Escher Staircase

I recently read the book "Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting" by Robert McKee. (Mike's classes pushed me to become more knowledgeable about story structure.) One of the issues in the book is about symbolism. He wrote that in a film, symbols should not be overt--they should be subliminal.

I was recently scoring a documentary; an activist film about builders who demolish old buildings and construct new buildings without any care about safety standards. It portrayed a never-ending cycle of demolitions and construction which invited new demolitions, etc., in a never-ending cycle.

The director wanted a minimalist-electronic style of music. So, at one point in the film, I put in a never-ending cycle of descending chords that never actually descend--much like the famous drawing by M.C. Escher of a continuous staircase. I put the 2-minute track into my own little video, and posted it on YouTube:

My hope was that the music track might symbolize the never-ending cycle of destruction and construction.