Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Pilot Episode

Since these Episodes will have two Alamas, Alma1 will be "Alma the Elder" and Alma2 will be "Alma the Younger."


The first episode will start with Alma2 being curled up in a dark corner, rocking back and forth being very afraid. We will then hear Alma2's voice narrating his situation. He will first talk about a "dream" that his dad told him about a "fruitful tree", a "spacious building" and being in complete "darkness". He then explains that he feels that he is in that very dream that his dad was talking about, but he can't see the "building" or even the "tree". This is what scares him.



The camera will then zoom out, away from Alma2. As the camera is zooming out, we'll see that we're zooming out from a man's eye. We will then see a man in his 40's(don't ask me how I got that answer, I did some research) lying motionless on the dirt ground looking up into the moonlit night. In a nutshell we find that Alma the younger is in a coma much like Rick Grimes from "The Walking Dead", only we're going to enter into Alma2's dreams within the episode, and have flashbacks that lead up to the part when Alma2 ends up in a coma.

After it shows the coma scene it will then cut to the TV show intro(which I haven't figured out yet, but it will be awesome!).

Next it will cut to a flashback of Alma2's mother finding out that Alma2 has been the one that is
leading people away from the church(3 hours before the coma incident). The mother will try to help Alma2 understand the wrong that he has done and ask him to stop, but Alma2 will refuse multiple times. The mother will then ask Alma2 what his name is. Alma2 will continue refusing to answer until finally the mother bursts into tears and screams "What is your name!"Alma2 will grudgingly say "Alma." Then the mother will say, "That's right! and you remember that name, because it is your father's!" From that statement we find out that Alma2 is named after his father, and it will foreshadow an event that will happen in the future seasons with Nephi and Lehi being told who they were named after and to always "remember" their names(Helaman 5).

After the conversation Alma2 begins to leave the house by saying to his mother, "I wish you would've given me different name!" This will then set the tone for the episode. The mother will be heart broken. One of Alma2's brothers(Mosiah 27:8) will over hear the conversation. Alma2 notices and realizes that one of his younger brothers looks up to him. Alma2 then talks to his brother and tries to give him comfort by saying, "Don't be like me, be better than me." With that statement, we see that Alma2 knows that what he is doing is wrong, but yet he will continue to disobey. Alma2 leaves the house and gathers all the son's of Mosiah and  "...those that were with him..."(Mosiah 27:18) and they all plan to destroy the church that very night(Mosiah 27:8-10).
When Alma2 leaves, Alma2's brother and mother embrace each other and continue to cry.

It will then cut to another flashback, that happens years before, to a scene of a young version of Alma2 being embraced by his mother. In this scene it will show Alma1 protecting his family and his followers from the Lamanites by praying to the Lord. In so doing, the Lamanites' hearts are softened, but the Lamanites now have the city of Helam(Mosiah 23:25-29).

While Alma1's people are captive they then learn that the person that is going to be their "king" is
Amulon. Amulon was one of the priests of Noah before the Lamanites killed king Noah. Amulon knows Alma1 very well, because Alma1 was also a priest of king Noah(Mosiah 24:9).
At first Amulon will be somewhat happy seeing a familiar face. Amulon then tells Alma1 how he was able to win the favor of the Lamanites by marrying a Lamanite daughter, and then eventually find Alma1 in his hiding place(Mosiah 23:30-35). I think what would be cool is have Amulon offer a place in ruling over the cities and then eventually kill the Lamanites(the Lamanites are a common enemy that Alma1 and Amulon share, so it would make senese), but Alma1 doesn't want any part of that. Because of that decision, Amulon decides to make Alma1 and his followers work harder and even deny their rights to pray vocally. If they are caught praying, they will be put to death(Mosiah 24:9-11).

