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The Sixth Sense Review

The sixth sense 

The Sixth Sense 

Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, and Donnie Wahlberg

Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan

Producers: Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, and Barry Mendel

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense thematic material and violent images 

When someone mentions the term 'horror film,' often people immediately imagine films of the Scream variety. It's a shame, really, as the horror genre is much broader than that generalization assumes. The horror genre has, alas, become the most ridiculed and reviled genres of them all. However, there is something horror films can do that no other kind of film can: they can speak to us on a psychological level some dramas only dream they can achieve. M. Night Shyamalan takes advantage of this, and uses the horror genre to subvert our expectations. We expect to be scared, and while screaming, we are touched by the sad events that occur to the main characters in Shyamalan's film. 

The Sixth Sense is a masterful blend of psychological drama and horrific imagery. There are moments when viewers are touched by the emotional relationship between Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) and his mother (Toni Collette), and there are moments when viewers are frightened by the disturbing images we are shown. At times, the film recalls the classic The Exorcist (which is completely overrated, in my opinion). This is a better film, as it deals with the human emotions more thoroughly. It's a character-driven film disguised as a plot -driven one. 

The Sixth Sense opens with Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) receiving an award for outstanding work in the field of psychology for children. Unfortunately, he's not always successful. One of his patients, Vincent Gray (Donnie Wahlberg), has grown up still plagued with his problems. He blames Crowe, shoots him, and then turns the gun on himself. "Next fall..." the title card reads, Crowe's marriage is virtually non-existant and his own obsession with Vincent has reemerged. Fortunately, he's found another child suffering from the same symptoms: Cole Sear. Cole is a withdrawn child who doesn't have friends and gets teased at school. His mother is worried about him, and seeks help. Nobody can seem to help him--except Malcolm. He talks with Cole and tries to get him to open up. When he finally does, he admits a terrible secret. 

"I see dead people." Four words, and with them, the course of the film changes. The Sixth Sense is no longer about the emotional trouble this kid is having. Instead, it's about Malcolm's fight to beat the kid's problems. How does one go about helping a child get over the trauma of seeing dead people--complete with their bloody injuries that they had when they died? Yes, this is a ghost story, but it's also the first ghost story that I've seen where the protagonist actually sets out to help the ghosts. Are they stuck here on earth for a reason? Malcolm guides Cole to aide these apparitions in the resting of their souls. 

Many have criticized the film for not being scary, but I think that isn't the film's point. The central issue here is not the fact that Cole can see ghosts. His relationship with his mother is crucial to the film's success. Scenes between them are dramatically charged, and the chemistry between the two is riveting. Toni Collette gives a masterful performance as a woman so desperate to understand her child's problems that she is breaking down emotionally. In what could have been a cliched, mother-beats-child relationship, M. Night Shyamalan ensures that these two are the core of the film's emotions. Cole must hide things from his mother, and it is easy to see that it is tearing both of them apart. It's emotionally gut-wrenching, and their scenes together are the best of the film. This is one of the most powerful mother-son relationships I have ever witnessed in a Hollywood film. 

Much has also been said of the climax, in which the plot comes to a screeching halt and sends it off in a completely new direction. It's the ultimate plot twist. Just as the ending of The Usual Suspects shocked us, so it does here. Everything we thought we knew turns out to be questionable. It's worthy of a second viewing just to see if it all works out. While there are moments that are logically questionable, everything does work out. The twist is not the point of the film, however. It's merely there to enhance the story, and it works. Brilliantly, I might add. Shyamalan's screenplay is among the year's best--he understands that audiences love a good twist, and he gives one to us. It's one of the best endings I've seen in a long time, and the twist itself ensures multiple viewings. As I said before (and thankfully), this twist is not the only point to the story. It's just to make us talk about the film afterwards. 

