forms at disorienting angles. The film has elements of German Expressionism, echoing The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920); its opening credits, in particular, are angular and expressionistic. A single 400-watt lamp was used as lighting for the film; two lamps were originally planned, but one burned out before filming began. During closeups, the actors would hold the light bulb in their hands to light their faces. When an actor changed position, they would switch the bulb from one hand to another. The actors' faces are often in partial shadow as a result, their features obscured. Toland also used small reflectors which he borrowed from film studios, which included a light bulb hung inside a cone-shaped mirror. The film's acting is abstract and stylized, with the actors mouthing gibberish instead of speaking words. A recording of Rhapsody in Blue was played constantly during filming, so that the actors would (in Florey's words) become "saturated" with the rhythm of the "blues". This was a source of annoyance for his neighbors and landlord. Scenes of Hollywood cityscapes and shots of heaven at the end of the film were achieved with miniature sets which were filmed in long shots to appear large and expansive. A total of 45 sets were built, none larger than about two square feet and the most expensive costing $1.67. It took days to prepare the sets; Florey removed cardboard from laundered shirts and cut them into squares, which Vorkapić painted impressionistically to resemble buildings. The elevated trains in the cityscapes were toy trains which Florey purchased and mounted on pasteboard runways; he pulled them along the track on a string with one hand, and shot the scene with the other. Movement on the miniature sets was simulated by moving lamps and casting shadows. To make the sets look more realistic (and to conceal defects), prisms and kaleidoscopes were placed in front of the camera lens and moved during filming; a cylindrical lens was rotated during filming to magnify an image to the desired diameter. According to Florey, this was useful in "giving the scenes the rhythms which we thought they required". Skyscrapers were oblong cubes filmed from an angle which exaggerated their height. To create the effect of sunlight reflecting from buildings, one person would stand on one side of the cubes with a mirror; another would stand on the opposite side with a light bulb and swing it