been funny if the viewer was there or knewthe people involved, however it seems that the makers of the film wereignorant of the fact that the viewer does not. These attempts to evokeemotion can be easily seen through as a failure to connect the audienceto those on screen.My secondary criticism of the film is the style that they presented theclips in. I believe that the film would have been a lot more enjoyablehad the producers decided to steer the film into more of an educationalexperience rather than an artistic venture. The film portrays the worldas something that it is not: happy, and this is relayed in the film as"art". As an educational film, the world could have been presented in amore accurate, two sided way.Having this said, there are parts of the film which deserve credit. Thesoundtrack at certain points is very fitting and the Love Parade scenewas by a long shot the best part of the film. It seems obvious that theeditor is very proud of his work in this film as he went for a veryhands on approach, but at its base the editing was very pretentious asit further enhances this fake view of the world.Life in a Day deserves a lot less credit than it receives, but it is afilm that will get the simple minded thinking. You will love this filmif you are: an environmentalist and/or on antidepressants. You willhate this film if you are a: rational/cynic.
thecatcanwait 21 March 2012
I YouTube therefore I am
A mish mashy melange was my first reaction on watching this. Then iwatched it again and could see more coherence in it.It's structured around all the ordinary small stuff we have to do toget through the every day: waking up, washing, brushing teeth, shaving,making breakfast, lunch and so on.And then there's the bigger life-events like coping with illness,getting married, having babies.Questions are asked like, "What's in your pocket?" or "What do youlove/fear? A lonely guy loves his cat another guy loves his fridge..another guy fears his hair falling out a woman fears "not being amummy" and so on..At times the editing is very fast: periodic montage sequences whizz bya conveyor belt of micro images like a Planet Earth ad break.But then there are several personal pieces that follow individualsituations. I liked these slower stories better, such as The post-graduate returning to Essex to catch up with his "old man"dad, both sat in the car, sharing a burger.The gay guy coming out to grandma on the phone ("I love you too" he'ssaying to her) And the sad scenarios: of the father lighting incense at shrine of deadwife  and the little sons perfunctory remembrance of his mother; orthe "Family project" of mother dying of cancer, trying to help heranxious young son make sense of it; or the thankful  tearful  Aussiein hospital after major heart surgery "I'll be out there again, doingcrazy things, and enjoying life" he says. But you sense he probablywon't.There's smiley bits too, like the Peruvian shoeshine boy; the rudewedding vows read by the English vicar.And some nasty bits, like the slaughter of cow, its throat beingslashed into to let blood  and there's a rapidly cut together montageof scenes of violence and fighting  deliberately rushed through so asnot to dwell too long. The shoplifting Russian/Slav is a bit dismayingtoo (firstly, that he's filmed getting away with it; secondly that theclip gets sent to be included in the film; and thirdly  that it isincluded!) Throughout, is the continual narrative thread of a Korean cyclingaround the world for the last 9 years  feeling homesick for Koreanflies.Come the afternoon outdoor pursuits  like skydiving out of planes Âand Life in a Day has got to feel exhausting.So much packed in, so much to pack in. I think a million sub-editorswere needed to prune the 4500 hours of submitted footage into a mere 90minutes  just a blink of the Earths eye really.To begin with i was wanting not to like it, but come the end i was wonover. Out of all this mashed up diffuseness something cogent gotproduced. Although I wonder how much actual directing input KevinMacDonald did to it. It looks more like a cut and paste collaboration,the chopped up product of countless hours of endless editing  ratherthan something that's been singularly created.Question is, would selective clicking on any YouTube vids on any day ofthe year produce the same result? No, cus this is more of a polishedproduct. But watching a load of randomised clips would probably seem asarbitrary as this film feels. And the effect would feel similar:trawling in too much information just makes the net of your attentiongo saggy.I might watch this again one day (Unless they come up with another lifein another day next year) At the end  2 minutes before midnight  there's a girl in a carbemoaning the fact that "I spent the whole day waiting for somethinggreat to happen .all day long nothing really happened i want people toknow that i'm here . i don't want to cease to exist" "I don't want to cease to exist". As long as you're seen on YouTube,you can pretend you don't. If you get my drift.
rbferre 21 March 2012
Ordinary Wonderful World!
