The Sonnet Project Sonnet #86 (2013– ) Online

This sonnet is related to a form of perceived contest between one artist and another. In the text it refers to better writers (ironically by using very creative text to do so), and it seems to be mostly in the mind of the writer than these others are better than he. In this short film it is two busking guitar players; one of whom catches the attention of a young woman photographing fruit at the market. As he tries to keep her interest, the other guitarist steps in with superior chordmanship.

The concept here is good, because it keeps the theme of the sonnet and brings the words into a modern setting (and quite a playful one). The delivery of the text itself is not quite as good; although the setup makes them more accessible, they are not delivered with a lot of specific emphasis or context which aids understanding. The actor is clear, crisp, and does well to deliver while moving and strumming the guitar (all one continuous take), and you can catch it all – so it is not a major complaint, but I often rely on the actor to add a lot to the words to aid understanding, not just do it with very good diction.

Speaking of clarity, the credits list quite a few crew involved in sound – and this is a very notable aspect of the film. The music, the background, the ADR work on the dialogue, all of it works really well and has the sound of being captured wholly at the time of shooting, which of course it is not.

A good concept with clear delivery – even if I had some reservations over the directness of the text performance.