Analysis of 'The Sixth Sense'

The Sixth Sense trailer begins with a green band rating card, which indicates that the trailer has been approved for all audiences.
The first shot is shown as a close up of a man’s hand igniting a sparkler on a street. In the background you can see policemen and police cars, indicating that something vital to the plot is happening or about to happen.
A long panning shot is then shown of the traffic jam, this time showing ambulances and more pedestrians. This triggers the first enigma as the audience are left wondering what has happened to cause such a scene.
This then fades into another panning shot, this time in a lower angle than before. The camera continues to pan and fade through the cars, until a final fade in shows a woman and child in a car, conversing about the accident. This scene is shown through a mid shot, so the audience can get a better view of who the characters are.
The mid shot continues as they talk, and the mother is curiously looking over her steering wheel to find out what is happening. As the mother hears her child telling her something disturbing, the shot instantly changes into a close up reaction shot of her startled face, as she turns towards her son in shock. This particular choice of angle shows the audience the importance of this particular moment.
The shot then fades out, showing the film’s producers and distributors logos. This creates the second enigma, as the audience are left wondering about what the child had said, and the impact it had left upon his mother.
The scene begins to gain momentum and a montage of mid-shots is shown. The first we see of this includes a worms eye view of a balloon floating up towards an archaic circular staircase. This is followed by the same boy climbing the stairs to retrieve it in an eyeline match. We never see the balloon again but see a point of view shot of someone closing in a dark closet on them instead. From the previous shots, it could be assumed that the person from the point of view shot is the boy.
The montage continues and it finally blacks out and fades in to the boy being comforted by his mother. This makes the audience sympathise with the boy’s situation.
Another jump cut is shown, which introduces the male psychologist. He is also always seen wearing a suit, which reinforces his professional role within the film.
More cuts of the mother and son are shown, sharing happy moments together. This leads the audience into a false sense of security, and how the psychologist will make everything better.
However, the mood quickly averts to show another aspect of the boy’s life, in which we see school children jeer at him while in class. A high angle shot is shown of the boy being taunted by his teacher and classmates, while he covers his face in his hands in despair. This emphasises the boy’s misery in being isolated because of his ‘sixth sense’.
The scene jump cuts into another round of montage shots and various cuts are seen such as slow motion of the boy looking scared and black fade ins of the actors names after each shot.
This quickens until the climax of the trailer, which abruptly jump cuts into the film’s title in a black background.
In the beginning of the trailer, no sounds are heard, except for naturalistic diegetic sounds such as the sparkler being ignited, the car horns beeping and sirens blaring across the street. The silence at the begining creates emphasis on the scene as the audience are left to listen to the dialogue properly.
However as the film begins to gain momentum, a steady string of non-diegetic orchestra music starts to play, adding to the ambience of the film. This begins slowly and eerily in minor key, but picks up pace and becomes louder, adding drums and violins.
The montage is then stopped with the sound of a heartbeat, creating suspense and a fearful mood for the audience.
At this point a voiceover of the boy can be heard, later followed by the psychologist and mother, all talking over the different shots. This gives the audience more information about the characters, and gives a preview of their personality and roles.
The climax of the trailer is continued with incidental music, but suddenly stops with a loud final bang, in order to enhance the mood and startle the audience.