Sound and Lighting research: Sixth Sense

The opening sequence mainly focuses on the titles for the first couple of minutes. However, features a creepy and daunting soundtrack in the sequence and contains no dialogue which makes the beginning of the film much more chilling. The music is easily described as empathic sound as it matches the psychological thriller conventions very clearly. There is no lighting when the titles are being played though the sound suggests a lot about the film already due to the fact that the tempo of the music continuously rises almost giving the idea of the narrative that there is something to figure out.

The instruments used in this opening sequence begin the layer up (2:20) which creates a disturbing atmosphere. Once the titles come to an end a light bulb begins to light and provides some direct light for the opening scene. As the bulb lights the volume of the soundtrack starts to dim, then there is completely no music. This is so we can hear the women’s footsteps (3:00) the synchronous sound of her walking is almost exaggerated to create more of an eerie atmosphere. Shadows are created through the natural lighting through the window (3:13). Harsher shadows are then created in the long shot from the side lighting created by the window.  

This certain opening sequence gives me ideas that I can imbed into my own work. For example, the use of no sound and no dialogue to create a very eerie atmosphere to begin the film. I will definitely try to use this idea when it comes to producing my own opening sequence.