How many times have you wondered how a human being lives in anothercity of this planet? Not something we see in the movies, just aregular, ordinary, mundane, and simple human being.How many times have you thought how life is short and how you should doto get the most of it.Well, this movie is about these questions and much more. Using rawfootage sent by people from different backgrounds and 192 countries -which makes us think how powerful the media is - it takes to afascinating journey to witness a long needed reality check. Fascinatingin its own way, because the scenes you see are ordinary. And that iswhat the enchantment is... art from the ordinary.It is not a reality show, nor a fictional movie. Life in a Day isjust... Life. With all frustrations , discoveries, sadness, and hopes.Just life.I watched this movie not expecting too much. And boy was I wrong - thiskept me mesmerized for 94 minutes. And at the end, you will askyourself if you are doing the best from your existence in this planet.Not to be missed!
Vince27 21 March 2012
Unbelievable
Life in a Day is a remarkable, emotional and an inspiring film full oflife.The film is shot by hundreds of people, from around the world, who senttheir own personal videos into YouTube to make this stunning picture.It is hard to really review the film because of what it is about: life.The film captures life for anything on Earth, whether it be a human oran animal. Cultures, religions, ways of life and philosophies are alltouched upon in this amazing piece of history. Never before has theentire world been seen in a film such as it has in this picture.People from all over the world are captured living as they do normally.There is no Hollywood, there are no actors, no directors and nowriters. This film is about people. It is obviously very difficult to explain what life is and I am notgoing to do it. But this film does it and it does it in a way anybodycould understand.Life in a Day is awe-inspiring in the way it captures life on Earthwithout being sentimental. At the end of the film, there won't be asoul in the world that isn't touched.
mwolff5 20 March 2012
Amazingly real!
This movie blew my mind! How can an independent movie be so great? Thismovie shows every day people in the rawest form. You just do not seethis in any other film. It shows people real points of view, althoughvery subtle. I thought it was very interesting to see so many people'sfears and allowed the viewer to relate to this movie. I think the bestpart of it all is the fact that they allowed everyone to view it forFREE on you tube. No high-budget movie would do that! It is refreshingto see a movie being shown to all in its purest form and getting thebuy in it is most deserved from the viewer. This movie should be showeverywhere! Get out and see it!
Movie Geek 19 March 2012
The Ordinary becomes extraordinary!!
Last year (2010) YouTube launched a campaign, supported by executiveproducers Tony and Ridley Scott, asking everybody with a camcorder torecord a day in their lives. Fast forward a year to 2011 and directorKevin Macdonald and editor Joe Walker (never an editor has been morecrucial to the making of a film), release their documentary to theworld and to the same people who actually filmed it. Apparently 80000videos for a total of 4500 hours were submitted from 126 differentnations. The result is a film that tells the story of a day on Earth,and precisely the 24th of July 2010: 24 hours in the life of ordinarypeople. Their stories, their images, their thoughts, all linkedtogether by an incredible work of editing and a rousing soundtrack byHarry Gregson- Williams. You can argue that some of it might beslightly heavy-handed (a shot of a cow being killed on camera is then,non very subtlety, cut together with a man eating from a bowl ofspaghetti), but some of the choices are absolutely inspired (montagesequences of people getting up in the morning or having breakfast orsimply walking). It's the amalgamation of all these little snippets oflife that makes the film an incredible watch and in the end it ends upactually telling a story as the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Thefilm starts at midnight as people are still asleep in most places: somenight shift workers are already at it, some wild party animals arestill up from the previous day, but generally speaking it's a quietstart. Within a few minutes, we are treated by a sunrise montage fromall over the world as people are getting up in the most remote cornersof the globe. They have breakfast, some of them go to work, others stayat home, somebody shaves for the first time (a very funny scene!),somebody decides to lay in bed for a bit longer, and somebody elsebegins a new "empty" day: loneliness might be just around the corner Despite the sometimes over-indulgent choice of editing and theever-present