The Sixth Sense

M. Night Shyamalans, 1999 film The Sixth Sense is a supernatural thriller which switches between an emotional story of Dr. Crowe (Bruce Willis) and the chilling ghost story witnessed by Cole (Haley Joel Osment). The story leads the audience to perceive the events unfolding around Dr. Crowe and his wife differently than they are revealed to be at the end of the film as the story around Cole unfolds and with the ghosts seen in a completely different light towards the final act of the film. The colour palette used for the film reflects subtly upon certain incidents in the story and the impacts of the ghosts upon the natural world. The film has become well known for its mixture of an emotional story with the ghost story and how the final act reveals a twist, leading film critic Andrew Collins to start in his review, The Sixth Sense, M Night Shyamalan has fashioned a modern classic here, a chilly, intelligent, emotional ghost story that relies not on the obligatory gore and knifeplay for its many shocks but on glimpses of an afterlife that's anything but angels and harps. (Collins, 2013) due to how the story changes overtime and the audiences perception of the ghosts changes.

Fig. 1 The Sixth Sense Poster [1999]

The story arc of the film leads the audience to believe that Dr. Crowe is alive and is trying to help Cole to make up for the child that he didnt help enough at the beginning of the film. As a result of this it seems to be causing problems between him and his wife, this is the perception of the audience throughout the film until the final act where the twist is revealed that Dr. Crowe is actually a ghost and the audience begins to question all of the previous events involving him. This twist in the story is what makes it the film work so well not just as a ghost story, leading film critic Dustin Putman to state in his review, The Sixth Sense, Amazing, too, how the ending has the sheer force to completely blindside when the final,

ultimate twist occurs. "The Sixth Sense" is a genuine experience (Putman, 2000) this is because of how unexpected the twist is and how it changes the perception of all of the previous events in the film. The ghosts are seen only through the eyes of Cole and as a result of this the audiences perception of the ghosts and fear of the ghosts is the same as Coles fear of them. At the beginning of the film the ghosts are intentionally scary and the audience feels the fear felt by Cole as he sees these ghosts, but as the story unfolds and Cole begins to listen to the ghosts they stop being scary and become normal, as his view of them changes so does the audiences and the director stops showing them in scary situations. The colour palette for the film lacks the colour red apart from in certain instances when it is used to indicate when an object has been affected by a ghost or the item is featured in emotional situations, such as the red balloon seen in Fig. 2 below which leads Cole up the stairs towards the ghost in the cupboard at the top. When explaining the use of the colour red and what it stands for M. Night Shyamalan stated that it is used for, anything in the real world that has been tainted by the other world (Rules and Clues, 1999) and to connote really explosively emotional moments and situations (Rules and Clues, 1999) this adds impact to the situations and makes them stand out as key moments in the film.

Fig. 2 Red Balloon (1999)

The film successfully manages to make the ghost story emotional by how different events unfold and not constantly relying on scaring the audience to make the film work. As the film goes on the story changes making it have a bigger impact on the audience, followed by the emotional twist at the end which makes it so successful.

Bibliography
Collins, A. (2013) The Sixth Sense. At: http://www.radiotimes.com/film/ccrzg/the-sixth-sense (Accessed 24/03/14) Putman, Dustin. (2000) The Sixth Sense. At: http://www.themovieboy.com/reviews/s/99_sixthsense.htm (Accessed 24/03/14) Rules and Clues From: The Sixth Sense (1999) Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan. [DVD] USA: Hollywood Pictures. (Accessed 24/03/14)

Illustrations List
Fig. 1 The Sixth Sense Poster (1999) [Poster] At: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sixth_Sense (Accessed 24/03/14) Fig. 2 Red Balloon. (1999) From The Sixth Sense. Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan. [Film Still] USA: Hollywood Pictures. (Accessed 24/03/14)