The Sixth Sense. Through close analysis of the restaurant scene and the scene where Dr Crowe is in the house with both Cole and his mother, discuss the techniques used to make the audience believe that Dr Crowe is alive.

Authors Avatar

The Sixth Sense

Through close analysis of the restaurant scene and the scene where Dr Crowe is in the hose with both Cole and his mother, discuss the techniques used to make the audience believe that Dr Crowe is alive.

  The Sixth Sense made in 1999, a suspense drama thriller directed by Manoj Night Shyamalan.

 Dr Malcom Crowe (Bruce Willis) is a child psychologist, one night he and his wife were celebrating his award, for his “recognition of outstanding achievement in the field of child psychology”, was visited by Vincent Grey an ex-patient. Before Grey committed suicide, he shot Dr Crowe. A year passes and he is signed on to a boy called Cole Sear played by Haley Joel Osment, who has the same conditions as Grey.

  A couple of chapters into the story it seems that Dr Crowe is still alive. It is a detailed plot twist, full of scenes that confuse the audience, making them believe that Dr Crowe is alive. For example the scene at the restaurant and when he is with Cole and his mother at their home highlighted the plots twist.

  To answer the question above, I am going to look at the techniques the director uses to make the audience think that Dr Crowe is alive in the two scenes.

  At the beginning of the restaurant scene, the first shot is a long shot, which establishes the scene, so the audience knows where the scene is set. Then we see Anna at a table, dressed in red with her head down, the table is at centre of shot, the audience see that this shot focuses on her. Gradually the camera zooms in on the table as Dr Crowe storms in quickly and apologises immediately. This demonstrates to the audience that this is a typical argument because he’s late. By this time an over the shoulder shot has been established, so we only see his face not hers, this shot concentrates on his speech, so the audience know what he is talking about but they can not tell if Anna has acknowledged him. This technique is a good one to show that Dr Crowe is alive when he is not.

  Then she lifts her head up but we cannot see her face, she then moves it despondently to the side, this makes the audience think- is she ignoring him for being late? After this shot, he says “I thought the other Italian restaurant I asked you to marry me in” then tilts his head quizzically to the side trying to gauge her expression. She does not respond. The audience are, wondering why she isn’t responding to him. The shot is still an over the shoulder shot, Dr Crowe sits down mouthing the work “ok”. This illustrates to the audience that he has accepted her being in a mood. They can see that Dr Crowe is still upset about Anna not replying. Then Dr Crowe tries again “I’m sorry I just don’t seem to be able to keep track of time” He is tired “and I didn’t have a very good session today. I” he sighs “they’re both similar, same mannerisms, same expressions ect. ect”. This shot is an interview shot because the audience cannot see the reactions from Anna, so the camera stays on Dr Crowe, who changes the subject so he can get a reply from Anna about his day. Dr Crowe then shakes his head and leans back “I think it might be some kind of abuse...” he continues to discuss the case with Anna; here we are still in an interview shot. At this point, the audience are still questioning on whether Anna is reacting to his speech. Throughout Dr Crowe’s discourse and moving around, the camera has been zooming in gradually to give a side shot of the couple at the table. Now we are in a medium close up. The audience see the Anna’s and Dr Crowe’s facial expressions and body language more clearly, without getting uncomfortably close. We then see Ann’s face in profile at the right hand side of the screen. She lifts her head. It seems that she is looking at him but this is caused by the camera angle which is slightly on the diagonal. The audience are now focussed on him and no sight of Anna; this makes us think again if she’s reacting to his speech. The camera is angled at Dr Crowe even though he is at the side of the screen. To the audience he is still the main focus of our attention. The Waitress walks past the table in the background; she doesn’t notice anything odd. This makes the audience believe that nothing seems out of the ordinary. The conversation continues but Anna never speaks, they are now in an interview shot, the audience are still thinking: why isn’t she replying to him? Is she still annoyed that he was late?  The camera zooms away from Dr Crowe and follows the waitress putting down the bill towards Anna and faces her. Now the interview shot has been reversed. In this shot the audience have more questions popping up in their heads; how come the bill went towards Anna?  Did the waitress even notice Dr Crowe? What’s Dr Crowe’s reaction of the bill going to Anna? While the audience are thinking about these questions, no response comes out of Anna. The interview shot that has been reversed is another good technique that made us believe Dr Crowe is alive.

Join now!

  Dr Crowe then tries to take the bill, but Anna gets it first and writes a cheque. A close up shot has been produced, focusing on her writing the cheque. At this moment the audience think that Anna’s annoyed and disappointed. The bill is taken away, the camera zooms into a medium shot on Anna, and she sighs heavily then looks up saying “Happy Anniversary”. The audience are now sure she is disappointed as she said that sarcastically, and are now wondering what’s Dr Crowe’s reaction when she said that? The camera follows Anna as she gets up and ...

This is a preview of the whole essay