soundtrack the film still manages to capture thatpulsating realism of modern life through simple gestures, looks, wordsand silences as the similarities and (many) differences are exposed.But just when you are about to think "is this film going to be just along montage sequence?", then the film suddenly slows down and you areactually treated to real moments into people's life (well, I say"real", obviously there's a camera filming so I suppose it's "a versionof reality", but that doesn't diminish its value nor its emotionalimpact on the audience). For example, quite early on a little boy ofprobably 4 is woken up by his dad who's filming the whole thing (I seemto remember they were in Japan or thereabout): we stay with them for awhile as they talk about seemingly mundane things: the boy isincredibly sweet, the house is strangely messy. Then dad says "let's goand say 'hi' to mom". They move to a corner of a room where we see forthe first time a little shrine with a picture of a woman. Together theylight an incense and pay their little morning tribute to the mom. It'aquiet moment that tell a thousand words: no need for commentary or anyexplanation. It's clear these two have been doing this for a while.It's clear they are incredibly close to each other. Mom is gone. Theyare both alone, but they have each other We fill the gaps in aninstant. It's an incredibly poignant moment. This time there is nomusic playing underneath. The director knows when to manipulate itsaudience and when he should take a step back and let us make our ownmind and feel what we want to feel. Life in a day is full of simplemoments like this one. So simple and yet so powerful. Don't worry,there are a lot of laugh-out-loud moments too. Generally speaking thefilm is edited in such a way that shows a certain optimism that comeswith the beginning of a new day and yet is some cases, this fades awayfor some as we approach sunset and go through the night by which timeloneliness takes over the weakest ones. It's a beautifully constructeddevice, which might be a bit contrived but it works perfectly. In theend, this is a film about everything: rich countries and poorcountries, smiles and tears (quite a lot in my case, I must confess),day and night, life and death, animals and humans, man and women,whites, blacks, gays, straights, children and very old people,happiness and desperation. We are all there, with our fears, ouridiosyncrasies, our routines, our doubts, our weaknesses Everybodywill come out of it and will probably remember something different.Each of us might identify with a different moment in the film. Onething is certain: you will never forget it. It might not be a completemasterpiece, but there is so much good stuff in it that makes youforget the slightly sugary moments and the most heavy handed ones. Thiswas my favourite film of the year so far and definitely the mostintense emotional experience I've had in a long time.
siukong 13 March 2012
Just another extraordinary day
By its very nature, Life in a Day is an ambitious film. It seeks toencapsulate the human experience and all that it entails: life anddeath; love and hate; poverty and wealth; our dreams and our fears; andso on. I would argue that it does so successfully - or at least assuccessfully as possible for an undertaking of such scope (80,000submissions totalling 4,500 hours of footage cut down to just an hourand a half!). It manages to strike a balance between the beauty ofprofessional shooting and the raw visceral power of amateur footage.Very little seems contrived or awkward, and the editing and music donot usually distract from the simple energy of the vignettes beingshown. In fact, the score is quite good and the editing only comes tothe forefront when it's doing something meaningful - revealing links,emphasizing contrasts, or completing a thought.A few stories are highlighted and revisited as the film progresses, butin general it never lingers too long on one scene. You would think thismight hinder the presentation of some of the slower, more peacefulaspects of life, but it really doesn't. In fact, the lasting impressionfrom this film is not one of chaos but one of unity and connection.That being said, at times the emotional roller-coaster you are beingput through can be slightly bewildering. Some viewers might dislike howquickly they are brought from one emotion to another, but most willprobably be too engaged to feel more than a twinge of regret that aparticular scene couldn't last longer.Some might argue that the more brutal realities of life areunderrepresented (war, death, crime, prejudice, etc.), but I think thatperception is probably due to how much we are bombarded with them byour daily news and entertainment. Don't get me wrong, there is plentyof misery on display here (whether it be as simple as the sting ofrejection or as profound as the fear of dying), but it's often moresubtle than explicit and it's tempered by a positivity that sometimesseems to be lacking in our view of the world.As a cinema enthusiast, this film excites me with the prospect ofincreasing interactivity and grassroots power. As a human, it gives mehope that we can live in harmony and understanding. And I'm usuallyquite the cynic.Final summary: 9/10 | A
