Gene Yang has noted the resemblance between the illustrations and aged photos, and the presence of realistic-looking humans in abstract and bizarre environments that combine futuristic and old-fashioned aesthetics.[4] Tan used real-life models to create a storyboard. He also shot pictures in his garage, using a video camera and empty boxes to create lighting.[5] Shaun Tan has commented on the reason for this process: "I was very dependent on photography for a lot of the drawings, because they're photo-realistic. It's not my favorite style of working, and I didn't feel very confident. The other thing was continuity. When I started, I was drawing everything out of my head by hand, and I was finding that there were accumulating continuity problems—just little things that you notice subconsciously, like the length of a sleeve, how a lapel falls, where the rim of a hat is. The only way to register all of that properly was to photograph a lot of the stuff."[3] Shaun Tan has commented that he was influenced by The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.[6]
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