Euphemistic Music In War Cinema / Documentaries (have horror motifs ever been used?)

For some 11 years now I've been intently studying 'all' aspects of cinema in preparation for a very special film project. History of cinema & documentaries being a major part of that. I've scoured for all of the most intense, extreme, surreal and on and on sorts of works in order to understand the limits of cinematic storytelling. The task is to make a documentary film that feels like a movie, and plays like channel surfing television. The human saga is the story in this ultimate chronology, to examine the most key crucial patterns of history that we had better not as a species continue to repeat in this century if we expect to survive it. To tell this story this beast is long, very long, meaning to make it so people will watch it I have to make it so they want to watch it. No easy task, and there's no option but do it right and do it well. There's never been anything quite like it for a number of specific reasons, one being all these years I've been studying in order to deliver this strict chronological feature in what I call humanity's universal "Language of Television". And that means there's really only one way to do it which is not for it to be one streamlined piece of the same person narrating. The inverse of monotonous is the mandate. Every possible style and theme to tell this story is the driving force. The "channel changes" constantly (more times than I would dare count already as it it), and when it does there's no telling what's around each corner. Balancing SERIOUS with entertaining is the ongoing challenge as I thrust forward. Borrowing bits & slices from as many sources as it takes to tell the 'whole' story as needed is the method, although content creation as I go to fill the gaps that nothing else can fill is part of the ordeal. The bits I do borrow often tend to get major editing and even effects work done to them, but at the very least the music usually ends up getting an overhaul to make it more exciting. All while trying to figure out original presentation methods to make it that much more special....

So in my film studies there have been various little niche movies categories I've noted and tried to zoom in on. "Man vs. Media" (think Jumanji or Stay Tuned, not the news media) being one example. Another is War Horror (war movies with horror motifs). Back around 2009 is when I first thought to try to find 'war horror' movies. I was surprised to find very little in this arena. Aside from zombies and werewolves in war time settings, there's not much else and even the ones that do exist are far and few between.

"Horrors of War (2006)" is one such example. A low budget piece, its not too bad. Hitler's war machine making zombies and werewolves sort of theme. At the moment disappointing for me though as it just doesn't have a hardcore screaming horror music element to it. I'm thinking slasher horror screeching action sequences with edge of your seat spook house thrills for all the dialog in between.,,

For a lot of the actual war elements that is (my saga covers much much more than just wars & empires).

I actually didnt do any editing work on it for many years, until recently. And then I was going to only cover a handful of very specific topics about WW1 & WW2, in this strict chronology. I also tried to only do half measure method and not go back in time beyond 100 years. But the closer to 'complete' I got the the forward periods the more I just had to go back in time to really do it right. The full unique theme I've now realized for it is to show The Darkest Patterns that mankind repeats endlessly. Just showing an log drawn out saga of ugly isn't my goal any more than just showing how screwed up the world is. My agenda was always to show how the world evolved into what it is, and now that I've truly dug into this beast I've realized that its all about the patterns mankind has been locked into as our whole recorded history has us as a species always using the same kind of thinking regarding ourselves and 'the others'.

At first I didn't even intend to get sucked into the full project. But then I did of course. I really tried like hell to keep it 'short' enough to have it be one single video 'clip'; not a bunch of separate 'parts'. But eventually as it drug on I decided you know what I'm going to go all in and do the initial version as 'complete'. This chronology is so rich, and my editing my clip mixing method so perfect I decided I'm going to go all out on the WW2 period in particular.

But just having my unique mix method wasn't good enough. I didn't want to just do a mish mash of documentaries / movies, as awesome as the method has been manifesting the many storylines for me, it had to be something truly special to warrant really zooming in on that period. Otherwise it'd mostly be pure documentary feel across that period, anyways. It has to feel like a movie, remember.

So the next day it hit me, it just popped into my head that I'm going to do it like a slasher horror movie!

You see this summer I've already been scratching and sniffing around literature and everything else to find people speaking about war criminal evil politician types in terms of how we normally speak about serial killers and mass murderers. I found absolutely nothing in Youtube, essentially nothing in words via the Google. I've been intent on writing and doing some short films on these topics for many years now, and now that I got around to it this summer I found very little whatsoever even just to help me out on the area of interest.