tedg 13 March 2012
Snail Eats Label
Life in a day: The Scott brothers sponsor a film with YouTube. Isuppose the idea from YouTube's side is that ordinary people make filmsthat are real, and that allow us to deeply share humanity... the kindof films you can find on Google's YouTube.This film really is good, but it is precisely because it has whatYouTube cannot give: coherence and something like a zen long form essayon engagement. It is, in other words, composed, with themes, andblending; contradictions (but without comment); differences unified.Sound and song that binds; rhythms that you can understand throughoutas the rhythms of life.Some of the people you meet, you simply fall in love with, but thiswould not be the case if you saw them alone. It only works because ofthe composition, the story that we weave that bridges the thing. Someof the scenes were clearly shot knowing the whole, and that takes awaysome of the truth of the thing, and truth matters here. But thatintroduces only minor friction.The final shot could stand alone. I'm not sure if it is computergenerated or not: a snail progresses on a billiard-sized white balluntil it encounters a label that says 'mind your own business.' Thesnail eats the label. I think YouTube would like to brand itself as avideo FaceBook in the sense of allowing anyone to see anyone, with theassumption that everyone is interesting in some way. This is engaging and personal. The source material may well have comethrough a YouTube- like process, but what this shows it that you needlong form, a story and some talent to make things that matter.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
Ruth_91 13 March 2012
One word - amazing.
For an hour and a half, I sat back and experience Life in a Day - whatdo you think happened on July 24th, 2010? Out of 4500 hours of footage,coming from countries all around the world, featuring people of allages and walks of life, in all conditions of life, with all differentkinds of quality of film, the editors and film makers have createdsomething really special. It was an exploration of humanity. It spanned from the earliest hoursof the morning to the few minutes before midnight. It was amazing tosee how creative people can be. The simplest aspects of their day -things they consider ordinary - become extraordinary. There was somebeautiful imagery. It was filled with montages (it would have to havebeen - they had to be very careful with their editing and pacing), mostof which start of on a light note, but become more serious. A beautifulscore and a wonderful soundtrack compliment it. It's funny andheartbreaking and emotional and engages with the audience by allowingus to relate via the only thing every single person on earth can relateto - being human. Our humanity. Certain people were focused on. The man from Korea who has been cyclingaround the world for over nine years, having visited 190 countries. Hesays he's not from North or South - just Korea. He hopes forreconciliation. "The impossible is possible". A gay man coming out tohis grandmother. A couple renewing their wedding vows on their 50thanniversary. One of my favourite images was of people lighting floatinglanterns and sending them up to the sky. People were asked to say what they loved, and what they feared. It'snot all light-hearted. I've said this was an exploration of humanity -we get the full range of human emotion and experiences. Love, joy,fear, birth, marriage, celebration, religion, war, anger, despair anddeath. It wouldn't be human if there was no death. People with cancer.People admitting to fear death. Some chilling footage of Love Parade inGermany - when there was that terrible stampede in the tunnel. Peopleprobably went along thinking they would just film the festival. A newsphotographer showing us his home in Afghanistan, juxtaposed with a wifein America, waiting to skype with her husband, who is fighting the war.A montage of humanity at what I felt was its most violent, wild, crazy.I won't forget the last 'Life in a Day'. A woman who stated she waitedall day for something exciting to happen, but it didn't. Nothinghappened, and it often doesn't. Life isn't amazing everyday, she says.I'm not special - but she still somehow felt that today was specialanyway. She probably didn't even dream of making it into this film. Thefeeling that this film left me with was hope. So many people in thisfilm had such hope for the future. It's wonderful to see.
