YouTube shows a day through eyes around the world

A "Life in a Day" channel available at the popular video-sharing website yesterday let people see moments from July 24 captured by cameras as part of an experiment to create a documentary about a single day on Earth.

A total of 80,000 videos were submitted from 197 countries in what YouTube billed as a project to create "the world's largest user-generated film."

"Now, you can explore many of these videos in the gallery on the Life in a Day channel," said Nate Weinstein of YouTube entertainment marketing. "To make browsing easy, you can sort videos by geography, time of day, mood and more."

The channel is at youtube.com/lifeinaday. Director Kevin Macdonald and producer Ridley Scott are weaving video snippets into a full-length documentary "Life in a Day" film that will premier at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Utah in January.

Scott is the Oscar-winning director of "Blade Runner," "Gladiator," "Thelma and Louise" and other hit films.

Macdonald directed "The Last King of Scotland," "Touching the Void," "One Day in September" and other films.

Google-owned YouTube describes the project as a "historic cinematic experiment" intended to "document one day, as seen through the eyes of people around the world."

Contributors whose footage makes the final cut will be credited as co-directors and 20 will be selected to attend the premiere.