This may star Bruce Willis, but it is Haley Joel Osment's film from start to finish. He's a brilliant young actor who has been great before, but outdoes himself here. His performance IS the film. Without Osment, this film would be a disaster. Thankfully, Osment is extremely talented in what I think is the best performance in a supporting role all year. There isn't one that comes close. Osment deserves an Oscar, and he may just get it. Of course, Willis does help. Willis, apparently realizing he's getting too old for action hero roles, is trying to become a true thespian, and this is one of his best performances yet. The chemistry and bond he has with Osment is striking and powerful. They work great together. Collette, as I said before, is brilliant as Lynn Sear, and her emotional breakdown is heartbreaking. It's as good a performance as you will see all year. Olivia Williams is underused as Willis' wife, though she is great when on screen. It's almost a shame she's not on screen more. And yes, that's Donnie Wahlberg (completely unrecognizable) as Crowe's former patient. It's a remarkable cast giving brilliant performances across the board. 

M. Night Shyamalan, in his first American film, gives audiences reason to recognize his name. He's brought a subtlety to the film that makes it entrancing. The film is gorgeous to look at, with almost black and white sensibilities. The use of the color red is a stark contrast to the dull colors. It's quite potent. Shayamalan directs with an amazing grace that brings glamour back to the horror genre. Never before have I seen a horror film that is quite as evocative as this one. It's chilling and warm at the same time. Tak Fujimoto's cinematography is stunning, capturing the gorgeous red nicely. Andrew Mondshein's editing is noteworthy, particularly during the climax which is edited perfectly. And James Newton Howard's score is haunting without being overbearing. In fact, much of the film is done without music at all. And Shyamalan directs all of this with a steady hand, in what is the year's second best horror film. 

The Sixth Sense is rated PG-13 for intense thematic material and violent images. This isn't really suitable for children, as we are witness to several after-death images. Also, the maturity of the emotions is too complex for them to handle. It's a film made for adults, and it's nicely paced. The film is never boring, but it also isn't jarring. 1999 has been a breakthrough year, and this is merely one of those breakthroughs. And holding it all up is a 10 year old actor in the performance of such a young lifetime. 

Avatar Technology What is it? What are some of the prototypes? What can it do for us? What is the Future? Definitions

• Originally the term avatar came from Hindu mythology and is the name for the temporary body a god inhabits while visiting Earth.
• Avatar can also denote an embodiment or concrete manifestation of an abstract concept.
• Avatar was first coined for use in describing users' visual embodiment in Cyberspace by Chip Morningstar in the early days of Habitat back in 1985.

Definitions 

• Simply put, an avatar is You, or at least a facsimile of you. It is a graphical image of a user, representing yourself or someone else on a computer screen. Think of an avatar as your alter ego in the virtual world of cyberspace. 
• It is your body double in Cyberspace, your presence in the virtual communities growing inside two and three dimensional virtual worlds online.

Definitions 

• Another kind of avatar is sometimes called an agent, a character, or a bot. This is a graphical personification of a computer or a process that is running on a computer.
• Avatars, or virtual representations of living creatures, and their networked environments, represent the next major wave in online communications.
• The avatars are usually visual representations of other software processes.

The Technological Reality 

• Unlike virtual reality technology, 2D and 3D virtual worlds require no special gloves, visors or hardware gear.
• Avatar technology can offer its share of technological benefits. For example, it is less bandwidth-intensive than regular Internet applications.
• However, there are some technology issues that must be addressed if avatars are to become commonplace.

Current Projects 

Xerox Palo Alto Research Center: The Office Avatars Project 

    The goal of the Office Avatars project is to investigate the use of autonomous avatars in the workplace. In particular, it is interested in the role of an avatar as a personal representative which can provide useful information or other utility when the avatar's owner cannot be present.

Current Projects 

    Schlumberger's advanced technical group asked Planet 9 to prototype an AI guide front end to their Intranet search engine. To date, the project has received ten    million dollars in internal funding.

Current Projects 

• Damer's company is working with a health insurance company in Europe. They want to have a virtual community for their customer base where people can come to their headquarters.
• Damer says that,"They represent a brand new meeting of human communications. The virtual worlds are worlds where people come to socialize, where people come to build cities, work, and try utopian experiences; to build together and learn together."

Current Projects 

    Developed by David Colleen’s team at Planet 9, Genius is anavatar that greets and guides people in the fourteen Temps & Co. employment cafes in the Washington DC area. The character resides on their Intranet.
    (Genius Grabs  "Best Episodic Performer" award thanks to the Avatars 98 Judges.
    http://www.planet9.com/indexie.htm)

Current Projects 

    World Movers uses an avatar as a guide in Softbanks online version of the World Movers trade show. 

