Line #23 Creator/BeckyAndJoe


1	[[https://beckyandjoes.com/ Becky Sloan and Joe Pelling]] are filmmakers who were part of the THIS IS IT Collective. They have carved out a niche for themselves within the short film format, with two successful films, both of which have played and won awards at festivals around the world.
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3	With over one million viewers watching these films on Creator/ChannelFour and more than 2.5 million views online, the collective has generated a strong international following and achieved great success purely from self-funded projects, showing their passion for filmmaking.
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5	Their most well known and successful project is ''WebVideo/DontHugMeImScared''. Beginning as a one-off short film in 2011, the series was crowdfunded and turned into a six-episode miniseries in 2014. The series lampoons children's television shows like ''Series/SesameStreet'' by juxtaposing puppets and songs against [[SurrealHorror unsettling imagery]] and ExistentialHorror. Each episode stars a trio of nameless puppets who encounter a "teacher": an anthropomorphic object or animal who tries to teach them about one of the "six subjects of life" through a musical number. The songs start off chipper and happy, but things inevitably take a turn for the worse... and usually culminate in a "lesson" the puppets aren't going to forget anytime soon.
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7	The original short film, released in July 2011, features a sketchbook teaching the puppets about creativity. The sequel was released in January 2014, and involved a dancing clock teaching the gang about the nature of time.
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9	In the wake of the sequel's overwhelming success and popularity, THIS IS IT [[http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1127979050/dont-hug-me-im-scared-the-series turned to]] ''Website/{{Kickstarter}}'' in order to fully realize the series with crowd funding. A brief series of interstitial videos were produced to raise awareness for the project, depicting the trio being held hostage by a money-obsessed monster.
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11	The third episode was released in October 2014, and featured Yellow Guy learning about the significance of love from a butterfly and his friends. Episode four saw release on March 31st of 2015. It featured a computer teaching the puppets about the internet and the virtual world. On October 14, 2015, Episode 5 was released; introducing a band of musical food and the suggestion that someone or something is hunting down the puppets one by one...
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13	As of [[ArcNumber June 19th]], 2016, the puppets have completed their educational journey after six episodes, six teachers, and one cold and terrible reality. However, a new trailer was released on September 13th, 2018, implying that the puppets' journey [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkFpNVxzhTs isn't over yet,]] with the trailer leading up to a 23-minute episode that was shown at Sundance.
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16	!!Tropes that apply to Becky and Joe's works (not including DHMIS)
17	* AndIMustScream: The wall in "Bad Things That Could Happen" as a nail is hammered into it; its face shows that it is in exquisite pain, but its screaming is completely silent.
18	* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Bonus points for actually featuring arson and (arguably) murder: "Bad Things" has a giant match starting a fire, a wall silently screaming as a nail is hammered into it, a rat having its skull split in two and dying very slowly, and ... a pencil misspelling the word "happen".
19	* BodyHorror: "Bad Things" and every installment of ''Don't Hug Me I'm Scared'' have some of this, contrasting with the colorful nature of the puppets themselves.
20	* BrokenRecord: The ladder character repeating "Better luck next time", after Craig loses the video game.
21	* CoolShades: Craig dons some after transforming from a nerd into one who is "big and strong".
22	* CreatorCameo: Becky and Joe appear at the end of ''Craig's Big Day''.
23	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: The wall in "Bad Things" has a nail hammered through its head.
24	* IncrediblyLameFun: Craig plays the game ''Wacky Pig-Worm!''.
25	* InstantSedation: The show's creators pull this on Craig.
26	* InterruptedSuicide: Craig sings about wanting to kill himself after getting a birthday present of poison. It's not really clear why he decides not to follow through with his act, though he does attribute it to his sudden transformation.
27	* LighterAndSofter: The same team behind DHMIS actually worked on a [[https://vimeo.com/151896897 PSA video for St John Ambulance teaching about CPR]]. Unlike DHMIS, its taken more seriously and aimed at children and family members.
28	* LeastRhymableWord: [[https://vimeo.com/151896897 This]] PSA This Is It made for St. John Ambulance has a band of nursery rhyme characters trying to write a jingle about baby CPR, and struggling to come up with a rhyme for "ambulance".
29	* TheManInTheMirrorTalksBack: Craig's reflection spits at him.
30	* MessOnAPlate: Craig's birthday meal.
31	* NerdGlasses: Craig wears them at first.
32	* OnePersonBirthdayParty: Craig celebrates his 31st birthday by playing a video game and eating a strange TV meal.
33	* SimilarSquad: The characters in ''Craig's Big Day'' almost all appear to be counterparts of the ''Don't Hug Me I'm Scared'' universe, including a computer, a clock with a face, the show's creators (like the puppeteers in the fourth ''Don't Hug Me I'm Scared'', a fuming microwave, etc.
34	* SpikyHair: Craig boasts about getting hair like this.
35	* SuddenMusicalEnding: ''Craig's Big Day'' ends with a musical number.
36	* TookALevelInBadass:
37	-->'''Craig:''' "I was a nerd, but now I'm big and strong and I've got cool spikes in my hair."
38	* TheToothHurts: The giant mouth in "Bad Things" has its two front teeth ripped out from biting on what is presumably hard candy, leaving behind blood.
39	* TyopOnTheCover: The title screen of "Bad Things That Could ''Happpen''". At the end of the short, the [[ItMakesSenseInContext giant pencil character]] comes in and crosses out the extra "p".

Context Creator / BeckyAndJoe