The Sixth Sense
Thriller research
Director: M.Night Shyamalan
Genre: Thriller, drama, mystery
Year made: 1999
Production Company: Bary Mendel Productions, Hollywood Pictures, The Kennedy/Marshall company, Spyglass Entertainment.
The Sixth Sense explores the supernatural from a humanised perspective. This thriller film ultimatley revolves around the communcation with each of the characters. The complex narrative structure confounds understanding until its very end.
1. M.Night Shyamalan immedietley uses thriller conventions. The first shot uses noir lighting. Showing a femme fatale dressed up in a formal dress and high heels walking down into a basement, an enclosed space.
2. The director uses voiceovers for important parts in the film. For example, when Dr Malcolm Crowe is talking to Cole about his pictures a voiceover is used to show Coles mother cleaning his room and finding one of his pictures with "i'll kill all you bastards" written on it in Coles writing and "someone stop the burning"
3. On the famous line "I see dead people" the camera zooms into Coles face to capture his emotions and bring the audience in to the action. This line leaves suspense and understanding to a few loose ends in the previous hour of the film.
4. M.Night Shyamalan uses a series of long shots of Dr. Malcolm Crowe throughout the film to show his progression towards the end of the film.
5. The director uses colour to signify danger. A red door handle signifys danger. Cole is wearing a red jumper when he is attacked. A red ballon floats to the top of a big staircase just before he is attacked, the ballon popping shows the danger Cole is about to face. A slow motion shot ends the scene, as Cole is carried out by his mother. This is the kind of shot you would commonly find in a war film to show grief and suspense.
6. Dr Malcolm Crowe is presented just as a normal, successful doctor or psychologist, he wears the same grey suit throughout the film and always has a good appearence.
The central character, Cole Sear is stereotyped the opposite as to what most young american boys are seen as. Cole seems somewhat intelligent and well-mannered whereas young boys are mostly always seen as a handful and out-of-control. We see this contrast with some of Coles classmates who seen to bully him and dislike him because he is 'different'. The relationship between Cole and Dr Malcolm Crowe makes Cole seem more mature in that aspect. The director presents Coles mother as a skeptic single mother who is struggling to reach out and communicate with her son, living a hectic lifestyle she seems to have little time for her son. Ultimatley creating space between her and Cole. The moment where Coles mother and the audience realise her alienation from Cole is when she realises a flicker of light in every photograph of Cole, she notices that it isnt normal. This point is enhanced by the diegetic music that his mother is listening to through her headphones, this looks like she is choosing to be seperate from the rest of the world, this is in contrast with the reality as the subject matter in this scene is very important.
7. The demographic user ratings for this film is "males under 18" and "aged under 18" both at 8.6%. The director has inadvertently appealed to this demographic by his story line, the way Cole plays with his toy soldiers and hides in his den which is his "safe zone" it is also young people or young males that would have an imagination like Coles or believe they have had encounters with the supernatural. The casting is alsp appealing to this demographic as both of the main characters are male and Bruce Willis is a male movie icon who is famous for starring in action films which is also appealing to this demographic.
8. The target audience is male and is aimed at a mainstream audience, however it is way more niche than that. This target audience may also enjoy "What lies beneath" because of its supernatural element to the plot. The stylistic features of both films are similar, such as the minimal characters and emphasis on contact with the supernatural. It was made and produced at the same time, possibly competing with the sixth sense.
9. The Sixth Sense has an unexpected twist and the audience is shocked by the outcome. This is in contrast with modern thrillers such as: "Pulp Fiction"
Thriller research
Director: M.Night Shyamalan
Genre: Thriller, drama, mystery
Year made: 1999
Production Company: Bary Mendel Productions, Hollywood Pictures, The Kennedy/Marshall company, Spyglass Entertainment.
The Sixth Sense explores the supernatural from a humanised perspective. This thriller film ultimatley revolves around the communcation with each of the characters. The complex narrative structure confounds understanding until its very end.
1. M.Night Shyamalan immedietley uses thriller conventions. The first shot uses noir lighting. Showing a femme fatale dressed up in a formal dress and high heels walking down into a basement, an enclosed space.
2. The director uses voiceovers for important parts in the film. For example, when Dr Malcolm Crowe is talking to Cole about his pictures a voiceover is used to show Coles mother cleaning his room and finding one of his pictures with "i'll kill all you bastards" written on it in Coles writing and "someone stop the burning"
3. On the famous line "I see dead people" the camera zooms into Coles face to capture his emotions and bring the audience in to the action. This line leaves suspense and understanding to a few loose ends in the previous hour of the film.
4. M.Night Shyamalan uses a series of long shots of Dr. Malcolm Crowe throughout the film to show his progression towards the end of the film.
5. The director uses colour to signify danger. A red door handle signifys danger. Cole is wearing a red jumper when he is attacked. A red ballon floats to the top of a big staircase just before he is attacked, the ballon popping shows the danger Cole is about to face. A slow motion shot ends the scene, as Cole is carried out by his mother. This is the kind of shot you would commonly find in a war film to show grief and suspense.
6. Dr Malcolm Crowe is presented just as a normal, successful doctor or psychologist, he wears the same grey suit throughout the film and always has a good appearence.
The central character, Cole Sear is stereotyped the opposite as to what most young american boys are seen as. Cole seems somewhat intelligent and well-mannered whereas young boys are mostly always seen as a handful and out-of-control. We see this contrast with some of Coles classmates who seen to bully him and dislike him because he is 'different'. The relationship between Cole and Dr Malcolm Crowe makes Cole seem more mature in that aspect. The director presents Coles mother as a skeptic single mother who is struggling to reach out and communicate with her son, living a hectic lifestyle she seems to have little time for her son. Ultimatley creating space between her and Cole. The moment where Coles mother and the audience realise her alienation from Cole is when she realises a flicker of light in every photograph of Cole, she notices that it isnt normal. This point is enhanced by the diegetic music that his mother is listening to through her headphones, this looks like she is choosing to be seperate from the rest of the world, this is in contrast with the reality as the subject matter in this scene is very important.
7. The demographic user ratings for this film is "males under 18" and "aged under 18" both at 8.6%. The director has inadvertently appealed to this demographic by his story line, the way Cole plays with his toy soldiers and hides in his den which is his "safe zone" it is also young people or young males that would have an imagination like Coles or believe they have had encounters with the supernatural. The casting is alsp appealing to this demographic as both of the main characters are male and Bruce Willis is a male movie icon who is famous for starring in action films which is also appealing to this demographic.
8. The target audience is male and is aimed at a mainstream audience, however it is way more niche than that. This target audience may also enjoy "What lies beneath" because of its supernatural element to the plot. The stylistic features of both films are similar, such as the minimal characters and emphasis on contact with the supernatural. It was made and produced at the same time, possibly competing with the sixth sense.
9. The Sixth Sense has an unexpected twist and the audience is shocked by the outcome. This is in contrast with modern thrillers such as: "Pulp Fiction"
....The central character, Cole Sear is stereotyped the opposite as to what most young american boys are seen as. Cole seems somewhat intelligent and well-mannered whereas young boys are mostly always seen as a handful and out-of-control...
ReplyDeleteAvoid generalisations/sweeping statements without illustrating your point with references to research! In what films or TV dramas/documentaries are young American boys represented as out of control?
Re your last point, there is a twist in The Sixth Sense which you haven't explained; Pulp Fiction also has a twist at the end which is very clever and very funny and less predictable than the twist in The Sixth Sense.
Could you explain the twists in both of these thrillers to strengthen your mark. Just add another post.
Overall basic understanding of film language.