This is a photographic method called "tilt-shift". It is based on the use of certain lenses that have very specific focal lengths, which keep a central area in fine focus, while fuzzing out nearer and farther areas. Which ends up making the entire plateau look like a miniature (as this super-tight focus is often used in photographing tiny objects). This video artist, Keith Loutit, has used this method along with time-lapse, to create a movie that has that "Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer" stop-motion look to it. In miniature. But it's all REAL. Full-sized people, buildings, ships, mountains, oceans...
I find it all mesmerizing and beautiful.
Bathtub IV from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.
Here's another:
