Cranes appear frequently throughout the film, typically with Chiyoko in the same frame. In Japanese culture, cranes represent longevity and fidelity, and are said to live for a thousand years.
The character of Chiyoko herself is somewhat reminiscent of Setsuko Hara, a famed Japanese movie star of the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, who likewise withdrew suddenly from public life. Satoshi Kon has recognized this influence in an interview, also citing Hideko Takamine, but insisting that Chiyoko is primarily a universal human character.
A visual nod is made to the films of Yasujiro Ozu in a scene where the protagonist is talking with her mother, which is framed in the director's iconic style: a static symmetrical interior shot, the camera placed at the height of a sitting man's eyes and a deliberate mise-en-scene, complete with teapot.
Various photographic effects of aging are used in order to make the Chiyoko's films seem old: were filmed separately and passed through different laboratory and telecine processes from the rest of the film, no CG effects were used.
The filtering of Chiyoko's life through film history allows the setting, characters, and the visual style of the film to change suddenly. Some of the scenes are reminiscent of Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints, while others evoke Akira Kurosawa movies (particularly Throne of Blood). Satoshi Kon has acknowledged the influence of Throne of Blood, but says that for the most part there are no specific references in his segments. Instead he drew on a vague general impression of the history of Japanese filmmaking and visual art for his different styles and stories; Kon insists that historical film was actually not a subject he had much familiarity with before he made Millennium Actress. He studied the settings and costumes carefully, however, and learned a lot in the making of the film, such as the history of the kimono.