ip man 12 March 2012
Making the ordinary extraordinary
Many of us struggle to experience something beautiful and extraordinaryin our lives, trying to do things which allow us to feel a littlespecial in the midst of our daily lives. What this film shows us isexactly the opposite - that the extraordinary in our lives lies in themidst of our daily activities, if we can just allow ourselves to acceptand appreciate our lives without any preconditions. We also discoverthrough this film that many others also share our hopes, fears,humanity and prejudices.I salute those who have shared their most intimate moments and privateexperiences with the rest of us for in having the courage to allowthemselves to be seen, they have shown us that it is possible to livethrough life's difficulties and still persevere - such is theresilience of the human spirit.You see the Japanese father and his young son living in an abject messand wonder why. Then you see them offering incense in remembrance ofthe deceased mother and you get that lump in your throat. There aremany other poignant moments - a young man telling his grandmother thathe is gay - you can almost hear her struggling for the right things tosay on the other end of the 'phone.This film is also about connection and what it is to be human. Despitethe sometimes blurry images, it succeeds extremely well - you careabout the people sharing their stories - because they are real peoplewith authentic stories, and not from the fevered imagination of aHollywood scriptwriter.Make sure you stay to the end to watch the final clip.It is probably the best movie I have seen this year - quite amasterpiece of experimental film making.If you only see one movie this year, make it this one.
bps3013 12 March 2012
Should have been 10 stars, had to deduct for Animal Death scene (SPOILER)
My wife and I were both absolutely engaged with this from the openingframes; funny, poignant, moving, this one was a winner and I couldn'twait to recommend it to friends and family.And then the cow slaughter scene hit and the feelgood express stoppedcold.I get the "day in the life of cultures all around the world" aspect ofthis project, but I have two questions: 1) Who in the FVCK sent in thatfootage in the first place, and what was the point? 2) Why did theproducers decide that it was important to include that footage in thefinished product? What could have and should have been required viewingfor everyone, of all ages, all over the planet was immediatelyrelegated to "Faces Of Death" status. Was the cow sick? Did it need tobe put down? Was it an animal experiment? Was it a statement aboutfactory farming? With no context by which to judge it, it simply hitsthe screen like a sledgehammer to the stomach. No warning. No rhyme orreason. If the producers were going for a "life and death" thing, thequick scene of the goat getting its throat cut should have sufficed.But to show a helpless cow trapped in a metal corral getting stunned inthe head (TWICE) and then getting stabbed in the throat AND THENwatching it bleed out was simply overkill in a bad way.If the significance of including such a graphic and depressing scene islost on me, I can accept that. I'm a realist. I don't live in a happyshiny bubble and I know that there are worse things than that thathappen on a daily basis everywhere. I eat meat. But what certainlyseemed like a celebration of human existence (its ups and downsincluded) was, in my humble opinion, tragically marred by this.
kosmasp 12 March 2012
Reality Cinema
I can see why people would be overwhelmed by this. And not only peoplewho know the guys who submitted footage for this, but quite a lot ofpeople. And while they tried to put the videos together in a fashionthat has a narrative (or something similar to it), it still shows, thatwe have random people having random discussions (ranging from funny totragic to inspiring).It is nicely done and I pretty much enjoyed it. The "filmmakers" (orthe ones who cut together the videos they received) had a difficult jobto do. Going through all that footage is not that easy. Especiallybecause you have no idea what you will find in it. And while the movieis more "real" than reality TV, it still didn't ring masterpiece in mybook. But that is taste for you ... We are all different as this moviedoes show us to an extend ...
twilightasm15 08 March 2012
In a nutshell it was fantastic.
This film is incredible beyond belief. There's not much for me tocriticize at all. The flow of clips got ever so slightly offbeat...meaning it got a bit boring. Also I don't remember there beingsubtitles. I kind of want to know what they are all saying.I dounderstand that there were a lot of different languages and theyprobably didn't have the budget to translate so much for the release atSundance. I hope they subtitle it when it hits theaters in June. Iloved this movie with all my heart and when it hits theaters, I amgoing. Also when it goes to DVD I'm getting my copy. There isn't a goodreason not to like this film. It is happy, funny, heart-wrenching andoverall one of the greatest movies I have seen.
