Keith Loutit

We’ll probably never know how filmmaker Keith Loutit manages to get the incredibly satisfying ‘miniature’ effect into his films, but what you will manage to work out is that they’re pretty astounding. Luckily for your and our eyes Keith’s got a new site with some new work and he kindly took the time out from his laboratory to talk us through what’s new.

Hey Keith – great new site, can you tell us what’s new?

Hi Alex. The idea behind the new keithloutit.com is to provide a home for my Little Sydney project that has outgrown the short film format, and provide an environment where visitors can share individual scenes that they like. I have a long period of international travel coming up for the Small Worlds project, and this site also allows me to grow the body of work internationally, and upload new content as I shoot it, so I can involve visitors in the process.

How did you come up with your very recognisable style of film making?

I was drawn to photography and film making as a means of recording the world around me. Although my work is heavy stylised, my aim is mostly documentary in nature. I saw the combination of tilt shift and time-lapse photography as a means of creating a new style of documentary film-making. I first experimented with timelapse as a means of overcoming the slowmotion effects of tilt shift film making, but through experimentation its become a recipe of time and focus that that enhances the illusion of miniaturization. I combine large format digital equipment and techniques with digital capture.

Where do you see your work heading?

There is still a long way to go with the style, both in terms of new subjects, and new techniques. I am currently filming my Small Worlds project, that documents the world’s great cities, landscapes and monuments of the ancient world in miniature. In a time of population explosion, impacts to our environment, and concern over limited resources our world feels smaller than ever and I hope that this work inspires people by presenting mankind as a positive collaborative force, and for people to see wonder in the ordinary.