The film “The Adjustment Bureau” by George Nolfi, is about two people who fall in love but are kept apart by the bureau and their plans/ destiny’s. The director uses music/ sound, lighting and camera shots to communicate the idea that little things can make a huge difference to the future. In the scene david and elise share a kiss while surrounded by adjustment officers, elise then notices that the officers have left. Thompson shows up and explains how they can’t change their fate, but Harry comes and shows thompson a note from the chairmen, he then told Elise and David to write their own plans.
The director uses music to convey the idea of changes. When David and Elise start kissing the music changes from intense and dark music to soft hopeful music. This change in music signifies a change in their fate, from david getting chased by the officers to erase his brain to them leaving him alone. The change in music also happens when Harry says that the chairmen had rewritten their plan so they could be together. The shift is from slow, quiet music to light and happy music. The kiss is one simple action that changed david from not being a brainless shell of a person and the music highlights it. One sentence from Harry ment that David and Elise could be together which the music shows with the change in sound and emotion.
Lighting is used when a change to David and Elises fate changed. This technique gives the viewers visual relief that the characters are safe from the officers even though on one has actually said anything. The lighting shifted from dark and gloomy to light and warm. This happens when David and Elise stop kissing and look around to notice that the officers had left and there is a extreme long shot looking over the city showing the sun light up the sky. Again the simple action of kissing caused the chairmen to change their minds and sothe lighting changed.
The director chose to have the characters on a rooftop because it’s isolated. When being on top of a skyscraper the only way to go is down, the stairs where blocked and jumping off was not a very good option. The director did this so the viewers would really focus on the situation david and elise were in, and how