Mesmerizing Time-lapse Video Shows the inside of Los Angeles Airport

Los Angeles airport is among largest and busiest airport in the world and a team of talented time-lapse photographers gained privileged access to capture the bustling life of this major airline hub.

In 2013, filmmaker Chris Pritchard was waiting for a shot to beging on the rooftop of his hotel when he noticed all the activity happening around the nearby LAX airport.

The artist explains that he “became fascinated with the many layers of movement that were visible — planes taking off and landing, planes taxiing, ground support equipment moving on the ramp and throughout the airport, passenger vehicles on World Way, passengers on foot outside and inside the airport - all moving at their own unique pace. It made me realize that LAX is a city unto itself, with so many moving pieces and individual people all doing their part to keep it moving. Despite its struggles, it is a logistical and modern marvel. I wanted to show it in a way it had never been seen.”

Several years later, he managed to gather all the authorization and shooting clearance necessary to access the restricted areas of the airport. Having a team of photographers walking around baggage transit system, taxiways, and air traffic control room was probably not an easy task in a post 911 world obsessed with security.

But the end result was worth it and the video has been “staff picked” by Vimeo and won the “best of the month” award. The video is manly composed of time-lapse but also contains 8k footage filmed with Red Monstro and Red Helium camera. Time-lapse sequences were recorded with high resolution bodies such as the Canon 5D Mark IV, Nikon D850, and Sony a7R III.

Images used with permission, credit to Chris Pritchard and Brian Hawkins.