What Can it do for us? 

• Avatar technology is much better than Video Conferencing
• It works well with Intranets that do not support Video Conferencing traffic
• VRML avatars work with existing systems quite nicely
• Avatars can prevent information bottlenecks due to personality clashes

What Can it do for us? 

• Avatars can express emotion through facial expressions and body posture, and can point at artifacts being discussed. In other words, people can bring their stuff, like files, to an avatarmeeting.
• Avatars can act as personal representatives to maintain a sense of presence and cohesiveness within workgroups when members are absent.

What Can it do for us? 

• Avatars are effective when co-worker information is very time critical (as in engineering development teams) or in which a sense of human presence is important, as in sales.
• Can connect global offices and allow all employees to instantly connect to company data and archives.

The Future is Here 

• Networks will address the chaos of information overload by providing individuals with the ability to tailor how they communicate with others.
• It will be done by gathering, managing, and organizing information so it will be more accessible and more useful to individuals than ever before.
• Using avatars that will provide the filtering, tuning, adjudication, and other flow controls on information.

The Future is Here 

• Products from companies such as BlackSun Interactive, Integrated Data Systems, and Superscape coincide with a growing awareness of business uses for avatar technology.
• It is expected that future generations of online users will enter bot (agent) or avatar (live people) inhabited spaces for help in the customer support sense, or in the library reference sense.

How are Other Governments Using the Technology? 

    European countries are employing avatar technology and future scenario work in management planning. Often, the facilitator is an expert interactive software designer, who has involved the use of games and simulations for role playing and brainstorming purposes.

Why are Other Governments Using the Technology? 

• Governments have no choice but to keep up with big business and the tools that are used to conduct transactions.
• By employing avatar technology and incorporating it with scenarios, it can help us see the other side of issues: the proverbial ‘walking in another’s shoes.’

Considerations 

  “Avatars represent the real time embodiment of people in cyberspace and the fundamental avenue to meaningful community and a sense of place and memory. Online for the general population and for the business world. Avatars and inhabited cyberspaces are in their early phases in terms of knowledge management, but they are here to stay.”
    -- Bruce Damer

Considerations and Clarifications 

• Avatar technology
• There is the added problem of very little information being accessible to those who want to learn more about thetechnology.
• And problems with terminology.

Considerations 

    There are some skeptics when it comes to this kind oftechnology, and that is partly due to the lack of information available. Others relate its use only to the way this technology is being used in chat rooms across the Internet: allowing people to hide behind an image, and even to change their character or sex. For some, this can be very good because it allows them to have more than one persona, and can therefore, allow innovative ideas to flow by freeing those who are cast in one corporate light and who are afraid to break the illusion.

Conclusions 

• Global considerations
• Travel restrictions
• Service in the 21st Century
• Better use of time, and using technological fixes to improve the way we do business
• Information explosion needs filtering
• Commodification of the Internet
• Saves money in customer service telephone infrastructure and long distance fees
• Strong ties to Knowledge Management

Acknowledgements 

• I would like to thank the following people for contributing information, clarification, or examples of avatar technology:
• Bruce Damer, President and CEO of DigitalSpace Corporation
• David Colleen, Chief Architect, Planet 9
• Dr. Pattie Maes, MIT Media Laboratory
• Dr. Thomas Stewart
• Dr. Bill Truran
• And Howard Rheingold, for his support

Film Editing - Things an editor must know

I' am posting this note for those people who would be interested to know what EDITING is. I feel every aspiring editor must know this, so please read it and understand!

FILM EDITING, MOVIE EDITING, VIDEO EDITING - Editing is a true art form. The editor strives to impart visual variety to the picture by skillful shot selection, arrangement and timing. He recreates rather than reproduces the photographic event to achieve a cumulative effort often greater than all the actions in individual scenes put together.

