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'Birthday' is a short film that explores the preparation for suicide and the conflicting emotions that surround it.
The sequence starts with the title of the film and the introduction of the male character from behind. The audience would be able to connote from the word 'birthday' that it is a happy occasion which most people are exalcited for. However, even at this point in the sequence where minimal exposition has been divulged, it is assumed that the film will have none of the happy feelings that are assumed from the above, mainly due to the non-diegetic backing track that is just an high-pitched whine. Therefore, due to the Hermeneutic Code of Barthes' Enigma Codes, enigma is created for the audience because they can't tell if the whine is diegetic or not and are confused as to what is happening with the lack of exposition from the sequence. Furthermore, the use of the long shot of just the male is useful because it established his negative feelings via his body language but again, creates more enigma because the audience doesn't understand why he's feeling this way.
Next, a female character is introduced into the sequence. After a panning, establishing shot of the bathroom, a mid-shot of the woman in the soapy water is shown to the audience. Due to the stillness of the scene, the audience may have assumed that the female character could have died in the bath, maybe due to the stereotype in society that older women are more frail, but this is disproven when the camera shows her blinking. This is useful because it could have been used to foreshadow the woman's death to the audience, but at this moment in time, this character has clearly been represented as weak, suggesting that she could be the 'princess' when applying Propp's character theory. It should also be mentioned that when she blinks, the non-diegetic backing track has the whine replaced with the classical instruments of a piano and strings. This gives the sequence a more elegant feel to it which is reflected in the smart way they dress in the costume, as shown below.
As mentioned above, it is presented by the way that the characters dress that they are of quite a high socio-economic class. This is hinted at in the mid shot of the male character, mainly due to the fact that he's wearing braces, and under Altman's semantic codes, it is suggested that he is clearly reached retirement age but he could also be quite rich. This idea is also supported by the location that he's in which is elaborate in the hypnotic wallpaper design (décor). This suggests under Propp's character theory that he's the protagonist and the female is the 'princess' because she's sticking to the stereotype of caring about her appearance more so than the male, as shown by the fact that she carefully dabs her makeup onto her face.
This idea of the female being the 'princess' is supported by the fact that the next shot is again of her tending to her appearance whilst the man gets a gun. Once the audience sees the shakeycam shot of the gun, under Altman's semantic codes, the narrative is developed because the audience now connotes that the uncomfortable atmosphere that was created in the backing track and the enigma has all been leading to a disruption moment, as explored in Todorov's model. This practice is typical for films that are classified into the thriller genre, so, the introduction of the gun has now confirmed it's place.
With the use of the shallow depth of field and the fact that the camera zooms into it, the birthday candle on top of the cake is significant to both understanding why the actual film is called 'Birthday', and the make the following actions more sombre. For example, the audience now connotes that this potentially deadly action is happening on either of the character's birthday, which is something that you wouldn't wish upon anyone, but it makes the audience even more expectant for something awful to happen. In doing so, more enigma is created via Altman's semantic codes and Barthes' Hermeneutic Enigma code which allows for the sequence to yet again, become more tense.
Now, the man is represented more towards his stereotype to society by becoming more sentimental to his past life when he looks over a photograph with the same birthday cake in it. This motif of the birthday cake is effective because it provides the audience some understanding as to why the sequence is named that way, but it also used to confuse and create enigma under Barthes'. This new general motif of food is continued into the next shot of the female character drinking out of a fancy tumbler. This is effective, because it allows the audience to now understand that both characters are feeling incredibly sad in their situations, as explored in their body language and grim facial expressions. Due to such, the tension is developed even further to one that has become rather dark and uncomfortable for the audience watching.
It is now where the 'disruption' phase of Todorov's model is shown via a shakeycam to the audience where the man puts the gun to his temple and attempts to kill himself. This dramatic part of the sequence clearly shocks the audience because under both Altman's and Bathes' theories, it is clearly suggested that he's going to fire the gun and the audience starts to emotionally prepare for this eventuality. It is only in the POV shot of the photograph in the mirror, which combined with the shakeycam, suggests to the audience that he's having second thoughts of his actions. Therefore, when he drops the gun, it becomes more prominent because it looks like the 'disruption' phase of the film has been avoided, and instead the film has reaches it's 'new equilibrium' of Todorov's model. 
However, this 'new equilibrium' is tested due to the fact that the male character then puts the gun down on the dresser and picks up the phone. Whilst this all happens, both the diegetic foley of the dial tone that would have been applied in post-production gets louder in volume and the non-diegetic backing track reaches a crescendo. This disorientates the audience because even more tension is created under Barthes' Hermeneutic Enigma code and the atmosphere is now extremely uncomfortable. 
Therefore, when the sequence cuts to the crabbing shot of the female on the bed, who's clearly dead, this 'new equilibrium' theory is disproven and it is revealed that it was actually the 'disruption' of Todorov's theory that's been extended. This is because the female wasn't presented as suicidal in the earlier images, so this fact is surprising to the audience. Plus, the audience can clearly see in the shot there's an open bottle of pills, so under Altman's Semantic Codes, the female has clearly overdosed and the scene is even more shocking due to the female's character lifeless facial expressions and the close up of the birthday candle that's been blown out. Overall, this film now clearly fits into the thriller genre because the surprise twist in the narrative is common convention for films of that category.
Things that I would steal from this sequence
- An unexpected plot twist
- Crescendos in backing tracks when tension is developed
- The use of a motif image
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