I heard by this project by chance and must confess I was quite curious about it; I do enjoy Shakespeare and, although I have taken in quite a few plays in Stratford-upon-Avon, most of my exposure to his work has been through films. I mention this because accordingly I have never seen a place where the sonnets have been put to film. The Sonnet Project seeks to have all 154 of them made into short films filmed around New York.
Part of the reason I prefer to watch Shakespeare than try to read it is because I think the best productions or films give you the help to understand the text by having the full context visible and thus aiding understanding; with Sonnet #1 there was some of this as we see children with young parent (the increase) but at the same time we see the folly of the young man – his many relationships and therefore I guess his inability to settle down and make this "tender heir". The film is reasonably helpful with this but it moves very quickly through the text and I felt that a few more pauses and a slower delivery might have helped to catch the words and have a second to reflect on them. Visually although it does help, it must be said that the presentation is not too inspired: Williams is outside of the scene to a point, while the footage of the young man and families is just filmed rather than presented in a way that really mixes with the text and its delivery – I was glad of its help in the context of the words, but just would have liked a better look to it.
Still a nice start and a cool location down on Chelsea Piers.
Part of the reason I prefer to watch Shakespeare than try to read it is because I think the best productions or films give you the help to understand the text by having the full context visible and thus aiding understanding; with Sonnet #1 there was some of this as we see children with young parent (the increase) but at the same time we see the folly of the young man – his many relationships and therefore I guess his inability to settle down and make this "tender heir". The film is reasonably helpful with this but it moves very quickly through the text and I felt that a few more pauses and a slower delivery might have helped to catch the words and have a second to reflect on them. Visually although it does help, it must be said that the presentation is not too inspired: Williams is outside of the scene to a point, while the footage of the young man and families is just filmed rather than presented in a way that really mixes with the text and its delivery – I was glad of its help in the context of the words, but just would have liked a better look to it.
Still a nice start and a cool location down on Chelsea Piers.