Director Martin Talbot was inspired by a documentary years ago about Place Ville-Marie that included an interview with a guy whose sole job was to replace all the light bulbs in the office tower.
When Henri has left the orphanage and wonders what to do, he remembers the advice one of the nuns had given him: "... just follow the signs that Our Lord sends." Henri then begins to follow the swans that pass by. This is a play on words in French; the French word for signs (signes) sounds the same as the word for swans (cygnes).