Despite the clues, there are also various techniques that distract the viewer from the truth that Malcolm Crowe is dead. One of the techniques is the use of camera shots, angles, movements and the way the scene is shot, for example in the restaurant scene, where Malcolm is talking to his wife and we believe that she is upset with him whereas actually she doesn’t know he’s there. We also never see the physical injury that Crowe sustained on the night he was shot which lures us away from the truth. He is always wearing either a jumper or a coat which covers up his wounds. Furthermore as Crowe is the doctor and Cole the patient we assume that there is obviously something wrong with Cole and not Crowe. Also we see most of the film’s events and characteristics through Crowe’s eyes which draws most of the attention from him and on to Cole and his problems.
In the next two paragraphs I’m going to analyse 2 scenes in detail to show how the clues are used, and how the viewer is manipulated to miss the truth.
At the anniversary dinner scene, the viewer is manipulated into thinking that Dr.Crowe is actually talking to his wife when he isn’t. There is a variety of shots used in this scene such as the establishing shot to set the scene and show the whole restaurant, over the shoulder shot as Crowe approaches Anna’s table and the way the camera slowly rotates around the table only capturing either only Crowe’s or his wife’s face over their shoulders so we never see both of the faces at once because then it will give away that they aren’t actually communicating with each other. Tracking shot around the table when the two are sitting down and a pan to go down on the both hands trying to take the bill. First of all right before Crowe walks in to sit down, we can see that the table is only for one person not for two. After he sits down Malcolm starts talking about his work but his wife is not responding as the viewer thinks she’s angry with him for working too late but really she can’t see him. When the bill comes both Crowe and his wife reach for it which also makes you think that they are sitting there together. Anna is celebrating her anniversary by herself and at the end of the meal she stands up to leave and says “happy anniversary” which the viewer believe she is saying to Crowe when she’s in fact talking to herself.
In the bedtime stories and secrets scene, Cole reveals his secret that he sees dead people. The camera angles used in this scene are all close-ups both on Crowe and Cole to show their emotions. This is important because the audience can try and asses the two characters emotions and what they are feeling. In this scene Crowe talks about himself in the third person to Cole as a bedtime story. Cole can recognise how Crowe is feeling and tells him that all good stories should have a clue to the film’s twist. Cole decides to reveal his secret and suddenly spooky music comes on to raise the tension. When Cole says “I see dead people”, the camera moves on to his face as he speaking to capture the emotion and fear of telling his secret and also on to Dr. Crowe to hint to the viewer that he’s one of these dead people. At this time in the film we think that Cole, who is in hospital, is the one with all the psychological problems and Crowe is just an ordinary child psychiatrist trying to help him. The viewers are manipulated into thinking this as all of the attention is being focused on to Cole and his secret.
I think the film is very effective in manipulating the audience because the first time I saw it I certainly didn’t figure out the twist. The way the whole film was shot and the different camera angles that were used played a very important part in tricking the viewer into thinking that Dr.Crowe was alive all throughout the film. It was also through our natural sense that in a situation like the one in the film, the child would be the one with all the problems and the doctor would just be the one trying to help him.