30 Days of Screenplays — Day 1: “The Sixth Sense”
Read 30 movie scripts in 30 days.
Why?
Because whether you are a novice just starting to learn the craft of screenwriting or someone who has been writing for many years, you should be reading scripts.
There is a certain type of knowledge and understanding about screenwriting you can only get from reading scripts, giving you an innate sense of pace, feel, tone, style, how to approach writing scenes, how create flow, and so forth.
So each day this month, I will provide background on and access to a notable movie script.
Today is Day 1 and the featured screenplay is for the movie The Sixth Sense (1999). You can download a PDF of the script here.
Background: The Sixth Sense was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The movie currently has an 8.1 rating on IMDB.com and is ranked #142 out of the top 250 movies.
On his interactive website, Shyamalan writes in response to the question, “What demon was I exorcising in making [The Sixth Sense]?”
Fear of dying before I telling my loved ones what I feel about them. Letting go of my desire of being an Art Film Director. I realize I’m not complicated enough to do that.
I remember being blown away by the movie The Sixth Sense. Yes, the Big Twist at the end surprised me. But what really struck me was how self-assured everything about the movie was — the writing, casting, acting, staging, directing. It felt very much like the creation of a truly gifted filmmaker.
In reading the script, I can’t help but recall those same thoughts and feelings. The screenplay displays a deft touch, not at all over-the-top. Whatever happened to that touch has been the subject of innumerable online discussions. I’d prefer to just focus here on how good the script for The Sixth Sense is — and what we can learn from it.
What is a screenwriter responsible for when they write a screenplay? In a word: Everything. From the very first moment on P. 1 to the very last image before FADE OUT, the screenwriter’s task is not only to tell a story, but also create an entire story universe.
Just by looking at the first half of Act One in The Sixth Sense, we can see how Shyamalan masterfully accomplishes both goals. It starts with the first image:
INT. BASEMENT - EVENINGA NAKED LIGHTBULB SPARKS TO LIFE. It dangles from the ceiling of
a basement.
First images are important. Darkness. Then light. A basement. A quiet opening. But why open on a light bulb (in the movie it’s a full 12 seconds of the bulb “sparking” to life)? I have a theory, which I’ll provide at the end of this post, but for now, let me just say I suspect Shyamalan is being clever here.
Then we meet our first character ANNA CROWE as she moves down the basement stairs. What do we learn through her entrance?
The way she’s dressed (“in an elegant summer dress”) suggests not only a specific season, but also that perhaps she’s been to some sort of social function. When she crosses to a wine rack, it suggests that she has access to money — who else but well-to-do people can afford to have “a rack of wine bottles covering one entire wall”? The fact that she looks for “just the right” bottle reinforces the sense that she is well-heeled, someone in a socioeconomic class who knows about fine wines.
Shyamalan uses this tiny little moment to give us a lot of information about Anna — all without dialogue.
Anna selects the bottle of wine. Then something happens:
LIGHT, QUICK FOOTSTEPS AS ANNA CROWE moves down the stairs.Anna is the rare combination of beauty and innocence. She stands
in the chilly basement in an elegant summer dress that outlines
her slender body. Her gentle eyes move across the empty room and
come to rest on a rack of wine bottles covering one entire wall.She walks to the bottles. Her fingertips slide over the labels.
She stops when she finds just the right one. A tiny smile as she
slides it out.Anna turns to leave. Stops. She stares at the shadowy basement.
It's an unsettling place. She stands very still and watches her
breath form a TINY CLOUD IN THE COLD AIR. She's visibly
uncomfortable.Anna Crowe moves for the staircase in a hurry. Each step faster
than the next. She climbs out of the basement in another burst
of LIGHT, QUICK FOOTSTEPS.WE HEAR HER HIT THE LIGHT SWITCH.THE LIGHTBULB DIES. DRIPPING BLACK DEVOURS THE ROOM.
Anna gets spooked. And check out that scene description: The light bulb doesn’t merely go off, it “dies.” We don’t just fade to black, rather “dripping black devours” the room. What does this tell us about the story universe? It gives us a big hint about its genre. This is not a teen comedy or a musical. No, this movie is a scary story.
And what about that “TINY CLOUD IN THE COLD AIR”? Could that be a foreshadow that this is a ‘ghost’ story?
Now we move to another location, the dining room upstairs, and here we meet our second character, MALCOLM CROWE (“intelligent eyes that squint from years of intense study”). The food, empty bottle of wine, the low lights, the music all suggest a romantic celebration:
MALCOLM
That's one fine frame. A fine
frame it is.Malcolm points to the HUGE FRAMED CERTIFICATE propped up on a
dining room chair. It's printed on aged parchment-type paper.
The frame is a polished mahogany.
