Mise en scene for the sixth sense

1. Costume and Make up:
Naturalistic costume and make up is a common convention used in psychological thriller
films to make the characters more believable and relatable for the audience to sympathise/
empathise with. The little to no make-up can make the characters
seamore natural and normal despite the mental illness they are
portraying. This can confuse and furtherly shock the audience as it
makes them apply the movie’s plot to their lives. The make-up of
the Woman towards the end of the scene becomes darker and
slightly smudged to portray to the audience the state of fear she is
in.
Setting and props:
Typical psychological thriller conventions would be a
dark old house or a dark ally. The sixth sense opening
scene fits the convention as the setting is a dark large
house, although in day light the house probably isn’t
scary at all by shooting in the dark and with the use of a
lot of open space the setting feels isolated and creepy.
Objects help to determine the narrative and identity of
characters and the plotline. The broken and messy room
infers that there has been a break in without and
dialogue or explanation yet the audience fully
understand what has happened. The change of setting
from the large open space to a confined bedroom is a
swap from a spacious to claustrophobic setting to portray
the entrapment of the psychologically estranged
character in his own mind.
Lighting and colours:
The different levels of low key lighting are used to create
suspense as well as a mysterious atmosphere. The low key
lighting also creates shadows throughout the scene which are a
convention of a psychological thriller films because they add
fear and enigma to the shots. The use of the high key bright
white almost clinical lighting for the mentally estranged
characters contrasts the low key black lighting used behind the
stable characters. This contrast in lighting shows the clear
difference between sanity and insanity as well as heightens the effect of shadows in order
to generate fear for the audience. The colour
contrast between the white and black is a direct
link to the
emotions and
past
experiences
of the
characters, as
the white connoted a clinical feel to it which reflects the

2. estranged characters past in mental asylums and the black has the meaning of confusion
and uncertainty as the whole shot is not clear to the audience, or the characters alike. The
beginning shot is the bigest contrast between light and dark as it is a close up of a flcikering
light bulb. This leave the audince withteh connotation that there is always light behind the
dark, until the light goes out which then infers death or loss to the audince.