The War Series

A German soldier in World War II: The European Front

May 2021

### Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5\_lHo175IQw&list=PLG3KDurT3CCsOvrxHiQVi0mnWNbPurYIx

The War Series is the first and largest set of videos produced by the dudes. The War Series has 8 installments (9 if you include War on Terries) originally spanning from October 2015 to May 2018, with an addition in December 2020. This is the very core of the cinematic universe as it sparked the passion and creativity to expand it and continue it to this day. The series began in Jack and Eric's 10th grade history class with Mrs. Lobasso assigning 3 group projects that year which allowed them to develop their craft. This resulted in the original trilogy of World War I: Trench Warfare, World War II: The European Front, and Vietnam. These videos were met with great reception as they were shown around the school and the enjoyment of collecting militaria escalated as Jack's dad bought more and more stuff. The next year Jack and Eric had no history class which resulted in a dry spell with the only War Series video being made when helping John's history group in making World War I: Battles of Absolute Destruction. During the senior year of high school the War Series was now back and better than ever with more actors, better cameras, and better editing starting the year off with the popular Causes and Effects of the Revolutionary War. This was then followed by Famous Battles of the Civil War and brought to a close with American Wars of Containment. The War Series has remained complacent ever since with the dudes opting for alternate creations such as the Cops videos and fallout. Jack does however plan on remaking the original trilogy of videos meaning the War Series may have new life breathed into it in the near future. The first of any remakes has occurred in December 2020 with World War I: Trench Warfare Remake and it turned out pretty good if I say so myself. For more information on each video, click the links to each respective article.

## World War I: Trench Warfare

World War I: Trench Warfare is the very first video ever produced by Jack and Eric beginning the cinematic universe. The video spawned out of a combination of various factors. For a little less than a year Jack and his dad had begun collecting various military helmets as well as some uniform jackets. When Jack and Eric were told in class they had to create a World War I project they realized they could put some of this equipment to use if they had a combat focused topic. They didn't like anyone else in the class so they just opted to be a two man group and had to fight for the ultimate desired topic, Trench Warfare. Unfortunately when competing in rock paper scissors for it, Eric had lost losing the topic to another group. The two desperately tried to think of a new topic and they planned with now going with weapons of the war. Then by some divine act of God, the group that had one either mysteriously lost the topic or given it up because Lobasso had reopened the competition for it. The reason this is mysterious is one of the group members which had won it was competing again making Jack believe God had actively reversed time to give them another chance. Jack this time went up to compete and managed to win by a number guessing game leading to a smooth production cycle of the video. The pair did not use any extras at the time of this video as well as a cameraman so it is largely filmed by a garbage can that has the camera taped to it.

## World War II: The European Front

World War II: The European Front developed on the content of World War I bringing it to a larger scale using more locations and being a longer video. The video developed as Jack wanted to show off more helmets leading to the countries that are shown in the video. Since the dudes lacked period weapons, Jack's dad began creating prop guns which were recognizable and real looking on camera greatly expanding their armory and beginning a common practice in future videos. The bold move to have a camera man was decided being one of Jack's parents allowing this greater mobility. While initially all acting was done by the two, the innovative idea to using Jack's brothers and Matthew as extras increased the quality of the video and sped up production time. This video was the first to be a true box office hit in school as Mrs. Lobasso showed it to all her classes and sent it to other teachers setting the standard to what the dudes videos would be.

## Vietnam

Vietnam was the final project of 10th grade history and is the most story driven of the war series. Although it suffered hell in the editing progress, the video is regarded as one of the great projects for its content and its uniform department. Jesse, disliking the groups he had in class, got permission to join the group despite being in another period. This led to having him as a third main character and also a larger platoon. Andrew as well took part in this video bringing Matthew with him making this video have the largest cast of its time. In recent times Jack has amassed quite a collection in Vietnam era equipment resulting in him wanting to create another Vietnam video, one potential idea for doing that would be the remastering of this project.

