YouTube Teams Up with Ridley Scott for Experimental Documentary

YouTube leveled the playing field for videos. Anyone with a webcam can create a YouTube video, one that can become much more popular than professional content available on the same platform. Of course, just because you can doesn’t mean you should, the site doesn’t exactly suffer a shortage of meaningless, insipid videos.

However, YouTube is now trying to prove that recordings of even everyday happenings of regular people can not only be interesting but even artistic and is partnering with some big names from Hollywood to make it happen.

“Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of ‘Life in a Day,’ a historic cinematic experiment that will attempt to do just that: document one day, as seen through the eyes of people around the world. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a snapshot of your life on camera,” YouTube announced.

“You can film the ordinary -- a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary -- a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage,” the announcement explained.

That in itself sounds like something many heavy YouTube users would like to sink their teeth into, but projects like these are nothing new, Vimeo for example regularly challenges its users to create videos on a set theme. What is different this time is that the videos users upload may end up in a feature documentary film under the guidance of Oscar-winning director by Kevin Macdonald. The project counts Ridley Scott as one of its executive producers.

The most interesting videos and shots will be gathered and pieced together to create the full-length documentary. The finished products will premier at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. If part of your video is used, you will be credited as co-director. Twenty contributors will also be selected to accompany the film’s creators at the Sundance premiere.