Buckland-Warren-Puzzle-Films-Complex-Storytelling-Contemporary-Cinema

78 Daniel BarrattContrary to our intuitions, therefore, we do not store a recording of thescene in the precise fashion of, say, a video or a DVD. When we are promptedto recall the scene at the end of the film, our recollection does not involveus replaying a “memory video” in our mind’s eye. Although it is probablethat we are able to recall one or two distinctive details – for example, Annaapparently snatching the bill away from Malcolm’s grasp – what primarilyhappens is that we reconstruct our memory of the scene using the schemasand propositions just described. Significantly, these schemas and propositionsincline us to go beyond the information given by filling in the gapswith details not included in the original scene – hence, the possibility of usfalsely recalling, say, an argument between the two characters. Schematicdistortion can affect the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. Similarly, theschematic distortion of our eyewitness testimony of the restaurant sceneand other parts of the film may account for our initial skepticism towardsthe flashback sequence and the film’s conclusion.(d) Telling the rest of the ghost storyHaving established Malcolm’s apparent status as a living person and hisapparent relationships with Lynn and Anna – by exploiting the primacyeffect and the priming procedure – how does Shyamalan go about tellingthe rest of his ghost story? And why does the fact that Malcolm never hasa (two-way) conversation with his wife after the introductory scene – orindeed any character other than child patient Cole – not sound any alarmbells during a first-time viewing? Ed Tan (1996) argues that our primaryemotion when viewing a fiction film such as The Sixth Sense is one of “interest,”where interest is approximately synonymous with attention (althoughit also involves the inclination to act). In particular, interest encouragesus to devote our limited processing resources to constructing the film’sovert narrative; the more processing resources we devote to an obviousconstruction, the less processing resources we devote to a non-obviousone. Significantly, the two primary determinants of interest are “thematicstructures” and “character structures” which influence our expectationsregarding the outcome of the plot (“cognitive concerns”) and the fate ofthe characters (“affective concerns”) respectively.In the second part of the film, two storylines are developed and run inparallel. The primary storyline (labeled A in Table 3.1) centers on the caseof Cole. Here, the main cognitive concern is “What is the cause of Cole’sanxiety?” while the main affective concern is “Will Cole recover from this