## War on Terries

A controversial entry into the War Series, it is only truly recognized as a member by John. The video was made by a different group of dudes in the same class the original trilogy of war videos was made, yet Jack and Eric have no involvement spurring the debate as to whether or not this belongs. The video is different as it mainly focuses on narration to explain the events while there is some nonsensical things occurring. The timeline of the video covers the War on Terror starting with 9/11, then some Taliban attacks, and finishing with the invasion of Iraq. Liam driving the motorbike and saying Allah Akbar was funny though that made me laugh. Bloopers are good too I guess.

## World War I: Battles of Absolute Destruction

World War I: Battles of Absolute Destruction is a unique video in that it wasn't Jack and Eric's project and it was edited by Michael. The video saw a more unique cast introducing John as a main actor in the dudes videos, and also featuring Kevin and Dan. The video is met with mixed reception since it looks stylish and has some good humor, yet Dan's narration throughout the video is just terrible.

## Causes and Effects of the Revolutionary War

Causes and Effects of the Revolutionary War was the great comeback video for Jack and Eric as they started their senior year of high school. Still seen as one of the greatest made, the video featured 4K quality, colorful outfits and scenery, funny jokes, and some genuine education. The video is the only video out of the War Series to not completely focus on a war and rather catalyst events that caused it. The start of the war as well as conflicts that followed it are included which rightfully gives it its place. The video is one of the only ones to have the majority of uniforms being provided by Jesse instead of from Jack's collection besides the Civil War.

## Famous Battles of the Civil War

Famous Battles of the Civil War was the second video produced during senior year showcasing a unique style by placing more focus on leaders throughout the war rather than just regular soldiers. The video suffered from rocky production with the snowy weather often messing with filming. This snow however managed to save the video from its deadline as a chain of two snow days led to its completion. The video also is the first to have Jack's sisters act giving it a special cast in comparison to others.

## American Wars of Containment

American Wars of Containment was the final high school project of the series, a video of controversy amongst the dudes as it is simultaneously revered and despised. The video features the largest cast of any video and is the longest of the War Series. The video features good camera shots, excellent outfits, intense combat, good jokes, and memorable characters. For these reasons the video was widely celebrated at its creation, but upon looking back at it, the dudes began to become more critical. The lack of any real historical information, excessive use of gunfight as opposed to other content and the uncomfortable Korean delicacy scene draw criticism. While some do enjoy this, those involved do not putting it in a unique sort of reception where it is popular with many who watched it, yet partially disliked by those who made it. Despite any thoughts on the content the video was a success and is an achievement in many ways. Overall it is a suitable finale to the war series sending it off with far too loud gunfire.

## World War I: Trench Warfare Remake

Released on Christmas Eve of 2020, this video is the first entry of the series to be produced out of high school. While it is a remake incorporating nearly all of the events of the previous video, the story is greatly expanded upon with new lines, scenes, and characters. The idea to produce this video arose after Jack desired to create some new war movies as his collection of military items expanded. After several scrapped ideas for original films, all deemed too stupid since a dramatic war film seems kinda cringe, Jack decided to simply remake his first film. The new film would be a test to see how such a movie would turn out with the improved camera equipment, editing software, and military gear would turn out. The larger cast included also allowed more unique and interesting characters to be showcased and a larger pool of Germans were used to make the war feel a bit more populated. Overall the video is considered a faithful remake, and an excellent video on its own.

## The Irish War of Independence

Released in May of 2021, this video is actually a return to high school, as it was Joe's project for his AP Euro class. This video is unique in many regards since it was made for a new generation of high school, it is the first war film to not have Eric, and it is the first war film to not be focused on American history. The inspiration from the video came from Jack's Irish Politics class he took in college, in which he watched the Michael Collins movie. Greatly enjoying this film, he showed it to Joe who also loved it, so when Joe got the assignment to make a history project on a subject not covered in class, Ireland came to mind. Written in one day, filmed in one day, and edited in one day, this video went smoothly.