How to be: Emo

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How to be: Emo was originally a student film project directed by Christian Bretz, written by Brennan Reed and produced by Kevin Dumler, Trent Tiegen, Angel Orlando and Chris Barrett. The concept was to create a satirical instructional film meant to teach kids how to be emo. The satire predicates itself on the notion that many emo kids would consider their choice to be emo "non-conformist." This film essentially makes fun of emo, rather than presenting a fair or acurate description of emo or emo kids. The movie is is filmed in the style of a 1950's era informational documentary, with a matching narrator.[1]

Contents 1 Characters 2 Soundtrack 3 News 4 External links

[edit] Characters

• Billy Holladay (Trent Tiegen) is Emo's bright-eyed protagonist. At the beginning of the film he is a "normal" kid, neither popular nor disliked. The film centers on his quest to become emo, just like Kyle, in order to get all the girls.

• Kyle (James Jaeger) is the archetypal emo kid He plays the guitar, is liked by the girls, and writes poetry about the darkness of the world. Kyle is the examplar of the emo stereotype Billy hopes to become.

• Johnny Football (Kevin Dumler) is your all-American football player. In the beginning of the movie he seems to like Billy, but as time passes be becomes more of a bully figure. Johnny Football doesn't like emo kids.

• Mr. Holladay (Brennan Reed) is Billy's father, a Johnny-Unitas-worshiping all-American man. Mr. Holladay does not understand, nor is he supportive of, his son's changing. Though Mr. Holladay's opinion is very clear, he actually has no speaking lines; the role is expressed through pantomime, accompanied by silent movie style subtitles.

• Mr. Narrator (Brennan Reed) is the film's unseen guide. Mr. Narrator leads the protagonist, Billy, through the basic steps of how to create and maintain his emo persona.

• Sange (Angel Orlando) is Billy's best friend. Sange is the consummate friend, never changing his attitude towards Billy, no matter how different he becomes. In the end, Billy breaks off his friendship with Sange, under the Narrararor's advice, because he is simply not emo enough.

• Moose (Jesse Goff) is one of Johnny Football's teammates and friends. He is portrayed as something of an ignorant redneck who may or may not have a learning disability as he seems to find the word Football incredibly amusing.

• Earl (Ronnie Mozingo) is Johnny Football's other teammate and friend. He is always seen with Johnny, however, he never speaks a single line.

There are several other characters presented throughout the movie, though none are significant to the plot.

[edit] Soundtrack

• Screaming Infidelities-Dashboard Confessional

• A Movie Script Ending-Death Cab for Cutie

• Lover I Don't Have To Love-Bright Eyes

• If Winter Ends-Bright Eyes

• Float On-Modest Mouse; Good News for People Who Love Bad News

• Trying To Find A Balance-Atmosphere

• Captain Kangaroo-Television's Greatest Hits of the 50's and 60's

• My Three Sons-Television's Greatest Hits of the 50's and 60's

• Leave It To Beaver-Television's Greatest Hits of the 50's and 60's

• It's About Time-Television's Greatest Hits of the 50's and 60's

• Sea Hunt-Television's Greatist Hits Volume II

• The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour-Television's Greatist Hits Volume II

• The Late Late Show-Television's Greatist Hits Volume II

• Quest for Glory-Un-day

• Mafia (Game)-city_music_02

• Mafia (Game)-city_music_04

• Mafia (Game)-city_music_13

• Misfits Teenagers from Mars-Misfits

• Love Letter Typewriter-Mineral

[edit] News

• There is currently a reimagination in the works, this one aiming to be a full length feature.[2]

[edit] External links

• whatsemo.com The official online headquarters of all things "How to be: Emo." Includes the original (with optional director's commentary) as well as trailers for the reimagined film.
• A short review of the original how to be: emo by Danielle Belton, an entertainment reporter working for The Bakersfield Californian newspaper.
• Elites TV covers the cult and indie nature of how to be: emo in their review.
• Re:Generator Magazine features as their cover story an article on the reimagining of how to be: emo in their November '06 issue.