In Jest

I just finished writing up a review for another film with a clown in it - damn we had a lot of clown movies this year Great take on the genre, probably my favourite generation gap film - definately the most relatable. My mum would definately do something like this to me. Well shot, no crazy audio issues from what I remember - a solid effort. Perhaps to take the intensity further some more close ups and dramatic music would have given us a bit more tension to work with. I'm really glad you didn't overuse the real clown at the end, a nice creepy touch to finish the film off without having any crazy attack or anything, very well used.

The clown-fears of a couple of kids tenting are not taken seriously by their caravan partying mothers. Really well shot given all the night work and some good performances from all cast. I thought the two kids were excellent and played off each other really well. A bit of an expected ending but it was still super creepy and appreciated by the audience. As usual, nice job Rocket Boy Films.

Well put together film, I particularly enjoyed the take on the wine drinking mums who were relatively disinterested in the kids issues (though we understand who they have the nonchalant attitude by the end). Both the young actors performed well and carried the piece. Plenty of long hours put into a film set mostly at night, and I think Rocket Boy's best film so far.

This was a really well done film. And probably in my top 5-6 of a really tough heat. The story concept was good and the commitment to the acting was great. The young girl did an incredibly good job and was both really natural and convincing. Has star potential there. The young boy's comedic reactions were gold and did an awesome job too. I thought the mums acting was also really solid but there were a couple scenes where the dialougue inside the campervan just wasn't quite natural between the mums. A couple too mentions about collecting clown figurines etc. But very minor and writing natural dialogue that tells a story can be so hard so more of a script thing than an acting thing. The shots were fantastic! The lighting in the tent was great and the light on the outside was amazing too. The final shot with the creepy clown was beautiful. But I had kind of hoped for the tension to build more and the clown to appear behind the mums at the tent door. Could have had the cheap effect of blood splatting across the outside of the tent etc. Mostly because the characters of the parents throughout the story had become increasingly unlikeable so it may have been slightly.....dare I say it....... satisfying? Again great job. Loved the film. Good clear story and well executed and without having seen the rest of the heats but just knowing how hard heat 8 was I am sure you guys had to be close to the shortlist. Well done.

Heat 8 was a terrific heat for examples of creative use of the given genres, and this film was no exception. The idea of exploring the difference between what kids and adults find funny was a great starting place for this story. In this case, the POV was very definitely on the kids' side, with the adult characters made out to look increasingly unlikeable and thoughtless, and ironically rather childish. The kid actors in particular did a great job of showing the fear of the situation. I felt there were a few missed opportunities to heighten the tension, for example by varying the types of spooky things that were occurring (the exact same lamp-outside-the-tent trick happening twice could have instead been an escalation to something different), and also maybe lending more ambiguity to the source of the disturbances. As it was, it seemed likely to me that the adults were involved, but that's okay. It was also not a surprise to get the real killer clown at the end, but again these things don't have to be a problem, if the execution of the scenes works well enough, as was generally the case here. I like the use of the wind blowing the clown poster, although it seemed sort of a back-to-front idea, since such a shot can be used to reveal to the audience something (e.g. a older poster hidden beneath) that the characters miss. Still, it obviously linked into the mention of a circus they just missed - did we need more context around that, to help with the horror story later, such as the circus ending badly, rumours of a clown dying, etc.? Not sure. Anyway, a fun wee short. In terms of storytelling, I'd say something to think about for next time is finding ways to heighten the tension or drama in small,gradual steps along the way, to keep the story changing and developing throughout. But great effort nonetheless. (Amusingly, there were also some accidental commonalities with other films in the heat, in particular the clown and the cat onesie. Great minds and all that...)

Great take on the genre. As noted in other reviews probably the best most original take on the genre from the whole city There’s a good film here. It just needed a stiff edit to get it to the point. And and as others have mentioned a bit more work to drive the tension up. Scary shot to finish though!

This was a really effective film which juuuuust missed out on being on the shortlist. The plot was just a little weak, and felt like more of a vehicle to get us to what is really impressive about the film- the clowns! The circus poster blowing in the wind to reveal the no camping sign was an excellent use of wind. I look forward to seeing what this team has in store in the future. TITLE REVIEW: In Jest would be a great title if we actually built up the horror of a clown eating people through out. It's a great pun.

I'm really confused with the way some people rate films. Everyone here seems to be saying they love the film yet they're only giving it 4/7 which is completely average when there is no 0 option. Maybe all these people are used to rating out of 5 and don't adjust. Anyway I also loved this effort and I'm giving it the score I think it deserves. Not sure why more films don't use the whole creepy clown stereotype. I think it would have been sufficient to finish it off with the whole scary clowns just being the mums pretending which is what I thought was happening, until the real evil clown then appears, then I recalled where the film had started. It was a good finish to leave what happens next to the audience's imagination, just makes it more tense. A nice balance of horror and comedy here.