Nico Collu 08 March 2012
A True Accomplishment
I just watched the world premiere of this movie live through YouTube onthe 28th of January starting at about 03:00 AM.Let me start by saying that this is an amazing piece of joined art.I could write tons of spoilers in this review, but it would never addup to actually watching the movie. From the beginning it adds to yourlife a sense of emotion, a sense for wanting to travel the world, asense of connection, a sense that, yes, it is a cliché statement; Weare one.It touching every emotion; I cannot put into words what I want toexpress.A Life in a Day is a movie of the ordinary yet extraordinary life ofanyone at any given time.You cannot help but feel like you are a part of every scene; of everypart of this earth; of every human being presented in this movie.Watching this at home in the early morning, I do not feel isolated inthis room - I feel like I am part of a whole, flying high, ready tolive my life every day.Like the reviewer before me, "If you don't feel empathy for all in thisvideo, something is wrong with you!" Watch the movie! - Nico Collu
Amadio 05 March 2012
If this is life... yawn
First of all I must confess; I missed the middle of the film because Ifell asleep. The idea of the film was wonderful; people all over theworld send in clips of/from their lives and the directors put togethera 'collage' and make a film. I've just seen the Sundance screening onYouTube. As was said in the Q&A afterwards, there are as many versionsas there are directors willing to take the scenes and put themtogether. This version, however, for me, was slow and boring. What awaste. So many amazing clips must have been sent, and what was puttogether focused on individuals for way too long. Poorly shot,hand-held filming is not an issue. Labouring a point is. The directorssaid that they had no idea what they would do with the footage and thatthey had to make a structure. This 'structure' did not hang togetherfor me at all. The directors started out calling it an experiment, andthen later called it a film. It is an experiment, and I do not find itto be a very successful one other than to show editors what not to do.I really hope someone else has access to the raw footage and makessomething more interesting, motivating, uplifting and representative ofthe human spirit.
DICK STEEL 04 March 2012
A Nutshell Review: Life in a Day
YouTube, LG, Tony and Ridley Scott of Scott Free Productions, KevinMacDonald taking up directing responsibilities, and some 4500submissions filtered down to just 90 minutes worth of footage. That'swhat Life in a Day is about, where anyone from around the world cansubmit a film shot on 24 July 2010 and be counted toward what would bethis feature film that's just what its title says - Life in a Day - andthe end result is something so simple in collaborative concept, but sopacking such a powerful punch.From time to time you'll wonder just about how many stories are outthere at any given time, with millions of people each having somethingto say, and experience to share, that a snapshot at any time ofeveryone's collective existential moment will take us more than alifetime to go through it, if we can capture it all in linear fashionand sieve through it like a video on fast forward. That's how Life in aDay felt, although we're spared a largely impossible task, havingthings whittled down to just one day, and submitted through technologyto the producers of the film who will then have the task of distillingthe aesthetically beautiful, meaningful shots into a coherentnarrative.Beginning from the wee hours of the morning and ending literally at2359hrs, we see how people from around the world think up of similarideas in their submissions, capturing moments which become timestampsof the day such as meals and routine rituals that find common groundwherever we are in the world. Landscapes also become very popularchoices of capture, from dawns and dusks peeking through clouds, eachdifferent yet being the same the same source, to midnight electricalcharges striking across the night time sky.It's a mixed bag rolled up together from disparate sources put togetherin rhythmic, poetic terms, engaging and of course keeping your eye outfor something that could have come from your own shores. It showcasesdiversity, yet have undertones of similarity in aspects of our lives,highlighting differences in geography yet sharing a constant range ofemotions evoked and experienced. It's the human condition on displaywith all things almost beautiful, balanced with moments of poignancyand the mundane told through creative angles.From the lot given you'll definitely have your favourite - mineinvolves one very early on in the film with a Japanese father and youngson waking up in the day, shot through fish-eyed lens - or favourites,and I'm really curious if all 4500 shorts have been uploaded somewhereon the Youtube channel for everyone to freely access and take a look atthe raw footage ourselves. Recommended!