This creates a problem for Alma1 and his followers, because they need to pray to God for help. Also we see that Alma1 and Amulon are polar opposites of each other when dealing with the Lamanites(much like Rick and The Governor from The Walking Dead). Amulon and his men married the Lamanite women in order to gain favor of the Lamanites to save their skins. Alma and his followers prayed that no harm would fall upon them, but were later taken captive in their own city in Helam.

It then cuts back to Alma1 walking to his house and finding that his wife and sons are crying(2 hours after Alma2 left the house). Alma1 asks where Alama2 is, and the mother responds by saying that she doesn't know. Alma1 then runs out the door and tries to find Alma2 in the forest.

It then cuts to Alma2 and his followers sitting outside The Church of God, lighting their torches about to burn the Church down. When suddenly an angel appears to them and rebukes them. In doing so, Alma2 is placed in a coma, ending where we left off(Mosiah 27:10-19).

The camera will zoom back into Alma2's eye to show Alma2 still afraid and curled up in a dark corner. To be continued... End credits.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

The Synopsis

If you have seen the  movie "The Book of Mormon Movie" and you enjoyed it, I'm sorry but it could've been done a lot better! This blog will be talking about ways to make "The Book of Mormon" into a much more interesting story adapted for the big screen. Before I get there I would like to point out the flaws that were found in the movie. I'm only doing this because I love "The Book of Mormon" so much, that it needs to be redone and "restored" to its proper "frame"! Pun intended!

First off, the name title. "The Book of Mormon Movie", putting the words "book" and "movie" in the same title isn't a smart idea. It's like adapting every book written into a movie and adding "The Movie" at the end of the given book title. And having the subtitle "Volume 1: The Journey" is really corny! The title is simply like having two opposites existing in one plain, an oxymoron if you will, but for the sake of puns I'll call this one an "oxyMormon".

The second problem was making the trailer better than the movie. You never show all the good memorable parts in the trailer. You wanna keep your audience guessing. Let it be a mystery. The viewers will be curious and stumble onto it unknowingly.

Thirdly, this is what really made me cringe. In "The Book of Mormon" we have a scripture mastery in 1 Nephi 3:7 which has Nephi tell his father Lehi that he "...will go and do..." In the book, Nephi's intention was to "go" and get the plates of Laban. In the movie, that famous phrase was used the same way but then was reused out of context and placed in Lehi's conversation with his son's to go and get wives. Granted that Nephi and his brothers definitely wouldn't "murmur" about this suggestion, but changing this simple and important declaration in a loosely humorous manner is "unacceptable!"

There are numerous flaws in this movie, but these were the main ones and I want to get to the point of this blog. Making "The Book of Mormon" into a TV show!

Starting off, I would change the title. Don't get me wrong, calling the show "The Book of Mormon"
would be more plausible, but from what recently happened with "The Book of Mormon Musical"; people are going to associate that title to the creators of "South Park", and think that it will be a TV adaption from that musical. Now what should we call it then? I'd call it "The Reign of the Judges"! The reason I'd call it that is because the majority of "The Book of Mormon" talks about "the reign of the judges", and each time it did, something interesting is bound to happen! Plus If you want to attract a broader audience you'll need to pick a title that people of all faiths or beliefs will be drawn to.



Now I know what you're thinking, "the reign of the judges" doesn't start in 1 Nephi. Well, we're not going to start the show in 1 Nephi, We're going to start it in Mosiah 27:8 and the series will end in Helaman 16:9. I know... I know... "Alma goes on forever!"












So do all TV shows, but yet we each sit and binge-watch each episode "till whatever end!"


The series will start with Alma the younger being rebellious and it will end with Samuel the Lamanite prophesying of the Lord's coming. This will be perfect because it will put the viewer in the middle of the story where the first reign of the judges will begin. Since everybody is into the end of the world these days with dystopian and apocolyptic futures, it would be fitting to end the season with Samuel the Lamanite predicting "the end of the world" for the wicked, but a new beginning for the righteous!
  
More ideas will come, I can assure you!
What do you think? What would make an awesome TV show for "The Reign of the Judges"? I'm opened for ideas!