Terminator and The 6th Sense Comparison

The Tech Noir scene from Terminator 1 is set in a night club/bar. The lighting is very low, and predominantly red lighting is used, which symbolises danger, hate and anger, but also love, all of which are represented in the scene. 

In addition, the smoke effect used adds to the sense of things being out of control, almost masking the actions of people, and hiding what they are doing. The actors are wearing casual 1980’s clothing, and the female is wearing a leopard print top, symbolising animalism and danger. The Terminator is wearing a leather jacket, which again, is something that men commonly wore in the 1980’s. 

The presence of Alcohol in the scene suggests that people could be drunk, which again adds to the feeling that things could get out of hand in the scene. 

At one point, one woman, who is sitting at one of the tables on her own, giving the audience the impression that she is lonely, knocks over one of the bottles, and as she bends down to collect it, the attention of the terminator is drawn away from her.  

As the terminator walks in, the sequence is shot through fencing, from a low angle. This makes the character seem very dangerous, almost like a caged animal. The camera then pans as the character walks round the fencing, and out into the bar. The use of a mid-close up here allows us to see that everyone is watching the terminator in the background, watching from a distance, almost in ore of his presence.  The continued use of a low down angle makes the character seem very imposing. 

Before the shooting, a point of view shot from the victim’s perspective is used. The shot is filled with red from the gun’s laser aiming device, and this, along with the fact that the gun barrel is in the centre of the shot, would make the audience feel very scared, as they are put in the position of the victim. 

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When the film is showing the Terminator walking into the room, a cut-away shot is used to show people dancing on the dance floor. This shows the audience that everything is happening as normal, and that the other dancers in the scene have no idea the terminator is entering the room. 

Diegetic sound can be heard in this scene, and the audience can hear the song that is being played on the dance floor. The lyrics to the song include the words ‘prisoner’, ‘never let me go’ and ‘you got me burning’. All of these phrases refer to the action that is happening in the scene and the audio gives the audience an idea of what is about to happen before it actually does. The phrase ‘you got me burning’ is repeated often, and the phrase suggests anger and violence. 

At one point, slow motion editing is used, and the diegetic sound changes into non-diegetic sound. This gives the impression that the character shown on screen is distant from the current action, and that his mind is not on what he is doing currently. 

We are given the impression that the Terminator and another woman love each other in this sequence. This shows how the representation of gender is portrayed very traditionally and conventionally in the film, as this is something many members of the audience would be able to relate to.

The film ‘The 6^th Sense’ is very different from The Terminator. 

The shot begins with a conventional street scene, lit in broad daylight, showing cars, buildings and green spaces. The shot pans from the scene of an accident through the traffic, to the car the Son and his Mum are sitting in. This shot gives the audience a sense of distance, which becomes very important later on.

Towards the start of the film, we are shown a conventional Mother & Son relationship, with the Mum apologising to her son for not being at the school play, and explaining that she has to have two jobs, which indicates to the audience that they could be in financial difficulty. 

The conversation between the Mother and the son is filmed at first using a two shot, with a slightly upward angle, making the mother seem more dominant. The framing of the shot indicates to the audience that there is no way the son can see the  accident ahead of them, which is why, when he reveals that he knows someone has died in the crash, something must be wrong. In addition, this shot uses the Golden Mean, whereby the eyes of both characters fall onto the diagonal line across the shot. 

A Point of View shot from the mother is also used, to show that she can see the ‘ghost’ of the dead cyclist outside the car window. This perhaps indicates to the audience that the son is very mentally unstable, along with the fact that he is very scared. 

Straight cuts are used throughout the sequence, although they are edited together quite slowly. This gives the feeling of fear more than the feeling of adrenaline and fast paced action, which often happens in thriller movies. The slow editing allows the audience to feel that the boy is very scared to talk to his Mother, and that this is a difficult conversation for them to have. 

Every time the boy pauses his speech, the shot goes back to his mother. This, together with the use of a close up shot, allows the audience to see the Mother’s reaction to what he has said, which could make some members of the audience feel very emotional. 

In addition, depth of field is also often used, which focuses the attention of the audience onto the person who is speaking.

In summary, I feel that the scene from The Terminator and the scene from 6^th Sense are both very different. The Terminator follows more of the conventions of a modern Thriller, with quickly edited together shots, diegetic and non-diegetic sound, low lighting and violence, whereas 6^th Sense features none of these attributes. 

The film ‘The Terminator’ perhaps represents life more closely, as it is set in a night club, with low-lighting and alcohol. This is something many people can relate to, as many people may have been in similar situations. 

In contrast, ‘The 6^th Sense’ represents reality less, as the scene refers to the boy being able to see ghosts, particularly of his Grandma. This is something that is much less likely to happen in reality, although the conventional relationship between the boy and his Mother definitely adds a sense of realism to the scene. 

In conclusion, I feel that the film ‘The 6^th Sense’ is better, as although it does not meet many of the conventions present in a modern thriller, the fact that it does not makes it different, which is why it stands out for me. The film does not use any non-diegetic music, which allows the audience to focus on what is being said by the son. In addition, the sequence combines reality and fiction very well, with the son being obviously very scared, something that could happen in real life, combined with the illusion of the two characters seeing the ghost of the woman who has died, something that is less likely to happen in reality.

 

Terminator - Tech Noir Scene

 

The 6th Sense