I was thinking perhaps the film could begin with the first three paragraphs of the book, but set in a car driving down a random highway. Blue could be staring wistfully out the window. Her close up could be combined with POV shots of the passing scenery. The main sound could come from the noise of the road and nature. In voiceover, the girl’s thoughts could be heard: “Dad always said a person must have a magnificent reason for writing out his or her Life Story and expecting anyone to read it” (1). Driving the car is her father, Gareth, who can now be seen lecturing in the background, but his words are too faint to hear, until the VO stops. Gareth can now be heard saying “Unless your name…with a wheeze” (second paragraph). He continues to speak, but his voice is lost to the VO once more, “Given such rigid parameters…sooner than I ever imagined” (third paragraph). Perhaps, here we could have a montage of images that she describes, ending with her in the car looking forward.

This last image could dissolve into her with the same expression, but now sitting in a lecture hall. Everyone except Blue looks bored or is asleep. Professor Zolo is at a podium, we hear part, or all of his lecture (page 9-10). As he finishes (“Where are the noble heroes?...”) Blue could be in an American Beauty like trance, and at the end (“…it just—it just might—”) she jumps up in a panic and runs out as described at the bottom of page 10.

Next, Blue could be in her room desperately trying to figure out what to write. Maybe provide a VO of her going over various beginnings, flashes of the Bluebloods, her mother, father, and Hannah. All these can be quick glimpses, except for the last one, which could possibly be the image of Hannah’s hanging without any sound except the “swing noise.” This could end with her crumpling up her false starts and just sitting there.

Then, a flashback to the car, with her father saying “One day you’ll see…And remember. Always have everything you say exquisitely annotated, and, where possible, provide staggering Visual Aids” (12). Blue now writes on the paper “Curriculum” and then, “Required Reading.” If possible, have opening credit with a montage of Blue in the library searching through many books and ending with her looking at the cover of Othello. A title could appear in hear handwriting: “Part 1.”

I thought this beginning might work because it could then establish Blue’s need/want of research and credibility. In class someone mentioned that Blue in the library could be used to visually show the annotations, along with some hand written commentary. However, I think that these narrative breaks should only be used during the first half hour at the most. Therefore, when the story picks up, these devices would be used very sparingly, if at all.