Possible movie version of Genesis album, part 1

The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway - Screenplay draft (part one)

Black Screen – A fly is heard…buzzing.
(Piano arpeggios fade in - intro to The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway)
Fade from black to white screen - textured white - Lamb’s wool - A fly lands on the wool, and then flies away.

Black titles: “some company” presents

Then: A “some other company’s” production of

Then (As the whole band slams in): “The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway”

The title frame fades to a fast moving overhead shot, moving Uptown on Broadway in Manhattan, NYC. It’s early morning, barely predawn. The shot speeds along in fast motion (…and the Lamb…), the city getting lighter toward dawn, (…lies down…) then the shot stops (“…on Broadway”) on the entrance/exit of the Broadway Subway stop. We see Rael coming forth, in real time.

He walks haughtily along, plodding through the sidewalk crowds. The lyrics of the title song describe scenes we glimpse in quick cutaway shots – (“Movie palace is now undone”) Wide angle shot of Theatre from the street (“the all night watchmen have had their fun”) Men exiting the Theatre – subliminally the Lamb is laying in every cutaway shot. (“Nighttimes flyers feel their pains, drug store take down the chains…”) Cabs rush by in a blur, roll-up metal store fronts open…..the shots riff on the cutaways but always come back to Rael. The mood of the music changes as Rael notices the Lamb for the first time, across the street (“The lamb seems right out of place…”). He wonders if anyone else notices, but he’s mostly just amused by its presence.

(“somehow it’s lying there brings a stillness to the air”) The city scene now seems to be tinted and the action is slowing, but Rael is left in real time. The only hint is that his eyes are blinking fast. Captivated, Rael keeps looking on. He walks out in to the street as the scene slows and he’s able to walk between the creeping cars. Suddenly the scene catches back up to Rael, now standing in the middle of traffic, and continues it’s fast pace. Cutaways continue to punctuate the scene. (“Suzanne tired her work all done”) We see Suzanne drive by in her expensive auto looking tired but still dressed up from her night’s work. (“Cabman’s velvet glove sounds the horn”) A cab driver honks and looks irritated that Rael is standing amid the traffic. (“Wonder Women you can draw your blind…”) an attractive business woman looks at Rael, and then quickly looks away when she thinks he sees her. (“I’m not your kind I’m Rael”) Close up of Rael’s face, still transfixed. (“and the Lamb lies down…on Broadway”) The camera finally pans over Rael’s shoulder and moves up and away from him, taking in the Theatre front and the slow moving street scene. The lamb is now gone from the scene. (“They say the lights are always bright on Broadway”) Fade to black while the camera still pulls away.

The music changes to the opening guitar/keyboard intro to “Fly on a Windshield”, [without the words]. Fade in to Rael still standing in the street, facing Times Square. Traffic is moving normally around Rael. He has noticed a large cloud descending on Times Square and then moving in a solid mass toward him. Tentatively at first, he begins to turn and run away from the storm. As he runs, a wind begins to blow against him, and a film of dust starts collecting on his body, slowing his progress until he’s perfectly still. No one else notices and no one pays attention to him. The Wall of Death crashes in to Rael and he is hurled in to a seeming vortex of images spiraling around him. The images slow down and soon Rael can make them out as they pass slowly by. Film Treasures from bygone years; Celebrities of Comedy, Politics, Philosophy, Music and more, all glorified by Television and the Motion Picture, parade by Rael. He doesn’t notice as wool winds around his legs and begins moving up his body, wrapping him in a cucoon. The Vortex of images comes to an end, and Rael is lying in a tunnel, wrapped up “to go”. The only sound is water drops.