Reel World

 As we know as film students and enthusiasts, film is one of the most all-encompassing, expressive art forms there is.  It utilizes sound, visuals, music, and motion to engage all of the senses and communicate deep themes, experiences, and meaning like no other medium.  Perhaps that is why whether you are documenting the events and moments or telling a story, film is the most effective way to communicate the horror, heartbreak, heroism, and sacrifice of war. The war genre in film is defined by its use of actual combat fighting or conflict as the primary plot or background for the action of the film.  Typical elements in war film plots include POW camp experiences and escapes, submarine/air/land/naval warfare, espionage, personal stories of heroism, tough trench and infantry experiences, or male-bonding adventures.  Themes are centered around main ideas of combat, survival in brutal conditions, escape, gallant sacrifice and struggle, studies of futility and inhumanity in battle, the eff