RESEARCH: LIFE IN A DAY (2011 FILM)

Why we looked at the film "Life in a Day":

I have looked at the film "Life in a Day" as it is a part of our research into the genres of short film. I have been looking at the video from an artistic and institutional point of view. 

About the film:

The film is an example of crowdsourced drama/documentary film meaning that it was made from a collection of video clips made by the general public from all around the world on a single day. The duration of the film is 94 minutes and 53 seconds long. It was directed by Kevin Macdonald and  debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on January 27th, 2011. The premier was streamed live on youtube; on october 31, 2011, YouTube announced that the full length film would be available for free on their website as well as on DVD. Therefore the film's distribution methods would be considered unconventional. Film posters were used to advertise to a larger audience which demonstrates a conventional method.  

Ridley scott

[Example of close ups used in
the film]

[Example of low shot as well as
 handheld/phone camera used in
the film] 

• Scott was responsible for the editing of the film 
• close ups were very common as well as low shots and use of relections and mirror shots.
•  The quality of the footage suggests that a lot of filming was handheld - many were likely to be using mobile phones. 
• Scott has also included lots of cuts within the film including match cuts as well as the used of pull focus 
• scott's editing has established the scene and the mood - when the viewer's see poverty the sound used is upbeat or hopeful 
• Scott's work was based around a particular structure. This structure was that the film would show a full day from dawn to dusk. 
• Scott used a lot of speeded up filming which has established the scenes such as can be seen below:

[Speeded up filming/editing is shown above as the clouds clear gradually in these shots]

Convergence 

• The film demonstrated convergence. This is the coming together of varying software/technology -  we no longer just consume, we are considered producers as well. This shows the technological development of the modern day. Web 2.0 enables this as a more updated and organised version of the world wide web. 
• The film would not have bee possible 10 years ago or do as people had neither the knowledge nor the technology to create there own footage for this sort of project. 
• The film "couldn't have been made without technology. Ten years ago it wou;'ve been impossible" (Joe Walker, date July 29th 2011)  
• Michael Wesch highlights how he refers to this as "participatory culture" which is explained in a youtube video entitled "We are all producers" another example of a crowd sourced film:

Screenshots from the video: "We are all producers"

Websites:
Joe Walker - "Life in a Day Distills 4,500 Hours of Intimate Video Into Urgent Documentary" (WebCite archive),
Michael Wesch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B73hbpeJXFs