Something Borrowed Analysed Opening Sequence

The opening scene of this movie is a surprise birthday party at night and throughout this scene the titling sequence is being shown in each corner of the screen. The audience is first introduced to what supposedly could be the main character as she walks towards the club. They use an OTS shot and a tracking shot to show this. As she reaches the door a reverse shot of her walking in is used and this shows the audience that she is wearing her work clothes. The rule of thirds is considered after the two male bodyguards move aside from blocking the entrance for her. In this shot we see her back is facing towards the audience and the height difference between the men and the woman represent power. Diegetic sound is then used to allow the audience to hear the music being played at the party. Once she enters the room, we find that there are red curtains separating the room from the door and this could represent glamour and maybe something special that might happen. This code tells the audience that it may be a celebration. The room is pitch black but we can still see the light hitting the back of her head. When the lights are switched we see an establishing shot of the room, the Happy Birthday Rachel banner and the guests and then it cuts to a close up which is used to show her 'surprised' facial expression. It then cuts again to a pan of a couple of the guests. Here we see that they're in party dresses and that they're holding champagne bottles. 

The woman in the white dress then goes up to greet Rachel and because of the two shots and the mid shot- close ups used in this bit of the scene, it represents intimacy and it tells the audience that they may be best friends. As they exchange dialogue mid shot-long shots and reverse shots to make the conversation flow were used. After this, the camera zooms in on her face to show the audience that she is happy and then it cuts to the bathroom scene where she is in the middle of changing into her party outfit. The costumes they use in this whole scene contrast with each other. Rachel's dress is black and although it is her birthday, her best friend Darcy is getting all the attention because she's wearing a simple white dress that stands out. The mise-en-scene that they use portrays both of these characters as complete opposites. Darcy is blonde, has red nails and red lipstick where as, Rachel is a dark brunette with natural looking make up, and this says a lot about their characters because of certain stereotypes.