Below are some of the basic ideas underlying techniques.
TWO BASIC METHODS TO EDIT A FILM

Continuity Cutting
-- Storytelling is dependent upon matching consecutive scenes
-- Consists of matched cuts in which continuous action flows from one shot to another and cuts away in which the action shown is not a portion of the previous shot

Complication Cutting
-- Storytelling is dependent on the narration and the scenes merely illustrates what is being described
-- Soundtrack holds the narrative together so things actually make sense

Many editors prefer to make their cuts on movements so that the actual switch from one shot to another is masked by the action

A motion picture is a custom-made jigsaw puzzle in which filmmakers fashion the individual pieces. Each piece requires special attention so that it will merge harmoniously with pieces surrounding it.

EACH SHOT SHOULD MAKE A POINT

Make them laugh or make them cry, but make them care.

PUT YOURSELF IN THE PLACE OF THE AUDIENCE
1) What is the audience going to be thinking at any particular moment?
2) Where are they going to be looking?
3) What do you want to them to think about?
4) What do you want them to feel?

Any fisherman can tell you that it's the quality of the bait that determines the kind of fish you catch. You can only end up with a great film if you bring quality footage into the editing suite.

Editors chop the film into pieces and create a heart and soul.

THE AUDIENCE ACCEPTS CUTS BECAUSE THEY RESEMBLES THE WAY IMAGES ARE JUXTAPOSED IN OUR DREAMS.

CUT WHENEVER YOU BLINK -- OBSERVE YOUR OWN PATTERN AND USE IT TO MODEL YOUR CUTTING

What is causes people to blink?
Start a conversation with somebody and watch when they blink.

The listener will blink at the precise moment when they get the idea of what you are saying. Blinking interrupts the apparent visual continuity of our perception
THAT'S HOW YOU CUT YOUR FILM

The rate of people blinking is geared to their emotional state. The more excited you are, the more you blink. Notice the number of cuts in an action film as opposed to a comedy or romance, and you'll see what we mean!

One of the tasks of a film editor is to become sensitized to the rhythms that the actor gives you.

NOTICE WHEN AND WHERE THE ACTORS BLINK - IT WILL GIVE YOU CLUES TO THE FLOW OF THE SCENE AND HELP YOU DECIDE WHERE TO CUT

THREE STEPS TO APPROACHING CUTTING WHEN FILM EDITING
1) Identify a series of potential cut points.
2) Determining what effect each cut point will have on the audience.
3) Choosing which of these effects is the correct one for the film.

The job of the film editor is to anticipate and to control the thought process of the audience, to give the audience what they want before they ask for it.

DIGITAL ADVANTAGE
We've moved into the age of digital film editing, where you can finish a film as fast as you can move a mouse. The advantages are:
a) Increased speed
b) Reduced cost
c) Fewer people in the editing room
d) Easier access to the material
e) Director can easily review all of the material
f) More civilized working environment
g) Special effects

An editor is not cutting a film, they're joining a film.

With the material you receive from the director, the editor also receives the potential to make a lot of movies. Your first task is to choose what movie you are making.

ALWAYS TRY TO DO THE MOST WITH THE LEAST

The audience will only remember how they felt more than what they saw. They will remember what they saw if they felt strongly in that moment.

AN IDEAL CUT IS THE ONE THAT SATISFIES THESE SIX CRITERIA AT ONCE:
1) It is true to the emotion of the moment.
2) It advances the story.
3) It occurs at a moment that is rhythmically connected to the flow of the film.
4) It is connected to the eye-trace, the location and movement of the audience focus.
5) It connects to the stage line, two dimensional plane of screen.
6) It respects the three-dimensional continuity.

EMOTION when making a cut is what you should try to preserve at all costs.

If you have to sacrifice anything - rhythm, continuity, for EMOTION - DO IT!. Of the three, EMOTION AND STORY ARE MOST IMPORTANT. The audience will forgive - or not even notice - continuity and rhythmic inconsistencies as long as they are engaged by the story.

Watch Goodfellas for a film riddled with continuity errors -- but who cares? You remain engaged by the story, and the errors don't even register.

Never accept less when more is available to you

Give up something, but don't ever give up EMOTION.

Put yourself in the place of the audience:
- What is the audience going to be thinking at any particular moment?
- Where are they going to be looking?
- What do you want them to think about?
- What do you want them to feel?

THE FILM EDITOR ALWAYS NEEDS TO COME IN WITH A FRESH LOOK

They see the picture for what it is - not how it got there. A director may see what he intended to shoot, but it's the editor's job to see what's actually on the film.

