The audience sees through a 'camera' - that is to say, the more a shot looks like it is being filmed by a physical camera, the more realism it adds. From camera shakes and motion blur as objects rocket past close to the viewer, to lens effects such as lens flare and focus shifting.

Perhaps one of the most effective of these, and always seems to persuade my brain that what I'm looking at is real is the use of shallow depth-of-field shots, and the shifting of focus. This is often used to draw your eye from one subject to another without physically moving the camera or figures. Yet it is also used to great effect to give a sense of scale to the audience. Incredibly shallow depth of field is often felt in close up shots, with much wider in mid-range shots.

The entire film can be seen as a clash between the 'perfect' and, for want of a better word, gritty, world of the Axiom in space, and ruined Earth.