Cinematic Techniques In The Creators Of The Sixth Sense

The creators of the Sixth Sense have incorporated a suspenseful theme through two main filming techniques and three elements within the movie. The filming techniques were made by including the introduction of a character similar to Cole called Vincent at the start of the movie. Point of view shots from Malcolm and Cole were the second technique. The elements used in the film were red herrings, foreshadowing and artistic devices. These combined together were what gave the movie a suspense theme.
A Red herring is when information is presented with the intent of misleading or directing attention away from what’s actually happening. An example of this is when the shop window is smashed and when Anna goes outside to see what caused it, there’s a shot of Malcolm walking away from it. This implies that he was responsible for it, however when it is revealed at the end that he was always dead it is realised that this was not the case. Another example was whenever Malcolm interacts with Anna; even though she shows minimal
In terms of this movie there were small things throughout the movie which indicates the discovery made at the end, however these aren’t overly detailed and don’t completely give away the ending. One example used in the film is Malcolm never gets a direct response from people other than Cole when he is talking to them. Only Cole is able to reply because he can see dead people. A second example is when there’s a handprint left on the table. This handprint belonged to Malcolm however he isn’t seen anytime during the scene because it is viewed through the perspective of Lynn. All of these small clues point towards the end where it’s revealed that Malcolm has been dead since the beginning of the movie when he was shot. These events of foreshadowing aren’t enough for a viewer to guess the ending of the movie because of the heavy impacts made by the red