Steve Pulaski 04 March 2012
Life as we know it on film
In late July, filmmaker Kevin MacDonald asked the Youtube community tofilm themselves on July 24, 2010 and submit the video to the Life in aDay Youtube page. The videos would be edited and made into a ninetyminute feature film that would premiere at the Sundance Film Festivalin January 2011. It was such a creative idea I couldn't wait to get myFlip and record myself, sadly, the line "must be 18 years or older"prevented me. Whatever, I was still excited to see what others wouldfilm and submit to this film. Who wouldn't? Kevin MacDonald stated "itwould be kind of like a time capsule that people in the future, maybetwenty, thirty, forty fifty, a hundred, two hundred years could saywow, that's what life was like." To be fair, Life in a Day did comewith a price. The submission rate was unprecedented, and I assume lotsof people didn't make the final cut for the film. If they did, theirclips were butchered to probably lest than a third of what they were. Afilm like this has many positives, but a lot of negatives as well.When documenting a film of this large magnitude, there are a plethoraof negatives I must state. One, I feel like the people that producedtheir own clips were cheated in a way. Both Kevin MacDonald and RidleyScott are smart people with a lot of knowledge, but it is sort ofscummy that they get to collect the check for their small part in thefilm, while the true stars were the Youtube community. To my knowledge,the "actors" in the film don't see a dime of what this movie sees.Probably just a typed letter on Youtube.Another aspect that sort of brings the film down is the fact that thereare numerous scenes that take place outside of America, or in differentcountries. That's perfectly fine, I was interested in seeing whatpeople in Egypt, Africa, Europe, Asia, or where ever would film. Thedownside is the film is absent of subtitles, making it impossible tofigure out what these people are saying. I bet the producers themselveshad no idea what these people were saying either. You can see whatthey're doing, but that only gives you the vague representation of whatis going on.Now that I've dug through the flaws, lets talk about the positives. Forthe most part, the film is shot rather well. Keep in mind, thousands ofcameras were used to shoot this movie without a doubt. Different megapixel count, different size, quality, capability, editing, whatever.It's hard to make something look that nice when numerous cameras wereinvolved. Some stuff in this film was mobile phone footage which lookedwell. Whoever cleaned up the audio/video on here is a technical genius.My favorite scene in this film was probably the homosexual teenagerconfessing his true sexual orientation to his grandmother. You can seethat he is truly nervous, and scared of her reactions to his love life.We don't hear the grandma, but we see the teen's reactions. This is thekind of thing that belongs in this movie. In ten, twenty, thirty,forty, fifty, etc years homosexuals will hopefully be accepted and notridiculed for their being, and teens won't have to worry aboutconfessing what they believe is right. They'll be accepted, and freefrom homophobic bullying.Numerous other scenes in Life in a Day are very heartfelt andemotional. The end clip is very near and dear to your hearts, and thefilm does it's best to fit these clips in chronological order becausethere is no true storyline. Life in a Day is an inventive piece of filmthat I had the pleasure to see while it was streaming Thursday January27, 2011 on it's own Youtube channel live from The Sundance FilmFestival. Such a surreal experience, and such an unforgettable film.Starring: The Youtube Community. Directed by Kevin MacDonald and RidleyScott.
fustbariclation 03 March 2012
Life in a Day is, unusually, worth the huge praise - it is truly brilliant! Sad, humbling, trite, yes, but that's us.
Wow! This has exceeded all my expectations - & I had a lot. It isn't afilm, it's an experience. If aliens were to watch any film abouthumanity, I'd want it to be this one. It is really sad, really happy,really genuine. We are such amazing, and (mainly) wonderful apes:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt16â87247/ We're so used to false,manufactured, artificial emotion in films that it's quite an unusualdelight to find the real thing.Yes, of course, any editing of so many clips has, perforce, a point ofview, an agenda, but I can't help feeling that this is a sound one, ahumanistic one. I'll have to watch it again - it just has so much, somany perspectives on what makes us human, what matters to us, what wefear, why we are what we are.I'd recommend it - humanity in the raw. Ourselves. What is best aboutthe film (given my comment above) is that it just is what it is (as faras is possible in such a duplicitous medium).I'll watch it again, and consider more what it really has to say - butmy first impression is that it is brilliant.Sad, humbling, trite, yes, but that's us.