Opening Sequences – The Sixth Sense

As opening sequences is what we are doing, I decided to look closely at some opening sequences from famous films. The ‘The Sixth Sense’ is a psychological horror film, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan in 1999. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

It begins with a black screen. The credits are in a white simple font. They fade in and fade out, and the music subtly gets louder and quieter as this happens. As the writing fades in and out, the white colour gets a cloudy, ghostly look to it. The music matches this; it is very slow paced, eerie music that really creates a creepy atmosphere with an unnatural, spiritual feel to it. These credits continue for the first 3 minutes, building up the tension and the atmosphere so that when the film does start we are already on edge and completely engrossed in what’s to come. The first shot is of a light bulb, surrounded by darkness. This also adds to the tension as we are not quite sure where this is, or what its significance is.

The next shot is down in a basement or wine cellar. The camera is placed behind the rack of wine, giving it a stalker feel, like there is something lurking in the shadows watching. We then hear a creaking as someone comes down the stairs which further add to the tension as we don’t know who it is. This creaking is diegetic sound as those present in the ‘film world’ can hear it. As the scene goes on we realise it’s a woman in her late 30’s early 40’s presumably the owner of the house. She comes towards the wine rack the camera is placed behind, bends down and peers at the wines, the rack framing her face perfectly. At 3:46 we hear another diegetic sound, similar to a pin dropping, which you may think is very quiet but compared to the previous silence is very significant and frightening. The woman jumpily turns around and looks around the room. At 3:52 we see a long shot of her from behind the stairs banisters, further enhancing the impression she is being watched but also emphasising how alone and isolated she is in the darkness of the cellar, with no one to turn to for help.

We then see her run back up the stairs. At 4:00 we see a shot of a mantle piece, on it are candles and lots of cards that look like they’ve been made by children, with simple drawings and glitter. We can also hear the woman footsteps coming closer, another example of diegetic sound. Once the woman is back on the ground level of the house another character is introduced which is Bruce Willis’ character, we can assume they are in a relationship.

At 4:56 we see a very interesting shot. From the dialogue we have found out that Willis’ character has been given a frame “in recognition of his outstanding achievement in the field of child psychology”. The shot is looking into the frame he was awarded, in it we can see the reflection of their faces as she reads it too him. Now we can see things beginning to be explained; she says ‘I’ve never told you but you sound a little like doctor Zeuss when your drunk’ Implying they’ve known each other a long time, we can now assume they are married. We’ve also found out his job, he’s a child psychologist which could indicate why there are so many cards made by children in his home.

Although this is far long than the 2 minute opening I will be creating in a group, I think that it is still very useful. The build up of suspense is very well done and even though in the first 2 minutes we are still in the credits and even up to 5 minutes not a huge amount has happened in my opinion it is a very tense scene. A bit more about the characters is constantly being revealed as the scene goes on, their relationship, their job both of which we can assume will be significant to the plot of the film. Additionally tiny hints as to what might happen and the nature of the film are being exposed; e.g. the woman’s jump when she hears the pin drop sound. All of these factors are crucial for a successful opening sequence.