THE DIRECTOR IS THE DREAMER AND THE FILM EDITOR IS THE LISTENER. AFTER WARDS, IT FLIPS. THE FILM EDITOR NEEDS TO REMAIN FRESH FOR EACH SEQUENCE

Most times if there is a problem, it's not in the scene itself but probably the scene that happened five minutes before.

The perfect film strikes you as though it were unwinding behind your eyes and your eyes were projecting it themselves so that you were seeing what you wished to see. Film is like thought. It's the closest to the thought process of any art form.

Walter Murch, Film Editor
(Apocalypse Now, The English Patient, Cold Mountain)
"When I assemble a scene for the first time, I do it silently. Even a dialogue scene, I'll cut without listening to the sound because it tunes me more closely into the body language and the little tiny things that an actor does. If you're listening to what they're saying, you're a little blind to them. I feel I'm a hunter and I need my night vision goggles in a scene, so I edit silently."

"An editor is a performer and the editor comes up with a version of a scene, just like an actor comes up with an interpretation of a character. And the director that is presented with that as a fact either accepts it, rejects it or says 'That's very good but what if we modified it in this direction?' The difference, of course, is that the director and editor are in the same room for months and months and months on end with the same material. So you really have to be almost part of the same organism. You have to get along on a human level."

"I take my cues from the director, from the script, from what the actors are doing and the rhythms they're doing it in. I try to find the one or two key actors who are setting the tone for the film. I find the rhythm that they're doing things in and use that to influence my own rhythms. Once you begin to really feel these rhythms, you can extend them into areas that may have few or no actors in them. For example, say you have a shot of a landscape, how long should that be? It depends on what the rhythms of the film have been up until then."

Thank you for reading!

fear fever

 Short film:Fear Fever

Director:Rahul

Cinematography:Sadham

Editing &Sound mixing:Ranjeet

"FEAR FEVER" is a short film which made me to show off to others as an "film editor".I worked out this film with my senior Rahul,the director. I was made as a part of this short film making as an editor.I thought of making my first shot as an editor to be the best one.I even  had interest in sound mixing andso i made the same along with the editing work.I tried to give a real film-look and I hope that it came out well.

       There is an  early morning scene with the twittering birds and rising of our sun god in this short film.But the director was not able to shoot this scene and it didnot fulfill his expectations.So,I tried to make this scene lively and realistic in CG(Computer Graphics) inorder to fulfill director's expectaions and the scene came out to be realistic. :):)

FLIM TRAILER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDyLtr_oon8

FLIM 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mY_Tm5An7c

What is the first step to becoming a filmmaker?

I am an editor and maybe have a little advice for you. DON'T DO IT!!! No, just kidding. It is a great deal of hard work though--and very little glamor. You don't have to go to school, although school is fun and a good learning and growing experience in general. But the best school is doing it. In other words, instead of spending thousands of dollars a year for four years, just volunteer at a film company, and help them.

You must do and be a few things:

Reliable--always show up on time, do what you say you will do, be efficient and good natured, and communicate with your boss openly. Call them if you will be late, and always be ready emotionally to work.

Work hard--This is what will get you respect (and possibly, future work). Believe it or not, it is difficult to find good workers in Los Angeles. There are plenty of workers, but not plenty of reliable, hard working, high-energy workers.

If you want to become an editor--starting as a PA can be good--but don't lose sight of your goals as an editor. Tell people as you apply for the PA job that your future goals are to be an editor. Tell everyone. After getting to know people on the set, tell them you want to help out in the editing room.

Of course, your goals may change, but as long as you're clear, let people know.

Realize also that you may hit a few bad apples in the film world who will want to use you and abuse you--make them treat you with respect but also realize the only work you can do for them that could be useful is the simple (and sometimes boring and tedius) work. BUT this gives them no excuse to treat you badly. You are an important person too.

Anyway, there are no "normal" routes to getting into Hollywood. You will have to be the best person you can, work hard, be enthusiastic, don't let the bad apples get you down, and keep plugging away. One day, if you want it bad enough, you will get your dreams. The question is, "What are your dreams?"