It still hadn't occurred to me though, that in documentaries and movies alike, the horror motif is essential non-existent across the entire history of moving pictures especially regarding war.

In documentaries the has been has used a handful of times that come to mind. Psychiatry Industry of Death is a choice example, but the hardcore Scientology hit piece on the psychiatry industry has nothing to do with war being scary nor the people that drive the masses to war being ruthless monsters. Even pieces that are tantamount to "Faces of Death", such as "War Atrocities The Horrors of War" dont go anywhere near such themes. The past couple weeks I've been reviewing over 100 documentaries on the Nazi's, and while some go dark on the music themes at certain points they mostly only appeal to dreary. About the only one I can think of that comes close to what I'm talking about would be Endgame, which isn't specific to war but certainly delivers on dark sinister almost horror movie style musical direction which does a good job portraying the subject matter.

Now some might assume fear mongering is my ambition, but actually cynicism for these elements is more of what I have in mind. Dark Satire is actually part of my agenda in this no holds barred social commentary. Seeing Hitler speeches, or sequences about topics such as the "Night of Broken Glass", with pop culture horror cinema theme music (such of the Halloween theme) it isn't just about making such items scary, or entertaining, I've realized it gives perspective which now that I've been focused on it all month now is a perspective we've essentially never been given. Ever.

Think of all the war movies & documentaries you've ever seen. Now think of the music. It's always, no matter how hardcore the war actions sequences, all epic dramatic sounding. The Pentagon & Hollywood have been so lock step all these years that they've ingrained into war cinema a meme of an epic sort of sounding music that glorifies WAR. It's so ubiquitous that to think to break the TYPECASTING has even been a fleeting specific notion to me until recently. Even in the original content, and music overlays I've added to this project before this moment of clarity lack the umph I'm getting at despite the fact I've been unleashing the most hard hitting often times dark music armada at this thing as I've been going. Even I have missed the mark.

The closest I've come is in my "MEMEGEDDON" (fake Grindhouse trailer) short, although that too wasn't anything to do with war and was with pure cynical satire in its heart. Not to mention its the furthest thing from an obvious pop culture horror reference being the climax 'boss' music sampled from the "Elvira's Scared Stiff" pinball machine (which I had been waiting over a decade to find the perfect short film element to deploy it in):

So what I've realized is is there's been a major euphemistic music scoring design across war motion picture making, and surely it's helped fuel the disconnect between war and the horror show that it is.

Kids thing Jason Vorhee's chasing a camper through the woods is scary?

Try being in a trench surrounded by barbed wire with large caliber rifle rounds flying past your head while mortars are coming down all around you, or better yet you're a civilian and armadas of bombers are flying overhead dropping huge payloads of high explosive bombs all down on your neighborhood.

Put me vs. Michael Myers or me vs. 500 bomber planes overhead? I'll pick Michael Myers every time and maybe just maybe make him my bitch.

Yet the bigger issue is put Michael Myers vs. 500 B-29 Superfortress' and watch him crap his guts out like a little girl!

So I say it's time to break the musical typecasting...

The Rape of Nanking as a slasher horror movie.

a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

I get the impression that you think that the way to get across a movie or documentary is by some mass appeal of its music? That aspect is what makes it a major success or not?

Never one to get too far beyond the bread-and-butter corners of the arts, I don't understand your fascination. I need to be further convinced that you have a valid premise on which to have devoted years of work. (Grant you, I have my own areas that few would recognize as having any substance. But I glibly explain them as my pastime killers nothing for anyone else to ever get excited about.)

originally posted by: Aliensun
a reply to: IgnoranceIsntBlisss

I get the impression that you think that the way to get across a movie or documentary is by some mass appeal of its music? That aspect is what makes it a major success or not?

I have an behind the scenes documentary of the original Halloween film.

Maybe I'll crop and post the clip later:

You see the film was done before the OST, and when the producers reviewed the film they said it was crap, not even scary at all.

And then Carpenter whipped up that OST and as a result he created what is arguably the most successful trend setting horror movie of all time. On a low budget no less.

Some conspiratorial Halloween instinct in todays ATS crowd, this Halloween.

This is the cutting edge of the cutting room floor!