Plans for Paradise (Lost)

Here are my plans for making John Milton's classic Paradise Lost (the story of Adam and Eve + the fall of Satan; all told in a dramtised way) into a big-budget Hollywood Blockbuster!

- Open with a creation being drawn out on paper, very childlike (like the animation in Yoshi’s Island). Voiceover pretty much quotes Genesis. All done to Jack Johnson’s ‘Do You Remember?’ Constant flashes of the movie, symbolising that we all know the story and how it’s going to end.

- Opening credits have Satan + Fallen Angels + Sin + Death all returning to Hell after war with Heaven. All done to Radiohead’s ‘We Suck Young Blood’. Must have one shot in an Armageddon stylee (all walking in a line towards the camera). They all fly over the lake of fire, and shots of Hell (very detailed landscapes, like a Myasaki movie opening) and also shots of the creation of the Pandæmonium fortress.

- Milton describes angels as always having a look of joy on their faces. Make it REALLY over the top, like one of the drama masks? No mouth movement, no face movement whatsoever; will look really freaky!

- All angels have a chord coming out of their back that leads to God’s throne. When Lucifer and the Fallen Angels rebel, their chord leads to Satan’s throne (on opposite side of heaven).

- The difference between the Angels and the Fallen Angels is that Fallen angels have shaved heads (normal angels have long locks of hair). Also, Fallen angels can move their mouths (they want to be ‘free’ from God’s will)

- All the war in heaven will be done in anime. This symbolises the cartoon nature of the fight; angels can’t die, so every sword cut and gunshot, while still being very bloody, will heal almost instantly. The anime will also make Michael’s cutting of Satan’s chord/Satan’s fall very dramatic and beautiful.

- When Satan leaves Hell to scout out Eden, he will start soliloquising like a film noir character (because that is when he starts to think about asking for forgiveness).

- When Satan tempts Eve, it will be in an old film noir style. Black and white, Eve dressed like a 30’s film star (Monroe type of woman) and Satan like out of Casablanca (because he gets Eve to eat by complimenting her beauty).

- Milton always has angels ‘singing praises’ and that’s all they seem to do, so I want tons of big singing/dancing numbers like a cheesy musical. This couples with those freaky faces of theirs will make it funny and really strange :D

- As for Adam and Eve; even though they are naked, they aren't ashamed of it. To translate that feeling, I want them to have no privates (like Action Man dolls). They can be naked, but I want them looking artificial, so just smooth mounds and nothing else. When they eat the fruit, THEN they can look human.

- Make God know EVERYTHING, and always be on top of things. If this is done in the right way, people will get a LITTLE annoyed by Him, but not too much (which is what Milton sort of wanted). Also have God restrict a lot of things (like when Raphael talks to Adam about free will: “you can choose whatever you like, but choose God”). This can be shown especially with God’s attitude towards the Adam/Eve relationship.

- The big theme of this story is love. It’s Adams love for Eve that makes him disobey. So their meeting has to be done very delicately. God’s attitude is one of worrying about Adam’s lust (seen by Raphael’s warning to Adam about his feelings) so this makes it seem like God is restricting, in some ways, Adam’s love (like how Milton wrote it)

- Milton writes Paradise Lost with Adam being much better then Eve (spiritually, morally, physically etc.). I’m not 100% sure how to approach that, because the last thing I want is the feminists on my back…then again, it IS Eve’s vanity in herself that makes her eat the fruit…maybe they can give me some artistic licence lol…

- When Satan sneaks into Eden past the Angel guards, I want it looking like that bit in Zelda when you sneak past the guards of the castle. Birds-eye view.

- Interesting how Milton has given reason and logic to only Satan and humans, the only beings that sin…

- After Eve eats the fruit she goes and tells Adam. Adam knows what the fruit will do, but he can’t live without Eve, so he willingly cuts himself off from God. This could make for a very dramatic ‘suicide’ scene.

- Interesting point that Milton makes: As soon as Adam/Eve eat the fruit, the first thing they do is go off into the woods and do the horizontal monster-mash (if you get my drift).When Raphael ejects Adam/Eve from Eden, he shows them images of the future (Jesus, war, Cain/Abel, famine etc.) this would be a good place to put some modern images and discussion in (materialism, terrorism, atheism etc.).