From all appearances, Jason Staczek has a pretty sweet life. He composes music for films and other media from his Vashon home studio, The Pumpkin Palace, surrounded by tall Douglas firs. He has a young family and enjoys living in the island arts community.

He’s also never had to serve in the military or face live combat, so when Staczek recently scored “And We Were Young,” an animated documentary film about World War I, his understanding of what it means to go to war deepened. That experience motivated him to show the film on Veteran’s Day at the Vashon Theatre as a benefit for island veterans.

“And We Were Young” is the brainchild of Montana filmmaker and history buff Andy Smetanka. The film animates the oral histories of soldiers who fought in the war and marks the centenary of the U.S. entry into World War I. Staczek said Smetanka did all the animation from his tiny studio, cutting out each image and hand painting the background. He then shot each frame with an old Soviet Super 8mm camera. The voice-overs were executed by Smetanka’s friends.

“There are no professional voice-overs, but you can hear the young and old voices, and the silhouettes are amazingly expressive. You don’t need to see a full face or mouth,” Staczek said. “It’s very D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself), not Hollywood, which is another reason why I wanted to show the film (on the island).”

As for the score, Staczek said it took him a month, working against a deadline for the Berlin Film Festival. His creative process began while he watched the film, and ideas began to formulate.

“I try to think about something that will guide me through the whole piece,” Staczek said. “It came to me that it is like the film “The Thin Red Line.” It is meditative, not martial. No snare drums and military music — it is not about recruiting. We knew the subject was tough, the images difficult, and we wanted a contrast until the climax.”

Staczek collected sound effects to accompany the music, a process he considered a treat as he did not have to compete with a sound designer. Usually he and the sound designer are necessarily at odds as they both are “making noise at the same time.” For this film, Staczek said he could include stylized footsteps, use sparse or even no sound effects and write music around them. Staczek said he particularly enjoyed working with unique tones created by island musician Ela Lamblin of Lelavision.

Like most freelance artists, Staczek juggles multiple projects at one time, most of which arrive via word of mouth. He has not pursued an agent, preferring instead to “live on an island, write music, be with my family and do unique stuff.” He currently is finishing up a part live-action, part claymation series called “Rocket Man” and recently completed a score commissioned by the Make a Wish Foundation for a young girl who wanted to appear in her own cartoon. Staczek also will be performing the music he composed — with funds from the Elton John AIDS Foundation — for Lelavision’s HIV prevention campaign film, “Moving in the Spirit,” at Spoke Gallery later this month.

For now, islanders can hear Staczek’s work in “And We Were Young,” thanks in large part to Eileen Wolcott at Vashon Theatre. Wolcott stepped right up when he asked her to show the film, Staczek said, adding that he believes Wolcott and the theater are a “huge treasure for the island, a lifeline to culture.”

The Vashon post of the VFW and the American Legion also lent their support for the event, helping Staczek’s vision of a benefit for island veterans become a reality.

“Veterans Day used to come and go for me, but after this film, now it doesn’t,” Staczek said. “I hope people will come and think and reflect. The film is not pro-war or anti-war, it’s just war. The (soldiers) are not saying anything except what happened to them. You get to make up your own mind.”

“When We Were Young” will show at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the Vashon Theatre. All tickets are $7 and will benefit Vashon veterans. There will be a question and answer session with Staczek and via Skype with Smetanka.