The Sixth Sense 1999

BOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you're reading this, the phrase in itself is not quite something you'd normally consider as scary. Even more so considering it is nothing more than text upon a computer screen. But what would happen, if these words that you are reading, belong not to the boy writing this blog, but to something else. Something not from this world? With that, this week, we have the 1999 movie "The Sixth Sense".

(But we only have five senses D= )

Okay so this week we'll be observing how the element of horror was introduced and used throughout the movie both as a story plot tool as well as a means to immerse the audience. So here is an interesting thing I've noticed about The Sixth Sense, is that no one ever comes with pre-existing empathy for the characters on screen. It is the job of the director to immerse the audience, create the bonds between the audience and the character in order for the audience to relate and feel a certain array of emotions for the characters. Now this could easily apply for almost any movie which revolves around a main protagonist. However as the movie progress, a kind of expectancy is created. A pattern rises and you, the audience will be able to follow it.

Now how The Sixth Sense has used this would be during the scenes in which the ghost appear. The music changes, a particular angle is used to focus or suggest that the focus of the frame is on something ominous in the background. This can easily be considered a pattern used to create immersion for the audience's viewing of the scene. But like how most horrors do it is, breaking the pattern. Of course how this works depends on how the director uses the elements of the story. Kinda of like

A to B to C to D

and then you proceed to do this 

          BOOOOO!!!

A to B to ^ C to D

So basically, what the director did was exactly that. This could be seen during the scene when Cole was inside his little safe place, and the little girl ghost was introduced. The music changes, the roof starting to break at the seems and the girl suddenly moving into frame behind him. Those were the build up, the patterns of what to expect and the girl suddenly appearing behind frame could be argued to be what interrupt the pattern. So how horror works in most cases would be to build an expectancy in the audience, where the scare was going to happen. And do exactly the opposite of it. Of course this does not necessarily work for every single individual, but with the right level of immersion, it should be easily achieved to give the audience a nice proper scaring. 

Now as a plot tool, horror or the depiction of horror in The Sixth Sense are the usual paranormal activity. It is scary cause we lack any form of understanding or comprehension of it. Or better yet the fear of the unknown. This was used as a plot tool by creating the image of ghost as frightening and scary dead people. For lack of better understanding, it only came to light when our Dr suggested to Cole that maybe they want something from him. In other words, plot twist. Yes they are scary but they are not necessarily evil, like how we have a tendency to associate ghost, violent deaths to things that are evil. In summary, the directors or writers in this case, show you something scary which you think might be evil or bad but is in actual reality simply something misunderstood.