Jones St., Chapter 1: Pages 3-4

Page 3, 5 Panels- Road, Las Vegas NV

Panel 1: Cut to an action shot of Melanie’s car, a light blue 1995 Toyota Camry, turning out of the protected gate to her apartment complex and out onto the road. You can see a little section of the multiple floors of the complex in the background.

CAPTION [Cont., same as the one at the end of Page 2]: 1. After breakfast and a shower- Get to work on-time without bawling my eyes out.

Panel 2-4: A three-part set of panels that focus on Melanie’s face over the course of a handful of minutes. The scenery behind her changes, signifying the distance her car is moving as it all goes on. At first, things seem to be fairly successful in terms of following the first part on her checklist. Then, in Panel 4, she hears a song (David Bowie’s “Moonage Daydream”) come on the radio. A twinge of emotion starts to come over her face upon the first few chords of the song.

MELANIE [to herself]: Gorram it...

Panel 5: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. As she’s about to make a turn in the car toward another road, you can see the young woman’s eyes go more red and more glossy with the fresh tears that will soon trickle down her cheeks.

MELANIE [Cont. chuckling as her voice is breaking]: Unfair, universe. Just...unfair!

Page 4, 7 Panels- Lunchroom, Dorango High School, October 9th 2007

Panel 1: Cut to a ceiling shot showing the full expanse of the lunchroom to Dorango High. It’s filled to the brim with children chatting and sitting at the tables which form a set of lines that move from top to bottom. In between each table, you can see the light blue tile floor that is half empty and half blocked by the tops of the heads of the high schoolers.

CAPTION: Dorango High School Lunchroom October 9th, 2007

Panel 2: We move to a teenage Melanie sitting alone with her lunch. She has the same proportions on her face and body as we saw her adult self in the previous page, albeit with curly puffy hair. She’s reading Ms. Marvel #20 with a great deal of cringing in her eyes as if she smelt something noticeably wretched. You can see the students behind her moving from left to right and right to left, ignoring her at that moment. You can also see the top of her brown shirt, showing the top of Serenity to the reader.

TEENAGE MELANIE [shudders, to herself]: Puppet Master- reminds me too much of my ex-boyfriend!

Panel 3: Same setting/layout as the previous panel, along with the same ever changing background of the table behind her. A few moments later, her attention is momentarily drawn up toward the ceiling at the sound of the PA announcer’s voice. Her eyes are already rolling upon what’s being said at the moment.

PA ANNOUNCER [enthusiastic, Off-Panel]: Hello, Blazers!

Panel 4: Cut to a shot of the PA speaker that is placed on a separate corner of the lunchroom that is broadcasting the rest of the message to the students. You can see the same kind of bland school appropriate color scheme on the walls that we saw earlier with the lunchroom floor.

PA ANNOUNCER [Cont.]: Just a reminder, Seniors- if you want to go to UNLV next Fall, get in touch with Ms. Moison to set up a time for the SATs coming up next month. “A” schedule students have till Monday, while “B” have unti the 24th to sign up.

Panel 5-6: A two-part set of panels that moves focus back to Melanie in the same setting and layout as Panel 3. In Panel 5, we see her putting on a pair of headphones belonging to an iPod mini that lies on top of her closed comic book next to her tray of food. In the next panel, moments later, she has the device and starts to scroll down in order to find her song.

PA ANNOUNCER [Cont., Off-Panel; Panel 5]: Also, tickets for the Fall Formal go on-sale today. You can get them at— TEENAGE MELANIE [interjecting, Panel 5]: There’s my cue to check out…

Panel 7: Same setting/layout as the previous panel. With the iPod back in the same position we saw it in in Panel 5, Melanie moves to the food and starts eating in peace. The music wafting off from both sides of the headphones, forming the lyrics just above her head, along with the opening melodies that flank both sides.

DAVID BOWIE: “Hey man, oh leave me alone you know Hey man, oh Henry, get off the phone, I gotta…”