Trailer Studies: “The Sixth Sense”

Our week-long analysis of the script for The Sixth Sense flowed over into the current Screenwriting Master Class course I’m leading, and one of the participants Mike Montgomery did something really interesting: He did a shot by shot breakdown of the movie’s trailer:

Here is Mike’s breakdown:

The Sixth Sense Trailer

2:06 Total Time

00 — Red flare, red taillights at traffic accident — Cole tells his mother that a lady was hurt in the accident and that he sees her standing next to his window. Mother reacts.

23 — Studio Info

27 — Red balloon rises in the staircase — Cole in red sweater climbs stairs — door of cubbyhole shut

33 — Mother hugs Cole-“Cole what’s wrong?”

39 — Malcolm and Cole walk down the street-“Do you ever talk your mother about how things are?”

40 — Mother pushes Cole in shopping cart with pumpkin-“I don’t tell her things.”

42 — Kids look at Cole in classroom-“Why not?”

43 — Kid at board looks at Cole-“Cause she doesn’t look at me like everybody else …”

44 — Cole covers eyes as Stanley looks at him-“ …and I don’t want her to know.”

45 — Malcolm and Cole on street — “Know what?”

46 — Cole running down hall

47 — Cole in tent with flashlight

49 — Cole in hospital bed — “I see dead people…”

51 — Church door — “walking around…

52 — Cole’s shadow on staircase — “like regular…”

53 — Cole looks out car? window — “people”

54 — Cemetery — “I don’t see anything”

??? — Takes jacket off rack???

56 — Anna and employee hug — window shatters-“Are you sure…”

56 — Dead kid goes into Cole’s room

57 — Malcolm and Cole in school — “they’re there?”

58 — Door knob

58 — Dead girl’s dolls

1:00 — Malcolm dying on bed — “Like you’re feeling down real fast.”

1:01 — Malcolm-Cole sleeps-Malcolm-empty kitchen — Cole by tent — “Do you ever feel the prickly things on the back of your neck?” “Yes” “That’s them.”

1:06 — Anna‘s legs descend stairs — Malcolm looks — teacher pounds desk — Cole’s breath — Anna’s breath — “How often do you see them?” — Church statues of Jesus — Cole in bed — “All the time.”

1:14 — Cole in dead girl’s room — Cole scared — “They’re everywhere.” — Ghost of dead girl under bed pushes box.

1:23 — Cole — “They want me to do things for them.” Cole carries box to father of dead girl.

1:28 — Malcolm and Cole in church — “I think that they know that you are one of those very rare people that can see them.” — cereal bowl — Cole comforts Mr. Marschal-“So you need to help them.”

1:37 — Door opens-Malcolm and Cole — “What if they don’t want help?” — “I don’t think that’s the way it works.” — “How do you know for sure?”

1:43 — Malcolm — someone almost gets hit by a car — door rattling from Cole banging on the other side — Malcolm and Anna in bedroom — Vincent fires

1:47 — Woman drops paper-car accident — “Look out.”-Malcolm

1:52 — Malcolm and Cole by staircase in school-“Please make them leave.” “I’m working on it.”

1:56 — Title and credits

This provides an interesting additional area for analysis: How does what the studio’s marketing people chose to focus on in the trailer reflect back on the story itself? For example, even though it seems pretty clear that Malcolm Crowe [Bruce Willis] is the Protagonist of The Sixth Sense, the preponderance of images in the trailer feature Cole. This would seem to reinforce the idea that while Malcolm may be the Protagonist, Cole is the story’s Central Character whose unique psyche state [the ability to see and communicate with ghosts] is the key element of the narrative.

But in a more macro sense, Mike’s breakdown of the trailer got me to thinking: Would it be a beneficial exercise to break down trailers in order to see if we can get more of a sense of what studios refer to as “trailer moments”?

I was reminded of something screenwriter John Swetnam said in this GITS interview:

Story concept is like the foundation to a house. It has to be strong or everything else may come tumbling down. I’ve always been good with ideas and it just took me a long time to be able to execute them in professional way. If you want to write “Hollywood” movies then the biggest question you have to ask yourself when you come up with an idea is, can you really see this opening at your local theater next weekend? I mean, really? What does the trailer look like when it comes on TV?

If, indeed, we should be able to envision the trailer of our story, then doesn’t it make sense that we should understand what studios zero in on when their people [or outside firms] cut a trailer?

So two things. First, there is more to glean from the breakdown of the trailer for The Sixth Sense and I encourage you to hit comments to provide your thoughts.

Second, would you like for me to run a series — let’s say one movie trailer per week for a month — where we break down the trailer shot by shot, then analyze it? I’m thinking it could be a good learning experience, but we should only do it if there’s enough enthusiasm behind the idea.

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