created role required, and when Wenders and Falk met, they conceived ideas of the character sketching and searching for a hat. Nick Cave and his band were based in West Berlin, with Wenders calling him "a real Berlin hero" and deciding "It was inconceivable for me to make a film in Berlin without showing one of his concerts". Filming The film was shot by Henri Alekan, whose cinematography represents the angels' point of view in monochrome, as they cannot see colours, and switches to colour to show the human point of view. During filming, Alekan used a very old and fragile silk stocking that had belonged to his grandmother as a filter for the monochromatic sequences, adding a touch of sepia to the black and white. Wenders felt it was natural that angels without experience of the physical world would not see colour, and also thought black-and-white cinematography by Alekan would provide a novel view of Berlin. A challenge in the cinematography was posed by using the camera for the perception of angels, as angels are not restrained in how far they can observe, in any dimension. The story's Circus Alekan is named in the cinematographer's honour. Filming took place at actual locations in West Berlin, such as the Siegessäule, Hans Scharoun's Berlin State Library, Potsdamerplatz with the disused elevated track of the M-Bahn, the Lohmühlenbrücke, the Langenscheidtbrücke (the motorcycle accident), Oranienstrasse, Goebenstrasse 6 (where Damiel exchanges his breastplate for a loud check jacket), Waldemarstrasse (where Damiel comes to as a human), Günzelstrasse U-Bahn station, the Anhalter Bahnhof, Theodor-Wolff-Park (site of the circus), Hochbunker Pallasstrasse (Peter Falk's film set) and the Hotel Esplanade (the concert). Most shots of the Wall are genuine, although the set for the scene in the death strip, in which Damiel announces his decision to become human, was specially built. Some pieces of the recreation were made from inexpensive wood, with one being destroyed by rain during production. With little idea of how to portray the angels and no costume design, Wenders said the filmmakers consulted artwork, experimented, and found the idea of armor during production, and told U.S. filmmaker Brad Silberling they did not decide on overcoats until later. The hairstyle was loosely inspired by a photograph of a Japanese warrior. Although the circus scenes required extensive and risky acrobatics, Dommartin was able to learn the trapeze and rope moves in a mere eight weeks,