What do we learn here in this scene? With Malcolm’s Dr. Seuss speak, we are hearing his voice and personality. But why all the description of the framed certificate? Shyamalan wants to make sure we understand that this is a prestigious award.
As Anna reads the text of the award, we find out that Malcolm is a psychiatrist, a good one — this is all backstory, providing a context for Malcolm’s character by giving us a glimpse of his personal history. But what transpires next reveals an important detail about the couple’s relationship.
ANNA
This is an important night for us.
Finally someone is recognizing the
sacrifices you made. That you have
put everything second, including me,
for those families they're talking
about.What is Anna saying when she puts that heavy emphasis on the phrase “including meme”? That the recent years have not been easy for her, experiencing how her husband put her in second position to his career. And yet, she is conflicted because she recognizes “that my husband has a gift.” This dialogue not only provides backstory, it also starts to lay out one of the most important themes of the movie — the emotional distance that has grown between Malcolm and Anna.
One more interesting thought arises in this little scene. Why is Malcolm so prone to making jokes, ridiculing this award he’s just received? Maybe he’s just a funny guy. Or perhaps it suggests that Malcolm is also conflicted. Perhaps Malcolm doesn’t believe that he deserves the award, that he knows he has imperfections. And, indeed, one flawed judgment from his past is going to come back to haunt him — in the very next scene.
Moving to their bedroom, Anna and Malcolm engage in a playful striptease, only to be interrupted by a startling discovery: The shattered window. What does this tell us? Something is wrong, their privacy intruded upon by the outside world. And the image of the shattered glass — perhaps a portent of how the couple’s lives are about to be shattered.
Now we meet the story’s third character — VINCENT GRAY. His first words — “You don’t know so many things” — speak directly to the story’s Plotline (Malcolm’s lack of insight into Vincent’s condition a decade ago will lead to unforeseen consequences).
Vincent’s dialogue no only provides backstory, it also conveys his goal: “I want what you promised.” The exchange between Vincent and Malcolm is also a fascinating one because one character (Vincent) has such a clear emotional focus on the moment — revenge — while the other (Malcolm) is simply trying his best to gain focus (“I don’t understand what you want”).
By the way, there is an interesting bit of potential symbolism at play here as well in the use of the character’s names:
- Vincent Gray — gray area, in the shadows, caught between right and wrong.
- Malcolm Crowe — the bird, black, night, ominous, a traditional symbol of death.
All things turn deadly, indeed, with the shooting:
Vincent turns to the sink. His hand goes in. He turns arund and
raises a gun at Malcolm. He FIRES. A VIOLENT, EAR-SHATTERING
ECHO. Malcolm clutches his stomach and folds like a rag doll
onto the bed.Three scenes, 7 1/2-minutes long. And Shyamalan has introduced key characters, established the story world, set the plot into motion, hooked the audience, and fooled millions of movie-goers right from the start, setting them up for the movie’s famous surprise ending.
Continuing through the church scene, Shyamalan lays out other narrative elements:
- The fade-to-black time ellipsis (“Two years later”) where we meet a (presumably) recovered Malcolm, establishing a new time-frame.
- The introduction of a new character COLE SEARS, a young boy with his own voice, backstory, and imperfections, even the symbolism of his name: Cole like “coal” — have to dig to get at his truth.
- The script’s comparison between Cole and Vincent, setting up a thematic element — Malcolm seeing in Cole the chance to redeem himself for the mistake he made with Vincent.
- The little chase sequence, Malcolm hustling after Cole, trying to catch up, which suggests another thematic element, that Malcolm will always be one step behind in understanding Cole.
- Cole’s exchange with Malcolm in the church: “Are you a good doctor,” the boy asks. Malcolm’s reply: “I used to be.” Again playing to one of the story’s central themes, Malcolm trying to seize this chance to redeem himself for his previous ‘failure.’
All of this — and establishing a whacking good mystery re Cole — by movie minute 12 and script page 18. Shyamalan has provided the audience with an absolutely clear sense of what this film’s story world is all about. Or at least he’s led us to believe we think we know what’s going on.
As to why Shyamalan begins The Sixth Sense with the light bulb? Because we don’t learn the Big Twist — that Malcolm was killed by Vincent and he’s a ghost — until the very end of the movie, I suspect that Shyamalan is poking fun at us, playing off the symbol of a light bulb going off over our heads when we have an insight. It’s like he’s saying, “I’m going to give you a big hint right up front that about two hours from now, the light bulb over your head is going to light up in a big way when you suddenly get it — and you’ll realize how completely I’ve fooled you.”
Maybe a stretch. Then again, why start with a light bulb?
Read the script and decide for yourself.
What do you think of The Sixth Sense?
To see all of the posts in the 30 Days of Screenplays series, go here.
This series and use of screenplays is for educational purposes only!
