Analyse the use of cinematic techniques to create mood and atmosphere - Comment on their effectiveness, in creating the illusion that Malcolm Crowe is alive.

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ANALYSETHE USE OF CINEMATIC TEQNICQUES TO CREATE MOOD AND ATMOSPHERE. COMMENT ON THEIR EFFECTIVENESS, IN CREATING THE ILLUSION THAT MALCOLM CROWE IS ALIVE.

The Sixth Sense is a story about child psychologist Malcolm Crowe who, at the beginning of the film is shot. You are then shown forward in time where he appears to have recovered but is having marriage problems as his wife seems to be ignoring him. He puts all his energy in to his work, he gets particularly involved in one case. The case of Cole Sear, Cole lives alone with his mum he seems to be a very disturbed child but no one can work out why. Malcolm gradually befriends Cole and Cole learns to trust him and then he reveals his secret, he can see dead people and they are haunting him.

Malcolm works out that the way to solve Cole's problem is to not be scared of the ghosts, as they aren't there to hurt him, they just need his help. So he says goodbye to Cole feeling satisfied then he returns to his wife, only to be reminded of what a state their relationship is in, this is when it slowly starts to fit in. He remembers Cole's description of the dead people, "they don't know they're dead, they only see what they want to see, they walk around like normal people" then it all makes sense, Malcolm is dead too, that's why his wife is ignoring him and Cole is the only person he can communicate with.

The Sixth Sense is filled with effects of many different types that help to set the mood, for example the music right from the beginning of the film is eerie and suggests that there is something not quite right. The music accompanied by the camera angles and other effects really help to set the scene.

Like in the scene where Cole's mum is looking at photographs of him and is noticing that there is a strange light by him in all of them, which is suggesting that he has been able to see ghosts all his life. There is high pitched tinkling music playing possibly on the piano which almost suggests she is being enlightened and is starting to realise something is wrong. Her head obstructs the camera so at first you can't see what she is looking at and then as she moves it the camera pans across them as it slowly discloses the information to the viewer so its as though it is only just getting through to the viewer as it is to his mum, so we can then feel some emotion and sympathise with his mum as for a while we are both uninformed of what's happening. In this scene her nails are painted bright red as she touches the photos. Throughout the film the colour red is used to show anything that is wrong in the real world and there is always red around when there is a potentially dangerous or explosive emotional situation.
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Another thing that is used when something scary or wrong is happening or going on is shadows, big shadows and lighting effects make the situation very scary and make the people seem vulnerable, because the shadows stretch up the walls and flicker, really putting you on edge and almost express Cole panicking. They make people seem vulnerable because you can't stop shadows, you can't touch them or hurt them so you are helpless towards them and they can seem like they're closing in on you, they are also associated with the dark which many people find unnerving. So ...

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