Opening sequence analysis- The Sixth Sense

1. Opening
Sequence
Analysis
The Sixth Sense

2. Introduction
 The Sixth Sense is a thriller, directed by M. Night Shyamalan in 1999.
The film is based upon a boy named Cole who can see spirits that
others cannot. The protagonists Cole and Malcolm, a psychiatrist
who works with children, seeks understand Cole, and after being
haunted by the mistakes of his past, Malcolm seeks to free Cole
form the burden of gift that only he possesses. The themes revolve
around the dark and psychological, focusing upon the inner fear
and weaknesses of characters.
 The target audience, are people 15 and (which can be identified
form the certificate rating), the targeted gender is unisex, as the
appeal lies within the interests of the individual. However although
the audience is broad due to the uniqueness of the film and the
presence of a twist at the end I believe that the psycohgrapical
group of the target audience would most likely be explorer, as
within this people are excepting of something different and enjoy
the thrill and excitement of being scared. However, it is possible
that people within other groups may possess a similar appeal.

3. How the narrative is
introduced/set up
 Within the Sixth Sense the narrative is set up through the use of camerawork. This can be
seen from the shots of the house of the protagonists. This has the effect of conveying the
setting to the audience as well as creating the representation that the leading characters
are rather normal everyday people, as they are seen to be living within a rather quaint and
generic house. This helps to set up the narrative as the audience are informed of both the
characters and their surroundings creating the suggestion that the narrative will be based
upon a rather realistic portrayal of modern life.
 This has the effect of portraying the equilibrium of the characters, which links to Toderov's
narrative theory. This being that all film narratives consists of 5 stages, beginning with an
equilibrium.

4.  This is effective as this provides the audience with a false sense of
security which is later destroyed as the true supernatural themes of
the narrative are revealed. This has the effect of purposefully
hiding information, gifting the audience with only small hints of
the supernatural, such as the antagonists cryptic words of the
antagonist of seeing something that others cannot. This has the
effect of inciting enigma codes, which helps to entice the
audience into commenting to the rest of the film. As they wish to
discover the truth behind their supernatural suspicions that the
producers have purposefully paced within their minds.

5. How the characters are
introduced
 Within the opening the characters are introduced by revealing the
two suggested protagonists within their home, celebrating an
award that the male character, Malcolm has received. The use of
props (or mise en scene), such as the award Malcolm receives for
dedication to his work in helping children helps to reveal the
personalities and roles of the characters to the audience. The use
of such props helps to reveal the kind nature of the protagonist
Malcolm, also the rather relaxed and celebrational atmosphere
created helps to portray the current equilibrium of the characters.

6.  This links to Toderov's Narrative Theory, as he states that all
narratives have the same stages, the first being the
equilibrium stage.
 The has the effect of setting up the narrative, which links to
the set-up stage in Syd Field’s Four Act theory, as well as
providing the audience with a false sense of security. This
helps to incite emphasised feelings of surprise when this
equilibrium is broken further within the opening, resulting in
an extract that is unexpected and reflective of the exciting
and eventful conventions of a thriller film.

7. How the genre and themes are
established/communicated
 Within the extract the themes and genre are connoted through the use of camerawork.
 This can be seen when a high angle is used upon the protagonists as they back away from the suggested
antagonist, threatening the two with a gun. This use of camerawork has the effect of connoting the
vulnerability of the characters, as they are portrayed as small in the eyes of the antagonist. This helps to
portray the dark themes within the film, such as: fear, danger and violence, as the characters are faced
with a life threatening situation, emphasised by the low angle technique.
 This has the effect of enticing the audience by raising tension and suspense. This meets with the
conventions of an opening, this being to persuade the audience to commit to the film, which is successful
through the use of action and suspenseful events, which raise fear and intrigue within the audience as
they fear for the wellbeing of the characters, causing them to commit to the film.

8.  Also, the use of setting helps to connote the dark and thriller
conventions of the opening. This is emphasised in particularly when the
antagonist has been revealed to the characters within the bedroom.
During this scene the dark, low key lighting as well as the clear
identification of the late time of day, this being the night, connotes a
sense of danger, mystery and vulnerability for the protagonists. This is
because darkness has connotation of evil and that, this suggests fate
to be on the side of the antagonist and creates fear within the
audience as they fear for the lives of the protagonists, as well as raises
questions of whether they will survive the night.
 This creates the effect of portraying the thriller genre of the film by
inciting fear within the audience, as well as signifying the dark themes
of violence and death.
 This also helps to entice the audience into the film as they are drawn in
by the rise in suspense and the mystery and encoded enigma of
whether of not the vulnerable protagonists will live through this
dangerous event.

9. How people/places/events
are represented.
 Within the opening mise en scene is manipulated in order to represent the characters in a rather vulnerable way.
 This can be seen, when the female protagonist enters the basement alone, and the dark, low key lighting starkly contrasts with the
brightness of the room that they had previously occupied. This use juxtaposition of the bright and the dark emphasises the change in
tone, as well to connote feels of discomfort and unease, arousing fear and anticipation within the audience, as well as creating a
rather eerie representation of the setting, which incites enigma within the audience as the dark and shadowed basement, suggests
to the audience that the character is not alone, creating the suggestion of mystery and vulnerability as the character is faced with
the unknown.
 These incited emotions link to the conventions of an opening sequence, this being convince the audience to commit to the film. This
use of low key lighting also connotes some of the dark themes within the film. For example death and the supernatural, this helps to
intrigue and immediately appeal o the correct target audience, as well as to successfully connote the thriller genre of the film.
 This idea of using the contrast of light and dark in order to connote the negative and positive emotions of the characters links to
Claude’s theory of visual opposition. As within his theory he states how lighting is used in order to portray certain individual and to
signify their roles the audience, for example dark lighting would connote that of an evil presence, much like that within the extract
where the dark basement suggests it to be the home of a form of evil, or frightening presence.

10.  Also within the opening camerawork is used in order to connote certain
themes within the film.
 This can be seen, when the protagonist, Malcolm, is lying upon a bed,
suffering from a bullet wound. Within this extract the use of a Birdseye
view shot which is slowly zooming out, further away from the protagonist
almost connotes that of the character's fading life force, this connotes
the severity of the injury as well as creates a pause for the audience in
which the negative emotions of: shock, sadness and disbelief, are
emphasised. This helps to entice the audience as well as leaving an
open ending for this scene. This links to narrative structure and has the
effect of leaving a cliff-hanger for the audience, as although the
characters death seems for certain, the extract cuts to black before the
outcome is clear. This incites enigma codes within the audience,
enticing them to watch the rest of the film.

11. Conclusion
 In conclusion, I have discovered that opening sequences
serve the purpose to not only persuade audiences to
commit to the film but to create the desired representation
of the overall media text. As within The sixth Sense the focus
upon the use of lighting techniques, and the time of day in
order to portray the film in a very dark and suspenseful way,
has been done so in order to both incite the desired
feelings of fear within the audience, conventional to the
thriller genre as well as to foreshadow future events and
themes to the audience. This has the effects of appealing
to the correct audience as those who enjoy fear will
become enticed to se what other scares and excitement
awaits them deeper within. Helping to both entice and
please the audience, as they are excited and impressed
with the starkly contrasting scenes of light happiness and
intense darkness.