Until recently I had skipped the films in this series which were not really part of the series but had come in from other places. I'm not sure what triggered them to be made, or meant that the Sonnet Project NY hosted them as part of the whole, but I hadn't watched them. Part of me felt that they were not helping the Project towards their goal, and were repeating sonnets already covered, so I was less interested in them. A pointless opinion to have over films only a few minutes long! With the main season finally delivering another film after a 9 month wait, I decided to check out some of the US and international films that I hadn't seen.
In the main series, the short film of sonnet 99 was an enjoyably lively affair, which remains one of the stronger films from those made (and probably the lot once all is done). For this reason I was not really seeing the reason why the Project produced this alternative version of that text as a special done in a crumbling car plant in Detroit. Truth is that actually the difference in approaches was one of the things I liked about this short, because the 'main' film is so humorous whereas this one is very much focused on the theme of the theft of beauty that the text mentions often. However instead of pointing to something of beauty and saying that none of it compares to the original beauty of a loved one, instead this sits in the absence of beauty and it is full of what is left. On reflection this doesn't really fit the text, but it works by the tone it gives the delivery, words, and images throughout.
It perhaps pushes this angle a bit too hard without the detail to back it up, but it has a good air to it. Technically it is so-so; the shots of the derelict location seem all a bit obvious and studenty, while the ADR/dub falls down by not matching the actor's mouth as well as it should, and by not having any location-specific sound in there. Interesting for the direction it takes the text, even if the delivery is not quite as good as the idea.
In the main series, the short film of sonnet 99 was an enjoyably lively affair, which remains one of the stronger films from those made (and probably the lot once all is done). For this reason I was not really seeing the reason why the Project produced this alternative version of that text as a special done in a crumbling car plant in Detroit. Truth is that actually the difference in approaches was one of the things I liked about this short, because the 'main' film is so humorous whereas this one is very much focused on the theme of the theft of beauty that the text mentions often. However instead of pointing to something of beauty and saying that none of it compares to the original beauty of a loved one, instead this sits in the absence of beauty and it is full of what is left. On reflection this doesn't really fit the text, but it works by the tone it gives the delivery, words, and images throughout.
It perhaps pushes this angle a bit too hard without the detail to back it up, but it has a good air to it. Technically it is so-so; the shots of the derelict location seem all a bit obvious and studenty, while the ADR/dub falls down by not matching the actor's mouth as well as it should, and by not having any location-specific sound in there. Interesting for the direction it takes the text, even if the delivery is not quite as good as the idea.